prayer according to Gods will
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Intro
Intro
Title - Prayer according to Gods will
Luke 11: verse 9-12
joke- my boss gave a presentation
nobody was asking questions
he said the first person to engage with a question is getting a raise,
the second is getting a promotion,
and the third is getting dinner on me..
so I raised my hand and said sir I have 3 questions..
Q. Why can we go to our loved ones with confidence...
because of love
If I ask my wife to do something for me
almost 100% of the time she does it
unless its watch football with me
she hates football
now imagine if I kept asking her to watch football
I am asking her something that she is not willing to do
but because I know her , I dont ask her to do that
Q. How many of you are asking God to do things ,,,
He doesnt want to do?
or even worse , how many of you are not even asking Him for anything at all.
Today we are going to learn what it means to ask, seek, and knock at the throne room of God
“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
We see Jesus continuing His teaching on prayer
commands disciples to ask
this is prayer,, requests.
Lord I need you to help me with....
Lord Will you move on my behalf…
We have a promise that if you ask you will receieve
Not a blanket statement
false teaching that if you ask with enough faith you will receive
etc.
there is a requirement that is missed by the heretics
It must be done according to His will
Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
Then commands the disciples to seek
This is a seeking after the heart of God
seeking after truth
As you seek the truth of God
your prayer will reflect His will
The third thing Jesus commands is for the disciples to knock
Keep going to the throne of God
Keep knocking at his door
for if you knock it pleases Him to open the door
If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, 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!”
We see an example of the lesser and greater
Jesus compares human fathers
to our heavenly father
If your son asked you for bread , would you give him a stone.
I could just imagine giving Bradley rocks for breakfast.
its such a striking contrast…
or if your son asked for a fish would you give him a serpent?
God forbid.
Q. Why does Jesus place such stark contrasts
It is to prove the point of Gods love
and willingness to give you good things.
He sets up the point ----if you being evil
know how to give good gifts to your children,
How much more is your heavenly father going to give the holy spirit to those who ask Him!
notice he doesnt say new car here
or double you bank account
But he says how much more will He give the holy spirit to those who ask him.
Q.What is your motive for prayer?
Is it to fulfill your fleshly desires
or is it to know and receive Gods will?
when we pray
we must understand how we ought to ask, seek, and knock
that brings us to our first point
Ask according to Gods will
Ask according to Gods will
God is prompting us to ask for our needs...
not our selfish ambitions
We see this example earlier in the chapter as He
teaches the disciples to pray
give us this day our daily bread
The examples He gives to pray for are, relationship, repentance, Gods will, forgivness,,,,, The holy spirit.
I cant help but think of finances
story - I needed a job to support a family
quit food truck and prayed and asked
God I will go wherever you want me to
I just need a job that I can provide for a family with
He then provided me with a job doing pest control,,
Then I was having a baby
and I needed extra income’
I prayed and asked for help and He gave me a better position in sales
Now im not boasting in self but in God
for all I did was ask and he provided.
I believe I recieved because it was clearly his will
We are called to provide for a families as believers
I know I can ask for help in this and He will provide it
because its his will.
If I prayed for money to spend on my self and to have an easy life
I should not expect to receive what I asked for.... why?
You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.
The only prayer that guarantees a yes is that prayer that aligns with Gods will.
So if you are not getting yeses to your prayers
you need to start seeking the Lord in His word.
Seek according to Gods will
Seek according to Gods will
I want you to think about your prayer life
does it line up with the word of God?
Jesus is encouraging us to seek the father in prayer
and communionwith Him in His word
reading the bible is God speaking to you
your prayer life you speaking to Him
we can fall into this dilemma of praying to a God
that we do not know very well
because we do not read the bible very much.
I would highly suggest reading scripture and praying about the things you read.
Get to know God through the seeking of Him in His word.
Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
You must search the scriptures
because there is no other God than the God of the bible
one of the greatest tragedies is a man who prays to a God he does not know
Treasure the word of God for this is how we know who Jesus is
Knock according to Gods will
Knock according to Gods will
God promises that if you knock the door will be opened
this is simply coming to God in prayer.
This is the making a decision to come to God
you must come according to His will
He will open the door every time.
Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him.
We are all sinners
but we must come with a clean and repentant heart
And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
When you ask according to His will
you can expect that He has heard you
if He has heard you, He will answer
yes, no, wait........
If it is not according to His will then the answer is no.
this is where I would urge you
to stop praying according to the flesh
I want to give you two examples
mark ch 10
James and John ask to sit at Jesus right hand in the kingdom
They asked amiss
Jesus said NO
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
do you see the difference
When you knock , prepare your heart to ask according to the will of God
Dont be afraid to ask for mighty things in His name
but make sure you are
asking, seeking, and knocking according to His will
It is tempting to ask God for the desires of our flesh
The sinful nature gets lazy
and wishes to only knock when there is a problem
Will you read the word to know your God
and come to Him that you would seek His will
above everything else.
for it pleases Him to answer your prayers
lets start praying to understand and desire His heart above all
maybe you have never knocked on the door of Gods heart
today can be that day
lets pray
EXTRA---
seeking God for the first time —when I was at my lowest
as easy as asking god for help----story God please Help