Prayer - Ask for Anything? (Part Nine)

Part Nine - Why are you asking?

I didn't expect this series to last this long. I have to be honest and say that we are only about half way through! I'm hoping it's not boring, but encouraging. I'm simply sharing what I learned after I started to ask the question, "does the Bible teach that we will receive everything and anything we ask for in prayer?" I found around 15-20 verses in the New Testament that appeared to lead to that conclusion. And that was a problem for me, because I could think of examples in my own experience and in the Bible itself where prayer requests were not granted. I don't like to live with contradictions, so I studied for a couple of months, looking into whether these verses really did teach that, and what I should be learning about prayer to my thinking straight.

I also have to admit that I am not good when it comes to prayer. I seem to talk, write and read more about prayer than I actually do it! And that is wrong. If there are two things that I can sum up out of the passages we have gone through so far, it would be that the Bible encourages us, if not nags us, to pray; and that God wants to give us good things in response to our prayers, because He is our loving and gracious heavenly Father. Those things should, and often do, spur me on to pray in my imperfect way. So as I write this, I am praying that I would pray more and learn how to pray in a way that is honouring to God.

The verses I want to look at today are James 4:1-3:

What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

The suggestion that we will receive everything we ask for in prayer is not explicit in this passage. I initially took it as implicit. But I think you only have to read it once or twice to see that it's not even implicit.

As we saw in Part Five of this series, James is talking about how we should respond to suffering and hardship. He is challenging us. And one of the things that can happen when hardships come upon us is that we can become bitter and jealous. We want to live comfortably and we see that other people either prevent us from living comfortably or simply live the lifestyle we want. And it can cause quarrels and fights.

The ticking off from James is really, "why are you complaining and fighting about things you don't have? You haven't even asked the One who can give you anything! Nothing is impossible for Him. So ask Him!!"

Hence, we see again the emphasis on the asking, not on the receiving.

But there is a second point in this passage, which is something that we have touched on before. "When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with the wrong motives…" (v3) What are the wrong motives? "… so that may spend what you get on your pleasures."

This is why the "name it and claim it" philosophy that was popular for a time, especially in America, is so wrong. Popular preachers were saying, "if you want a mansion, ask for a mansion, claim it, have faith, and it will be yours. If you want a pink Rolls Royce, visualise it, ask for it, claim it… and it will be yours."

James would have said, "Why? Why do you want a pink Rolls Royce or a huge mansion?" If we have selfish motives then we are never entitled to expect God will grant our requests.

So we see again the challenge to ask ourselves whether we are praying in the name of Jesus. Are we sharing His priorities? Or are we asking selfishly, for only our own benefit? 

And here we have to understand the bluntness of what James is saying. This is not a call for all Christians to agonise over every phrase in their prayers to see whether they have the right motives, to wonder whether they are being spiritual enough. Ultimately that kind of agonising drives us away from prayer (at least it does for me), because we get to the point where we don't feel like we can trust our own motives. We are in danger of spending so long in self-examination that we don't leave enough time to actually talk to God! And that conflicts with James' point - don't neglect to pray! When James speaks of those who people who ask with the wrong motives, hoping to spend what they get on their own pleasures, he is talking about people who are, deep down, still worldly and unconverted. They ask for riches, freedom from persecution, so that they can be comfortable and enjoy worldly pleasures. They have no interest in glorifying and serving God, no interest in following their suffering Saviour. As we saw when we looked at James chapter 1 (see Part Five of this series), these are not people who are weak in faith, but people who have no faith at all. 

From the moment we become Christians - when we are brought to the realisation that we need to repent of our old selfish ways, to live God's way rather than our own, to change and believe things we didn't believe before - our lives are a struggle to bring our motives into line with God's will. We struggle to make our priorities and motivation consistent with God's. We will struggle with this for the rest of our earthly lives. And part of that struggle will manifest itself in our prayers. But that should not stop us praying! On the contrary we should pray all the more, that the Lord would continue His work within us to change us and enable us to have His priorities at the centre of our lives.

So in conclusion, if we are struggling it ought not to be because we are neglecting to ask the Lord for help. We ought to pray - pray with God-glorifying motives, and pray for God-glorifying motives.

Reflections on What it Will Be Like Meeting God on Judgment Day

When we think about dying and meeting God we should be afraid, afraid enough to think how we can prepare for that day. We will all die one day, and when we do we will meet our Maker! An atheist may say they don't believe they will have any conscious experience after death, and therefore they have nothing to be afraid of. But God has told us that we will all face Him after the end of our life in this world. We can choose whether we believe that or not, but that will not affect the truth of the situation. And the prospect of meeting the Creator, the Lawmaker, the Judge, the All-Powerful, the Ruler of Everything, should make us nervous.

I had an experience recently that made me think about this. It's not an experience I really wanted to talk about. I would rather forget about it, to be honest. But for the sake of a helpful illustration I will share! If someone finds this helpful then perhaps it will make a bad experience a bit more bearable!!

I had a claim for "Jobseekers Allowance" (a UK state benefit for the unemployed) turned down in 2009 when I had been out of work for eight months. I thought that was jolly unfair and so I appealed against the decision. I thought nothing more of it, since I finally found an interim management contract, and then fell ill. It was not worth chasing. But then a few of months ago I got a letter acknowledging my appeal and inviting me to a tribunal to hear the case. The hearing was several weeks ago, at the end of 2010.

I went along to the hearing having done a little preparation, but not armed with enough evidence to back up my case. I completely underestimated the formality and seriousness of the occasion. And I was utterly humiliated!

The case was heard by a "judge". Ok, not a real judge, but an independent lawyer with authority to judge in the tribunal. I walked into the room alone and sat at a desk facing the judge's bench, which was raised up on a platform. He spoke with a confident, posh accent - like the judges in the TV courtroom dramas.

He chided me for not bringing enough evidence, made me feel very small and reduced all my arguments to mumbling. I had set up my affairs in a particular way, and had not ordered them correctly in a way that would allow me to claim benefits. The fact that I had reached the point of selling a car, cashing in mortgage endowment policies and maxing out credit cards was of no interest. The fact that I had not asked advice from someone who could have given me good advice was of no consequence (even though I had asked advice from the Citizens Advice Bureau!). I had tripped over the letter of the law, I should have known better and my appeal was a waste of everyone's time. And since I had earned a fair amount of money before my lengthy spell out of work I was made to feel bad for even applying for benefits in the first place.

I wished I had taken the whole thing more seriously, but it was too late. I wished I had been better prepared, but it was too late. I wished I had brought an advisor or a representative with me, but it was too late. (Actually, to be perfectly honest, I wished that I had just given up on the claim in 2009 and not bothered with the appeal!)

My point is not the rights or wrongs of my case. My point is that the experience of sitting in front of an unsympathetic judge, on my own, with no advocate, no advisor, in a quiet room on a grey Tuesday afternoon, and receiving what I felt was a "telling off", was extremely unpleasant. I would rather forget about it.

Without Christ, when we face God, the Judge of all People, we too would go before Him alone. We would feel exposed. We would realise how unprepared we are. We would kick ourselves because it would be too late to do anything about it. We would kick ourselves for not taking this court more seriously. All our arguments and complaints against Him would be reduced to mumbling. We would not be able to exonerate ourselves. God's courtroom would be infinitely more forbidding and scary than the mini-courtroom I sat in. God would not have to say very much before our arguments would crumble, and we would realise that we should have known. And instead of being free to walk out of the hearing into the bleak streets of Reading, with only an ear-bashing and a failed appeal, we would go straight to face eternal punishment.

Many of us know this deep within ourselves, and we fear it. How will God, who sees everything, look upon our impurities, our selfishness, our greed, our sins? Can we really comfort ourselves with not being as bad as the worst? We're not Myra Hindley, Saddam Hussain or Adolf Hitler, but is that good enough? Everyone does things that are wrong, but is that a good enough excuse? Who will help us after we die to make our case before God, the Creator, the Judge? 

If we dwell long enough on the subject of our death, we realise that it will be a lonely journey. Can we really believe it will be a journey into darkness and nothing? Or will it be a lonely journey into the presence of the One whom we have spent our lives trying to avoid? And if we have spent our lives trying to avoid Him, how angry will He be? Who will help us then?

There is only one person who can help us. And only one way we can avoid this humiliation. That is Jesus Christ.

The Bible says that, "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins." (1 John 1:8-2:2) (NB. "Propitiation" is where God's judgment upon us because of our sin is turned aside by Jesus standing in our place, taking our punishment upon himself.)

Jesus is our advocate with God the Father. Jesus stands for us in the courtroom of God if we have faith in Him and repent of our sins. He speaks in our defence. God could justly punish every human being with eternal damnation for our rejection of His rule in our lives. And yet because Jesus, the perfect Son of God, came as a human being on earth, and took the punishment that should have been handed to His people, by dying on the cross and suffering separation from His Father, God can look at us in that courtroom and acquit us. And we will be acquitted, not because God simply sweeps our sins and wrongdoing under the carpet, but because His justice has already been satisfied by Jesus' death. All the wrath of God that we deserve was brought down on the head of the Son of God.

And God, through Christ, offers that forgiveness, to everyone if they will only turn, acknowledging their sin against Him, trusting in Jesus.

The bad news of life without Christ is death without Christ - a lonely journey to a courtroom where wrath with be full, wrath will be forever and wrath will be just.

The good news of life with Christ is eternal life after death with Christ - a life accompanied by the best friend and advocate anyone ever had, freedom to enjoy the new perfect creation that God will bring in to replace this passing universe at the end of time, a life never having to come in to the courtroom of God because Jesus has been there on our behalf.

Some more verses:

"The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23)

"You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:6-8)

"Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him." (John 3:36)

If you are not a Christian, understand that this is serious and true, and this is the reason why your Christian friends want to convert you so much!! Your urgent attention will not be wasted for all eternity.

For Christians these thoughts should fill us again with gratitude and worship, that we should be forgiven and redeemed even though we deserve wrath. And we should be filled with compassion and concern for our friends and family members who don't yet believe the good news, leading us to urgent prayer and taking every opportunity, with humility and grace, to share this salvation with them.

May none of us have to face the courtroom of God, but instead, through Jesus Christ the Saviour of the world, may we look forward to eternal life and friendship with God.

Prayer - Ask for Anything? (Part Eight)

Part Eight - Yup, ask for Anything!

I shared in the last two articles some thoughts on some verses in John's gospel relating to prayer. I'll reiterate the verses here:

"And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it." (John 14:13-14)

"If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you." (John 15:7)

"You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name." (John 15:16)

"I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete." (John 16:23-24)

We saw that these statements do not assure us that all our requests will be granted without exception. Rather, they challenge us to pray with the same priorities as Jesus, because that is the basic condition for the granting of our requests. And Jesus' ultimate priority was His Father's glory, seen through His love and the eternal salvation of His people. And so we should learn to pray, "your will be done," whatever our desires may be.

However, I feel that simply saying that does not entirely do justice to the discourse from which these verses are taken (John chapters 13 to 17). You see, whilst it is right that we note that the promises are conditional, the main point Jesus is making is not that.

When Jesus starts speaking at the beginning of John 13 He knows that this will be the last time He has chance to speak to the disciples before He goes to His death. This is where He wants to tell them things and show them things that will comfort them when all appears to be lost. John introduces the section by saying, "It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love." (John 13:1) He shows them how they should love one another and predicts the betrayal and denials that will shortly follow. He can feel their fear, and says, "Do not let your hearts be troubled." (John 14:1,27) He assures them of their eternal salvation, and their relationship with the Father. He promises to send the Holy Spirit to be with them and give them peace (John 14:26-27). He tells them about the priority to bear fruit, and the expectation that they will be persecuted (John 15). He predicts their grief, but also assures them that they will see Him again (John 16:22). And then He prays for them (John 17).

They are going to need help. They are going to face trials, hardships and persecutions. How are they going to get what they need to get through all this? Answer: "You may ask me for anything in my name…" (14:14) "Ask whatever you wish…" (15:7) "… the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name…" (15:16; 16:23) "Ask and you will receive…" (16:24)

What a comfort it is to know that we can ask God for anything, whatever we want. He is our heavenly Father and He wants us to know that we can ask Him for anything, because He loves us.

Jesus is sending us on a really tough mission - to glorify the one true God, and His only Son, among nations and people that hate to submit to Him. We have a message of salvation, good news for those who will repent and believe, and submit their lives to Him. It's a message worth dying for, because it speaks of a life beyond this life. But we will meet obstacles, hardships, troubles, anxieties, turmoil, objections, illness, pain, along the way. But we must still press on. And as He stands there giving us our mission, knowing what we must face along the way, He says, "I will be there for you. My Father will be there for you. My Spirit will be within you. If you need anything, anything at all, just give us a shout, and we'll help you out!"

Wow! No matter how tough life is, we can ask God for anything! God, our Father, the one who loved us so much He sent His Son to die to save us. "He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all - how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?" (Romans 8:32) God, the all-powerful Creator, for whom nothing is impossible. "If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31) This God is the only God, and the one of whom we can ask anything, anything as we seek to fulfil our mission.

So, let's live out this mission, knowing it will be hard. And when it's hard, let's not forget that Jesus told us we can ask God for anything, because not only can we not do it without Him, but He wants to help us! "What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!"