To Receive You Must Ask

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Matthew 7:5-12

Men should always pray and not faint. Those who pray the most have the most encouragement to pray.

As we all mature and find things to do that become passions, we see and really feel when we get better at our passion. We do our passion, study up on how to, lets say plant and care for roses, or cooking, or baking, There will be certain things you like, certain ones you do not care for. But, the more you do your passion, the better you get, the more you learn and the more you want to do your passion? AMEN?

We are promised in God’s Holy Word over and over that God answers prayer, He promises that!

I. The promises of prayer.

John 16:24 “23 At that time you won’t need to ask me for anything. I tell you the truth, you will ask the Father directly, and he will grant your request because you use my name. 24 You haven’t done this before. Ask, using my name, and you will receive, and you will have abundant joy.”

The promises of prayer are simple:

Matthew 7:7-8 7  7 “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened

The prayers we lift up are sufficient, we second guess our prayers don’t we? “Did I leave something out? Did I ask to proudly? Maybe I should not have asked for that right now?Sound familiar?

Luke 11:13, 13 So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.” ????????

II. We have conditions of prayer don’t we? Sure we do!

We are given exact instructions of how and what to pray, what words we should use, the who, what, when, where and how for.

We are to ask: 1 John 5:14–15 “14 And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. 15 And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for.

Matthew 7:7 7 “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.

We are to ask in the name of the Lord Jesus:

John 14:13–14 “13 You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. 14 Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!”

We are to ask according to His will:

Explain God’s will here......... So, what is God’s will?

We are to ask in faith:

When in life, during our week, and we need something, let’s say you need your lawn mowed. Your mower bit the dust last week and it looks like the grass is a little long. So, here comes the feeling of faith? Sure you can and should ask God for guidance. But, He gives us some insight dosen’t He? you can reach out to your nephew who has never had a job, who has always been playing video games since you knew him,

ORRRRRRRRRR You can ask the young man or lady across the street that you have been observing working around their house, maybe they will do it. You have greater faith in the neighbor than your nephew. Are you getting this church?

Mark 11:24–25 24 I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours. 25 But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too.”

We are to abide in Him;

John 15:6–8 “6 Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. 7 But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! 8 When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.”

We are to be sure that our heart does not condemn us:

1 John 3:21–22 “21 Dear friends, if we don’t feel guilty, we can come to God with bold confidence. 22 And we will receive from him whatever we ask because we obey him and do the things that please him.

We gotta have a pure heart don’t we to ask God for stuff? We have to make sure we are right with Him. We cant ask a neighbor to borrow his lawn mower if we through beer cans in his yard all weekend can we? We gotta go and “clean” up the mess, make it right, humble ourselves, even before we ask for forgiveness.

CAN I GET AN AMEN?

III. The hindrances to prayer.

Answered prayer is hindered by insincerity:

Answered prayer is hindered by our unconfessed sins:

Psalm 66:19–20 “19 But God did listen! He paid attention to my prayer. 20 Praise God, who did not ignore my prayer or withdraw his unfailing love from me.

C. Answered prayer is hindered by our selfishness: OK God, this prayer is about me and all me, OK? I need this and want this. OK GOD?

James 4:3–4 “3 And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure. 4 You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God.

Answered prayer is hindered by our impatience isn’t it?, we want the answers now don’t we\?

Psalm 40:1–3 “1 I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry. 2 He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along. 3 He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the Lord.”

Answered prayer is hindered by unbelief, or lack of faith? Is it?

Mark 11:24–25 “24 I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours. 25 But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too.”

IV. Let’s look at some examples of answered prayer.

The Lord is interested in all that concerns His children:

1 Samuel 1:26–27 “26 “Sir, do you remember me?” Hannah asked. “I am the very woman who stood here several years ago praying to the Lord. 27 I asked the Lord to give me this boy, and he has granted my request.”

The Lord wants us to bring all of our wants to Him:

Philippians 4:6–7 “6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”

The Lord wants us to expect, look forward to, be thankful, be joyful, be giddy for the very things we ask for:

Ezra 8:21–22 “21 And there by the Ahava Canal, I gave orders for all of us to fast and humble ourselves before our God. We prayed that he would give us a safe journey and protect us, our children, and our goods as we traveled. 22 For I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to accompany us and protect us from enemies along the way. After all, we had told the king, “Our God’s hand of protection is on all who worship him, but his fierce anger rages against those who abandon him.”

The Lord wants us to realize that there is nothing too hard for Him to do, we have times when we think, well, maybe He can’t do this now, NOT TRUE:

2 Kings 4:22–24 “22 She sent a message to her husband: “Send one of the servants and a donkey so that I can hurry to the man of God and come right back.” 23 “Why go today?” he asked. “It is neither a new moon festival nor a Sabbath.” But she said, “It will be all right.” 24 So she saddled the donkey and said to the servant, “Hurry! Don’t slow down unless I tell you to.”

A FEW WEEKS OR MONTHS AGO, I WAS WATCHING A LITTLE OF A BILLY GRAHAM, HE SAID THIS, I THINK I AM CLOSE, “GOD SAYS, YOU WANT ME TO TELL YOU WHAT i AM GOING TO DO, YOU WOULDN’T BELIEVE ME IF I TOLD YOU! DOESN'T THAT JUST SOUND LIKE US TODAY? He could send another prophet, like Jeremiah, telling us the dates of Jesus second coming we would argue, debate, get our theologians involved and then still not believe God.

The Lord often gives us far above that which we ask for: Why? He has greater things for us than we can even imagine, beyond our wildest comprehension, or dreams? He wants us to have things that we don’t even know to ask for today.

Ephesians 3:20–21 20 Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. 21 Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.

In closing I want you to text me , call me, email me, this week and ask me for this message.

The Lord would have us remember that the prayer of faith is the mightiest weapon on earth:

1 Kings 18:30–39 “30 Then Elijah called to the people, “Come over here!” They all crowded around him as he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been torn down. 31 He took twelve stones, one to represent each of the tribes of Israel, 32 and he used the stones to rebuild the altar in the name of the Lord. Then he dug a trench around the altar large enough to hold about three gallons. 33 He piled wood on the altar, cut the bull into pieces, and laid the pieces on the wood. Then he said, “Fill four large jars with water, and pour the water over the offering and the wood.” 34 After they had done this, he said, “Do the same thing again!” And when they were finished, he said, “Now do it a third time!” So they did as he said, 35 and the water ran around the altar and even filled the trench. 36 At the usual time for offering the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet walked up to the altar and prayed, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, prove today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant. Prove that I have done all this at your command. 37 O Lord, answer me! Answer me so these people will know that you, O Lord, are God and that you have brought them back to yourself.” 38 Immediately the fire of the Lord flashed down from heaven and burned up the young bull, the wood, the stones, and the dust. It even licked up all the water in the trench! 39 And when all the people saw it, they fell face down on the ground and cried out, “The Lord—he is God! Yes, the Lord is God!”

AMEN

Let’s now stand and turn in our Hymnals and turn to page _________ and sing “ .”

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