Ask ... for the right things!

Ask ... for the right things!

I love to listen to little children pray, especially those who have been taught a simple faith from infancy. They ask God for everything. As much as I admire that child-like faith, I do not want to pray childish prayers. The Bible says that “ the reason you don't have what you want is that you don't ask God for it. When you do ask, you don't get it because your whole motive is wrong. You want only what will give you pleasure.” James 4: 2-3 (NLT)   

We short-circuit prayer’s power when we pray ‘me, myself, and I’ prayers that are only about our comfort.  When you pray today, what will you ask of God? Will you only speak with God about small and trivial matters?

Before you stop reading, I’ll hasten to add – He really does care about you and your needs.  But, to turn prayer into a shopping list for blessings is to miss out on the joy of becoming God’s partner to change your world!  In your prayer, I hope you will boldly intercede on behalf of the needs of others, working with God to bring His power to bear on life and people around you.

In Mark 10, we meet Bartimaeus.  “When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" (10:47) He believed Jesus could help him and he believed he needed to make his need known. In his desperation, he set aside propriety and social position. Blind beggars were used to calling out to those passing by for help, but they also were used to being ignored. Bartimaeus was not going to be ignored and so he shouted for Jesus' attention. His 'prayer' irritated people who were standing nearby and they told him to shut up, but he wouldn't! He shouted even louder. Jesus stopped and asked that the yelling beggar be  brought to him.
 
Jesus' question to the blind man seems to be almost cruel. "What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus asked. (10:51)  But, Jesus was urging the blind man to go deeper, to understand what he really wanted Him to do. "Do you want some money? Do you want someone to care for you? What do you want?"   Bart says, "I WANT TO SEE!" The prayer is direct, focused, and begs an answer. It is a prayer full of faith, too. Jesus healed him on the spot.

When you pray, for yourself and for others, are your prayers fuzzy general appeals or direct, clear requests?  Go beyond, “Lord, bless Sam today.”  We get lazy in prayer, don’t we?  We slip into unfocused prayers that string together lots of 'hallelujahs' and 'thank you, Jesus' phrases but say little of meaning.  Such prayers reflect little of the passion God wants to see in us. Ask God for specifics for your brother.  Does your friend struggle with addiction?  Pray against the strategies of the Evil One. Pray that he will find people to stand with him to hold him accountable. Pray that God will let him touch the bottom of desperation and that the Spirit will shine the light of hope into that pit.  Yes, that kind of specific prayer is what God desires from us.

Pray for the rule of Christ to come to  this troubled planet.  Pray for the deception of money, sex, and power to be exposed. Pray for humble servants to be protected. Pray for ministries that work to advance the Kingdom to be properly funded, for their leadership to be resourced with wisdom and protected from temptation. Yes, those are focused prayers worthy of the Almighty Father who hears them!

If we are convinced that Jesus Christ is One with the solutions to our problems, then we need to ask Him boldly and clearly, for what we need and/or want. It is His place as Lord and Master to say, "yes" or to say "no." It is our place to ask. More than a few of us are blind today -- not physical blindness, but blind to the true state of our heart, blind to the needs of the world around us, and even blind when it comes to 'seeing' God's plans for our lives. We need to get desperate and cry out, yes... SHOUT, even.... "Lord, have mercy on me! I want to see!"
 
Pray that God will help you to see the dreams He has for you, for the courage to see the become reality, and for the power to stay the course with Him. “And all God’s people said, … Amen.”

"I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name.
 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." (Ephesians 3:14-16, NIV)

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Be Thou My Vision (Slane)

Be Thou my vision

O Lord of my heart

Naught be all else to me

Save that Thou art

Thou my best thought

By day or by night

Waking or sleeping

Thy presence my light

Be Thou my wisdom

Be Thou my true Word

I ever with Thee

And Thou with me Lord

Thou my great Father

I Thy true son

Thou in me dwelling

And I with Thee one

Be Thou my shield

And my sword for the fight

Be Thou my dignity

Be Thou my might

Thou my soul's shelter

And Thou my high tow'r

Raise Thou me heav'nward

O pow'r of my pow'r

High King of heaven

When vict'ry is won

May I reach heaven's joys

O bright heaven's Sun

Heart of my own heart

Whatever befall

Still be my vision

O Ruler of all

Eleanor Henrietta Hull | Mary Elizabeth Byrne

© Words: Public Domain