Asking Pt. 2 (in Jesus name)

Introduction

-Last week we talked about our petition to the Lord.

-We didn’t actually say the word petition but that was sort of intentional.

-Too often words like that can sound really “churchy” and feel disconnected from real life.

-The quick summary is that we are talking about praying for yourself and our points were:

1. We know that we can ask God anything because we have access through Jesus

2. We know how to ask, in the name of Jesus

3. We know that we need to ask because this life is full of trouble but Jesus has overcome all of it.

-Tonight I want to go a little further talking about how to pray in Jesus name and then we are going to pray

What is Jesus like?

-We need to know Him to pray in His name and that seems pretty clear

-There are plenty of examples of prayers that are recorded in the bible but they aren’t like a comprehensive list.

-I am a huge fan of praying the bible but the goal isn’t to cheat off of someone else’s prayers

Matthew 7:21–23 NLT

21 “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. 22 On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ 23 But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’

-There is so much in this little section but the bottom line of what we need to understand is that it is so important that we actually know Jesus.

-It’s not enough to know about Him but to actually recognize Him and have Him recognize us.

-The goal is, after all, friendship

-I’m going to loop back around to knowing Him at the end and to get there we’re going to go through a quick rubric and see what we already have down.

Likes and dislikes

-A good gauge for knowing a person is what they like and what they hate

-We’re framing this conversation by prayer ya know?

-The idea is that we want to be able to thank Him and ask for things personally that are in line with His personality

-Think of asking your parents for something, if it’s something they hate they aren’t going to give it to you.

-One of the ways we can realize what Jesus is like it to answer this question:

What does He like?

-This is a pretty broad topic and you may not have a great deal of confidence answering a question like this.

What does He hate?

-This sounds severe so you can try to frame it with the idea of not liking something

-Is this an easier question or a harder one?

-Here are some places to drawn answers from:

Galatians 5:22–23 NLT

22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

-This is a list of things that represent the idea of godly living. This again is comprehensive but it’s a start

-Just before this verse is another one that goes the other way:

Galatians 5:19–21 NLT

19 When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, 21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

-This is a list of things that the Lord “doesn’t like” and He resists.

-The key phrase here is “that sort of life”

-Essentially it’s not just those several things but those KINDS of things

-We could also look at the classic ten commandments:

Exodus 20:1–17 NLT

1 Then God gave the people all these instructions: 2 “I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery. 3 “You must not have any other god but me. 4 “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. 5 You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me. 6 But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands. 7 “You must not misuse the name of the Lord your God. The Lord will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name. 8 “Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 You have six days each week for your ordinary work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy. 12 “Honor your father and mother. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the Lord your God is giving you. 13 “You must not murder. 14 “You must not commit adultery. 15 “You must not steal. 16 “You must not testify falsely against your neighbor. 17 “You must not covet your neighbor’s house. You must not covet your neighbor’s wife, male or female servant, ox or donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor.”

-Here we get laws relating to God Himself, you and God, and then wrapping up the list with God and other people

-There are loads of instances of God saying He hates stuff (abhors, detests etc)

-As you can probably imagine there are also lots of sections that refer to God loving things (delights in, rejoices over etc)

-When you look at your top lists this is probably not an adequate representation of who you are

-Like if someone studied your list they wouldn’t know exactly how to talk to you to make you feel loved and understood

-People aren’t like that and God definitely isn’t like that

So how do we know Jesus?

-We need to watch and listen to Jesus

-We need to ask Jesus

-We need to talk to other people about Him

-These are basic things to get to know Jesus

-Circling back to where we started last week, when we pray in Jesus name we need to have understanding about who we are talking to as we ask.

-The best place to start is what Jesus used to summarize everything.

-He called in the greatest and foremost commandment

Matthew 22:37–40 NLT

37 Jesus replied, “ ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

-This is really the prophetic word for you at any point in your life.

-This is what God wants and this is what is best for you

-In this there is so much nuance.

-Something off the top of my head is:

2 Corinthians 1:3–6 NLT

3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. 4 He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. 5 For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ. 6 Even when we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your comfort and salvation! For when we ourselves are comforted, we will certainly comfort you. Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer.

Conclusion

-I want to pray individually tonight

-I’m not going to grade you on prayer or anything because ultimately it’s up to you

-We’re to take 5 minutes and get alone we’re going to pray

Ephesians 1:17–19 NLT

17 asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. 18 I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance. 19 I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power

-Read this, out loud but quietly to yourself and then try to rephrase it in your own words.

-If you don’t understand it, ask the Lord to help you understand it.

-When the timer goes off we’ll come back together and close out!