What man is there among you
who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? —Matthew 7:9
{CHAMBERS} “The illustration of prayer that our Lord used here is
one of a good child who is asking for something good. We talk about prayer as
if God hears us regardless of what our relationship is to Him (see Matthew
5:45). Never say that it is not God’s will to give you what you ask. Don’t
faint and give up, but find out the reason you have not received; increase the
intensity of your search and examine the evidence. Is your relationship right
with your spouse, your children, and your fellow students? Are you a “good
child” in those relationships? Do you have to say to the Lord, “I have been
irritable and cross, but I still want spiritual blessings”? You cannot receive
and will have to do without them until you have the attitude of a “good child.”
We mistake defiance for devotion, arguing with God instead of surrendering. We
refuse to look at the evidence that clearly indicates where we are wrong. Have
I been asking God to give me money for something I want, while refusing to pay
someone what I owe him? Have I been asking God for liberty while I am
withholding it from someone who belongs to me? Have I refused to forgive
someone, and have I been unkind to that person? Have I been living as God’s
child among my relatives and friends? (see Matthew 7:12). I am a child of
God only by being born again, and as His child I am good only as I “walk in the
light” (1 John 1:7). For most of us, prayer simply becomes some trivial
religious expression, a matter of mystical and emotional fellowship with God.
We are all good at producing spiritual fog that blinds our sight. But if we
will search out and examine the evidence, we will see very clearly what is
wrong— a friendship, an unpaid debt, or an improper attitude. There is no use
praying unless we are living as children of God. Then Jesus says, regarding His
children, “Everyone who asks receives…” (Matthew 7:8).
{ELGIN} Once again, I find
that I must quote the entire devotion from Chambers. For some reason we easily disconnect our
heart from our mouth. We feel free to
approach God even when our heart is not right.
The Word says “out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. (I
will let you look that up.) The Word also
says “we have not because we ask not and when we do ask we ask to satisfy ourselves
and what we want.” (You can look that up too!) So, if you couple those two thoughts together,
you can easily see that if your heart is not right, what comes out of your
mouth, in prayer, will most likely not be right or even heard by God for that
matter. I am certain you have figured out by now that
spiritual maturity does not happen by itself.
It happens as we submit to the Spirit and pursue God by faith. It is expressed in the way we treat others,
the way we approach God, and how we pray.
How we pray and what we pray for is a reflection of that maturity. Micah
6:8 poses this question and provides this answer, “He has shown you, oh man
what is good. What does the Lord require of you? But to do justly, to love
mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
The only way you can do that is by faith and obedience. “When we walk with the Lord in the light of
his Word. What a glory He sheds on our way! While we do His good will, He
abides with us still, And with all who will trust and obey. Trust and obey, for
there's no other way To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”
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