Asking - part II

Jesus made a pretty bold statement when he was on the planet: "Ask anything in my name and I will do it"  (John 14:14).  A wide open statement.  Ask anything.  Anything.  Anything at all and He will do it. 

What is He trying to tell us?  What did he mean?  Did He really mean anything?

I really think that He meant what He said - anything.  However, that "anything" has a condition on it - in my name, or as another translation puts it, "according to" my name. 

One thing Jesus is NOT saying is that if we tack "in Jesus name" on before we end our prayer, He is obligated to answer that prayer.  I am not sure where the tradition of adding this phrase on the end of a prayer came from, but I do know that He did not mean us to use this as a "magic" phrase that will get us what we want.


So what did He mean if He didn't mean that?  I believe a part of the key is found in James 4:

¹ What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? ² 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. ³ When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. 

The setting of this section of the letter from James is about fighting, being self centered and trying to get the things that you want.  He makes a pretty bold statement at the end of this section: you ask for things but you don't get them because all you want to do is spend it on yourself.  The statement is pretty straight forward - when I ask for something that is me centered, that is for my benefit, that is for my pleasure, that fills a worldly longing deep down in my soul - I am not going to get it.

I mean, if I pray that God will use me to serve others, do you think that God will refuse to answer that prayer?  If I pray for a new car because I am not content with the one that I have or I am sick of having to repair it all the time, God might think it best to not provide me a new car to "get me out of a jam".  If I pray that I will understand what the Spirit is trying to tell me to help me be more obedient, I think that God will grant that request.  If I pray that God will give me a different job because I do not like the environment that I am currently working in, God probably will not honor that request.

Here is the problem.  It sometimes takes a TON of work to determine the "why" for what I am asking for.  Why am I asking for a new car?  Why am I asking for the ability to serve?  Why do I want a new job?  If there is any hint of me in the request, then God is not obligated to answer us; or more appropriately the answer will probably be no.  Before I ask, I have to examine my heart.  I have to determine if my heart is in the right spot (me or God centered).

If it is, ask for anything!

Two Questions

I often struggle with my prayer life.  The biggest struggle that I have is asking God to do something, asking him to intervene in a situation, asking him to provide something.  Perhaps this is because my upbringing focused a ton on the sovereignty of God to the exclusion of asking him for things.  I mean, if God is sovereign and he does what he wants, when he wants, why does it matter if I ask for something?  I am going to get what I am going to get.  Life is going to be what life is going to be.

Mind you, I am not upset by this.  I totally believe that God is loving, that he cares for me and that he has my best interests in mind.  I know, and believe, that whatever happens in my life is for my good - all things work together for good to them that love God to them that are called by his name (Rom. 8:28).  I don't believe God is out to get me in a negative sense, like some cosmic disciplinarian.  He wants me to be holy, to experience the kind of life that he designed me to experience and to worship and love him for it and I know that takes work (rooting out my sinful patterns and behaviors).  I totally get this and totally believe this.

That is what makes asking God so hard for me.  I know he is going to provide what I need - he promised.  I know that he will care for me - he promised.

Having said all that (sorry), there is something that happens as a relationship develops that allows one to ask.  I haven't really figured this on out yet, but I know something is out there.  How?  Take a look at Mark 10.  There are two vignettes in the life of Jesus that are recorded in this chapter.

Vignette #1 - Two of the apostles come to Jesus to ask him something:


 ³⁵ Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”
   ³⁶ “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.
 ³⁷ They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.” 

If you read one chapter before this, you see what there was an argument between the disciples regarding who was the greatest.  This really weird question seems to be a follow-up to that whole discussion.  Notice Jesus response - "What do you want me to do for you?"  There response to his question was - give us a prominent place in your kingdom.  We want to be the big cheeses - next to you of course.  Needless to say, Jesus did not, nor could he, grant this self centered request.  Frankly, they should have known better than to make this request because Jesus had just taught them about greatness in the kingdom (the greatest = the servant of all).

Vignette #2 - The blind man on the road from Jericho

  ⁴⁶ Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (that is, the Son of Timaeus), was sitting by the roadside begging. ⁴⁷ When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
 ⁴⁸ Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
 ⁴⁹ Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”
   So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” ⁵⁰ Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.
   ⁵¹ “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him.
   The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”
   ⁵² “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.

Jesus asks the same question of this man - what do you want me to do for you?  Bartimaeus answer to Jesus question is self centered also - I want to see; I want MY eyes opened.  Jesus grants his request and heals him.  Of note though is Jesus' assessment of the man - he had faith.  He had the faith to believe that this Rabbi was the Messiah (indicated by the use of the title Son of David).  He had the faith to believe that Jesus could heal him.  Jesus didn't say that his request healed him, but that his faith did.  Period. 

Ponder this for a while and I think that in my next post I will look at James 1 and see what he has to say about this asking thing.  Sorry about the long post.

Heaven

I was driving home from church this morning.  I taught a class at another campus, so I had an opportunity to have a longer drive home than usual.  I was looking a the many trees that are changing color along the freeway.  It was a beautifully sunny day, so the colors were vibrant!  The reds seemed to be more red; the yellows more yellow; the oranges - terrific.  The creativity of the creator was on display for sure and my soul was moved to worship him for creating this so that I, and the others on the highway, could enjoy it. 

I couldn't help but wonder if there are going to be days like this in heaven. I know that every day God's creativity is on display - the Bible speaks that what can be known of God is revealed in His creation (Romans 1:20).  I also know that heaven is not going to be black and white.  The Bible speaks of heaven having trees that line a river of life, it speaks of jewels and gold, it speaks of bright light of God - it speaks of God's creativity on display for His created beings.  Are there going to be fall colors in heaven?  I don't know for sure, but after days like today, it wouldn't surprise me!!!

Take some time to stop and enjoy the day that God has created especially for you.  Appreciate the beautiful colors that he has painted for you.  Thank him for the eyes that can see the trees changing, that can see the beautiful sunsets of fall, the harvest moon that soon will be coming.  Worship Him for what He has created for you to enjoy!!!!

Remembering......

One of the most incredible gifts that God has given us is our memory.  Memories can either be good, neutral or bad.  Memories can either liberate us and provide us energy to move forward in tough times or they can be boat anchors that weigh us down and prevent us from growing and developing.  

For those of us who had great times growing up - playing with our brothers and sisters, visiting grandma who gave cookies, learning to ride a bike, vacations with families, school sports - we look back and have "fond" memories of growing up.  For those of us who had tough times growing up - poverty, rough family circumstances, death, strained relationships - we look back and wish that we didn't have these experiences that we had to remember.  The experiences of our lives, and the memories of them, shape us as human beings: our response to the current circumstances to life, our response to others, our view of God and our view of others.

Why are memories important?  For someone who believes in Jesus, we are called to remember.  Throughout the Old Testament, God instructed his followers to remember.  He instituted annual feasts and celebrations so that his people would remember what He had done.  He asked people to put up standing stones as markers so that when people walked by them they would remember what He had accomplished.  Jesus, while He was on this planet, instituted a time of remembrance (we call it communion; the early church celebrated it as a love feast).  God was and is BIG into memories.

Why?  Why is it important to remember?  Why does God want us to return over and over again to what He has done?  Two of the reasons that I come up with: good memories will carry us through the bad times.  If we believe that God was faithful in the past and we are reminded of that over and over again, we will have the expectation that God will be faithful to us.  Understanding the character and nature of God by remembering what He has done will help us understand what our character and actions need to be. 

I also believe that, in spite of all the bad memories that we have, God wants us to remember that He is for us, that He is walking with us and that He loves us.  I don't know where life finds you right now, but I do know that God wants you to remember who He is, what He has done and therefore what He is going to do in you, through you and to you!

As we were interacting over Ruth last night, we explored the journey of Naomi a bit.  Her family, husband, two sons and her, left their ancestral home in search of food.  Two weddings and 10 years later, she finds herself with no blood family and in a foreign land. 

Walk through this with her.  She leaves her family, her friends, her neighborhood, familiar surroundings and moves to a foreign land - living in a country that really was not "friendly" to Israel.  A few years pass.  The family has made friends, figured out who lives in the neighborhood, figured out where to buy their meat and vegetables, found new vendors to supply cloth to make clothes, developed credit with the local bank, found out who the good and friendly people were in town - started a new life.  The sons found girl friends, dated and met the "fam".  They eventually got married.  What joyous occasions for Naomi - her sons getting married!  The hope of a future. The hope of grandchildren!

And then the unthinkable happens.  Someone dies.  We are not told who went and when, the only thing we are told is that her husband, her soul mate, died, as did her two sons.  Ten years after she left her homeland, she finds herself dealing with three deaths in her family - her blood line is gone.  She is alone.  No one to provide for her needs (widows needed to be taken care of in that culture; they had limited means to make money).  No husband  take care of her as she grew old.  No sons or grandchildren to take care of her as she grew old.  She was alone and in trouble.

She makes the decision to go back home.  She has heard that there is food there; the famine is over.  At least she can eat; maybe even sell her family's property to raise some funds to take care of her (if she can by it back from those who purchased it in their absence).  She is poor and out of options.

Notice what she says about her relationship with God when she gets home.  "Don't call me Naomi, call me Mara (bitter), because the Almighty has made my life bitter".  Strained at best.  She feels as if God has abandoned her; that he has it out for her.  Understandable or at least explainable based on what she has gone through.

Jump to the end of the book - joy has returned to her.  She has a grandson and is beaming!

What happened?  Boaz happened.  Actually, the obedience of Boaz happened.  Boaz allowed poor to glean in his fields according to the command of God.  Boaz, although much older than Ruth, redeemed the land and became the kinsman redeemer.  Her joy was restored as God worked and was faithful to her THROUGH the obedience of Boaz.

OK, so here's the question: are you going to be a Boaz?  Are you going to be obedient to the commands of God, allow God to work THROUGH you?  Who can you be an encouragement to today and bring them hope, hope in a Savior who loves them, hope in the midst of a sin cursed world?

Cycle of Madness

I have been studying Ruth for our couples Bible Study this weekend.  One of the interesting things that I have found is the setting for this book - the book of Judges.  Ruth's in-laws (Elimelech and Naomi and their two boys) had fled Israel during a famine.  They were from the town of Bethlehem and heard that there was food in Moab so they moved there.  As near as historians can figure, their moved happened about 100ish years before Saul become king or about 260 years into the 360 year period of the judges. 

A couple of things about Moab.  Not a cool place for an Israelite to move.  First of all, they were the nation that seduced the Israelites into sin a few centuries before.  There was a running feud between Moab and Israel that was in some sort of detente during this period of time. 

Another piece of the setting that is important is the "cycle" of sin that happens over and over again in the book of Judges.  The nation of Israel put themselves on a cycle of worship-disobedience-judgement by God-cry to God-restoration.  The issue becomes this was not a national trend - the WHOLE nation did not follow this cycle, but REGIONS of the nation fell into this cycle; usually only once.  If you want a cool map that illustrates this, look at this link: http://biblemapper.com/gallery1_files/JudgesOfIsrael_2_mark.jpg.  The nations that God used to judge the Israelites for their unfaithfulness to Him didn't attack the whole nation of Israel, just regions.

OK, so by now you are probably saying, and.......Why is this important?  It speaks to me of the failure of Elimelech to spiritually lead his family.  I mean, come on, he WATCHED as regions around him fell into sin, were judged by God with raiding parties, foreign government take-overs, slavery, etc.  He had 200+ years of history repeating itself to serve as an example of what NOT to do.  And yet his response to what God was attempting to do to his region was to run away.  Not to worship and fall on his knees in repentance; but to run away to Moab of all places.  When Elimelech left the promised land, he was fleeing his heritage, his covering and his relationship with God.  There was no temple in Moab.  There was no place to worship God there.  He removed his family from where God wanted them to be and placed them in a heathen place.  Not cool.

OK, so here is the hard part.  How often do I make the same choice he did.  How often do I ignorantly walk through life and follow the SAME path that generations before me have followed.  How often does history repeat itself in my life and leadership of my family.  Way to often I am afraid.

I don't write this to condemn, I write this to inform and hopefully open our eyes to our actions.  I cannot change the past.  I cannot changed what happened in history.  However, I can learn from it and not do the SAME sins that my fore-fathers did or I have done in the past. 

PS - Take time to look into the fall of the Roman Empire and compare that with America today.  We are repeating the sins of the past and we WILL experience the same result.  God will NOT be mocked.  Start the revival in our country by starting it in you.

We all know this, but it is amazing how much of what we do affects the lives of others. Encouraging words, looks of love, little gifts of time or thoughtfulness, acts of kindness, spending time listening, words of hatred, looks that kill, placing unrealistic expectations on someone, demanding commands - all affect the lives of those around us.

Jesus took this very seriously - especially how we affect the lives of the believers around us. When he was on the planet he said this: “And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck. (Mark 9:42)

This is serious business for Jesus. Drowning with a millstone tied around his neck is the appropriate punishment for the person who leads someone into sin.

Now don't think dastardly sins only: being an accomplice in a murder, snookering someone into driving a get away car for you while you rob a bank. Think things like teaching someone to hate another person by constantly gossiping about them; leading a "revolt" with your co-workers against your boss by griping about a decision that he has made that you didn't like; yelling at your kids so much that they pick up your habit of yelling at their kids - "little" thinks like this that we unconsciously do every day.

The countless things that I do, say and express every day effect people. Whether I believe it or not, it is true. Whether I live like it is true or not, it is true.

What I have to remember to day, and allow the Spirit of God to remind me of, is that I must use my actions, words and facial expressions to lead people toward the Savior and not toward sin. I have no interest in having a millstone around my neck!