Does God Hear Your Prayers? (1 John 3:22)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.320 --> 00:00:05.360 Let's turn and remain standing, if you're able to first John Chapter Three. 2 00:00:06.559 --> 00:00:15.710 First John Three. So I am going to be preaching particularly from the first 3 00:00:16.230 --> 00:00:20.789 part of Verse Twenty Two, but let me begin in Verse Sixteen and read 4 00:00:20.949 --> 00:00:28.460 through the end of the chapter. By this we know love, that he 5 00:00:28.539 --> 00:00:32.020 laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives 6 00:00:32.259 --> 00:00:36.289 for the brothers. But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother 7 00:00:36.450 --> 00:00:40.810 in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide 8 00:00:40.810 --> 00:00:44.649 in him? Little Children, let us not love in word or talk, 9 00:00:44.810 --> 00:00:49.130 but indeed and in truth. By this we shall know that we are of 10 00:00:49.250 --> 00:00:54.960 the truth and reassure our heart before him. Whenever our heart condemns us. 11 00:00:55.920 --> 00:01:00.840 God is greater than our heart. He know and he knows everything, beloved. 12 00:01:00.920 --> 00:01:04.030 If our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God and 13 00:01:04.189 --> 00:01:10.030 whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do 14 00:01:10.150 --> 00:01:14.709 what pleases him. And this is his commandment that we believe in the name 15 00:01:14.750 --> 00:01:18.900 of his son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he has 16 00:01:18.980 --> 00:01:23.900 commanded us. Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God and God in him, 17 00:01:23.939 --> 00:01:27.019 and by this. We know that he abides in us. I've a spirit 18 00:01:27.700 --> 00:01:33.569 whom he has given us. Praise be to God. He may be seated. 19 00:01:37.170 --> 00:01:40.969 Well, I realized that I'm camping out in first John Three right now. 20 00:01:41.489 --> 00:01:42.849 For those of you who have been here a long time, you know 21 00:01:44.010 --> 00:01:49.799 that my pattern is negatively inconsistent, positively varied. You take it, how 22 00:01:49.879 --> 00:01:55.959 are you like? Sometimes we go fast, sometimes we go slow. Right 23 00:01:56.000 --> 00:02:00.799 now we're going slow, and I was comforted this week by a quote I 24 00:02:00.920 --> 00:02:06.549 read in Augustine actually was a sermon on this same passage. At the end 25 00:02:06.590 --> 00:02:10.349 of his sermon he writes this, and I'm afraid the epistle itself will not 26 00:02:10.469 --> 00:02:15.550 be finished during these days, as I promised, but as the Lord will 27 00:02:15.629 --> 00:02:19.659 it is much better to reserve the remainder than to overload your hearts with too 28 00:02:19.699 --> 00:02:23.539 much food. So he basically stops his sermon, which was kind of long 29 00:02:23.939 --> 00:02:29.699 and and and says maybe that's enough for today. We'll pick it up next 30 00:02:29.699 --> 00:02:34.370 time. So good to know that I'm in good company. At least I'd 31 00:02:34.409 --> 00:02:37.930 like to think so. Anyway, what I want to do with you this 32 00:02:38.090 --> 00:02:45.599 morning is along the same lines as Augustine. is to slow down, continue 33 00:02:45.680 --> 00:02:50.039 to slow down and think that deeply about some of these things that John is 34 00:02:50.159 --> 00:02:54.879 saying. There's a rich, rich food here, and today the particular thing 35 00:02:55.000 --> 00:03:00.430 I want to focus our attention on from God's Word is is prayer, this 36 00:03:00.949 --> 00:03:06.349 verse that we read in Verse Twenty Two, particularly the first part of it, 37 00:03:06.469 --> 00:03:09.870 and whatever we ask we receive from him. If you want to understand 38 00:03:09.909 --> 00:03:15.580 more about that second clause, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases 39 00:03:15.620 --> 00:03:19.020 him, you'll want to go back and listen to last week's sermon where we 40 00:03:19.180 --> 00:03:23.419 talked about the marks of a Christian and the things that God is is doing 41 00:03:23.419 --> 00:03:31.849 in us. But today this this particular clause or statement, this doctrine, 42 00:03:31.889 --> 00:03:38.449 even whatever we ask we receive from him. Now prayer is such a big, 43 00:03:38.969 --> 00:03:44.319 big topic we could never say everything about it in one sermon, and 44 00:03:44.599 --> 00:03:46.360 I don't even think you could say it in a whole book of sermons. 45 00:03:47.039 --> 00:03:52.479 Prayer is, after all, such a basic, essential part of our faith. 46 00:03:52.520 --> 00:03:55.030 It touches on everything right. It touches on everything that we do, 47 00:03:55.270 --> 00:04:00.990 every single aspect, every single aspect of our relationship with God. It reflects 48 00:04:01.349 --> 00:04:11.860 our relationship with God, it infuses everything. An old Italian hermit and religious 49 00:04:11.939 --> 00:04:16.420 writer the last century wrote this prayer is the sum of our relationship with God. 50 00:04:17.579 --> 00:04:21.660 We are what we are what we pray. The degree of our faith 51 00:04:21.740 --> 00:04:29.170 is the decrete degree of our prayer. Prayer sums up, it shows forth 52 00:04:29.329 --> 00:04:34.689 our relationship with God and in some ways. But just because it's so basic 53 00:04:34.889 --> 00:04:41.360 to the Christian life doesn't necessarily mean that we all do it very well or 54 00:04:41.480 --> 00:04:46.800 that we think about it correctly. I'm imagine it's kind of like eating in 55 00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:50.600 that way. Eating is a very basic and essential part of being a human 56 00:04:50.720 --> 00:04:55.269 being. We do it all the time, we do it a lot. 57 00:04:56.389 --> 00:05:00.790 You might be thinking about eating right now, but it doesn't necessarily mean that 58 00:05:00.910 --> 00:05:06.819 we think about it well. Just because eating is a big part of our 59 00:05:06.860 --> 00:05:12.459 lives doesn't mean that we we do it well. Right, it's natural to 60 00:05:12.540 --> 00:05:15.540 eat, we might say. Babies put things in their mouths all the time, 61 00:05:15.860 --> 00:05:19.339 but does that mean they're doing it well? The same goes for US 62 00:05:19.379 --> 00:05:23.689 adults. Right. How many of us have perhaps been to the doctor and 63 00:05:23.769 --> 00:05:28.649 be told that even though you've been eating every day multiple times since you are 64 00:05:28.649 --> 00:05:31.889 a child, you've been doing it very poorly. Maybe you were told you're 65 00:05:31.889 --> 00:05:36.160 eating too much sugar or salt, or you forgotten how delicious a cold salad 66 00:05:36.240 --> 00:05:42.000 is. It's similar with prayer. Prayer is a very common part of the 67 00:05:42.040 --> 00:05:45.240 Christian life, we might even say a natural part of the Christian life, 68 00:05:45.759 --> 00:05:48.519 but it's something that we can all learn a know. It more about something 69 00:05:48.600 --> 00:05:53.990 that we can all grow in. And this, by the way, all 70 00:05:54.029 --> 00:05:59.550 at is not a new problem. If you find yourself struggling with prayer, 71 00:06:00.589 --> 00:06:04.500 remember that Jesus taught his own disciples how to pray. The Lord's prayer is 72 00:06:04.660 --> 00:06:09.500 what we have because of that. That's why we have the Lord's prayer, 73 00:06:09.540 --> 00:06:12.060 because they said how do we pray, and he says this is how you 74 00:06:12.139 --> 00:06:16.699 ought to pray. But remember also that even though he taught them this prayer 75 00:06:16.779 --> 00:06:23.209 right, Jesus himself says pray in this way, it doesn't necessarily mean that 76 00:06:23.290 --> 00:06:29.930 they mastered the lesson right, because we know that the hour before Jesus is, 77 00:06:30.089 --> 00:06:33.720 Jesus was betrayed unto death. He asked his disciples to stay awake, 78 00:06:34.120 --> 00:06:41.480 to watch and to pray. And you remember what happened. Right as he 79 00:06:41.959 --> 00:06:49.910 wept, they slept, and maybe you can see yourself in them. Maybe 80 00:06:49.990 --> 00:06:56.310 you've had also had or do have, even this morning, misunderstandings about prayer 81 00:06:56.949 --> 00:07:00.819 that need to be corrected. Maybe you've had good intentions about prayer, but 82 00:07:00.939 --> 00:07:05.980 it failed to live up to them. Maybe the spirit is willing but the 83 00:07:06.100 --> 00:07:13.060 flesh is weak. It's not. Maybe I know this is the case. 84 00:07:14.100 --> 00:07:16.730 It's truth for you and it's true for me, it's true for all of 85 00:07:16.889 --> 00:07:21.649 us on this side of glory. Jesus knew this about his disciples and he 86 00:07:21.769 --> 00:07:27.209 knows that about you too. In fact, it was Jesus himself who said 87 00:07:27.290 --> 00:07:30.600 the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak, as he addressed his 88 00:07:30.759 --> 00:07:36.839 disciples. And that's why, through the Holy Spirit, Jesus puts his word 89 00:07:38.040 --> 00:07:44.509 before us in First John and in many other places to teach us, to 90 00:07:44.870 --> 00:07:50.470 encourage us, to correct us, to embolden us, and it's also why 91 00:07:50.550 --> 00:07:58.550 Jesus puts his Holy Spirit into us. You remember, Paul writes in Romans 92 00:07:58.620 --> 00:08:01.740 aid about the spirit that has been given to us. We read a part 93 00:08:01.779 --> 00:08:05.019 of that chapter already and I want to read more to you. Romans Eight, 94 00:08:05.180 --> 00:08:11.300 Twenty Six and twenty seven. Likewise, the spirit helps us in our 95 00:08:11.500 --> 00:08:16.089 weakness, for we do not know what to pray for, as we ought 96 00:08:16.129 --> 00:08:24.370 but the spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And 97 00:08:24.569 --> 00:08:28.040 he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the spirit, because the 98 00:08:28.120 --> 00:08:35.120 spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. Pause for a 99 00:08:35.279 --> 00:08:43.750 moment here and remember how good the salvation you have is, how good your 100 00:08:43.830 --> 00:08:50.750 salvation is in Christ, Jesus. When Jesus comes to save US sinners, 101 00:08:50.830 --> 00:08:56.139 he does so in a way that brings about a real change in us. 102 00:08:56.179 --> 00:09:00.700 The spirit, Paul says, as we read earlier, is at war with 103 00:09:00.820 --> 00:09:05.740 the flesh, two things opposed to one another. But guess who's going to 104 00:09:05.940 --> 00:09:13.250 win that war? Your flesh or God's spirit? Of course God's spirit is 105 00:09:13.370 --> 00:09:16.330 going to win that war. He has promised it, and so it happens. 106 00:09:20.169 --> 00:09:22.289 When Jesus saves us as sinners, he does so in a way that 107 00:09:22.529 --> 00:09:28.519 brings about real change. He gives us his Holy Spirit that lives in us, 108 00:09:28.519 --> 00:09:35.039 dwells in US and works directly on our souls. He's like a computer 109 00:09:35.240 --> 00:09:41.830 programmer changing the code, or geneticists changing modifying our DNA. The Holy Spirit 110 00:09:43.029 --> 00:09:48.750 is changing who you are. He is fixing what is broken in you. 111 00:09:48.950 --> 00:09:56.179 He's making useful something that was once harmful. He is overriding the sinful nature 112 00:09:56.259 --> 00:10:01.539 that you inherited in Adam and is making you more and more into the likeness 113 00:10:01.539 --> 00:10:09.409 of the Sun. That's amazing. So when it comes to prayer, we 114 00:10:09.690 --> 00:10:11.769 may struggle, yes, but God has not left at all up to you 115 00:10:11.850 --> 00:10:16.210 to figure it out. Of course we have a part in it. We 116 00:10:16.330 --> 00:10:20.450 are called to pray, we are commanded to pray, but the ability to 117 00:10:20.570 --> 00:10:24.600 do those things does not come from you working them up in yourself, but 118 00:10:24.720 --> 00:10:31.720 from God working his salvation into you. You may not feel able, but 119 00:10:31.879 --> 00:10:37.470 let me remind you that Jesus is Hebrews seven hundred and twenty five, says 120 00:10:37.509 --> 00:10:46.990 he is able to save completely those who come to God through him because he 121 00:10:46.629 --> 00:10:54.299 always lives to intercede for them. Your prayer life, in other words, 122 00:10:54.460 --> 00:11:03.379 rests entirely on his resurrected life, as Jesus is in the heavenly places interceding 123 00:11:03.500 --> 00:11:07.090 for you. What God has done, then, is to bring you into 124 00:11:07.090 --> 00:11:13.129 a relationship with him that is mediated by the very son of God and empowered 125 00:11:13.169 --> 00:11:18.519 by the spirit of God. As this relates to prayer, you might say 126 00:11:18.639 --> 00:11:24.639 that prayer is like a rope that pulls God and man together, but it 127 00:11:24.759 --> 00:11:31.679 doesn't pull God down to us, it pulls us up to him. That's 128 00:11:31.720 --> 00:11:39.070 a billy Graham quote. Brothers and sisters, when we pray in our own 129 00:11:39.230 --> 00:11:45.429 name, in our own strength, we enter into a fruitless, frustrating task. 130 00:11:46.750 --> 00:11:50.940 It will feel like your prayers are blocked by a ceiling above you, 131 00:11:52.179 --> 00:11:56.220 that they are ineffective, that they are pointless, and that's because they are. 132 00:11:56.700 --> 00:12:00.500 When you pray in your own name, when you pray according to your 133 00:12:00.620 --> 00:12:05.450 will and your strength, they are as effectual as you are, which is 134 00:12:05.649 --> 00:12:11.570 not much. But when we enter, by faith in Jesus name, by 135 00:12:11.649 --> 00:12:16.639 the power of the spirit dwelling within us, into the presence of God, 136 00:12:16.039 --> 00:12:24.960 into his will, communing with him, things change. Of course. He 137 00:12:24.039 --> 00:12:31.230 hears our prayers, we receive his blessings and through this the gift of saving 138 00:12:31.389 --> 00:12:35.149 faith in us is increased and strength and more and more and more and more 139 00:12:35.190 --> 00:12:43.029 and more. So with faith in God, then, father, son and 140 00:12:43.149 --> 00:12:46.500 Holy Spirit. Let's hear this word on prayer from first John Three twenty two, 141 00:12:46.899 --> 00:12:52.299 that we might enter into that blessedness through prayer. And what does he 142 00:12:52.419 --> 00:12:56.139 say? He says, and whatever we ask we receive. From him, 143 00:12:58.419 --> 00:13:05.970 and whatever we ask we receive from him, or is Jesus famelessly says in 144 00:13:07.090 --> 00:13:11.730 Matthew Seven seven, ask and it will be given to you, seek and 145 00:13:11.879 --> 00:13:18.080 you will find, knock and it will be open to you, or if 146 00:13:18.120 --> 00:13:22.440 you will. Let's turn together to Luke Chapter Eleven, and here more of 147 00:13:22.559 --> 00:13:28.269 this, one of the most important passages in the Bible on prayer, is 148 00:13:28.470 --> 00:13:39.669 he or also one of the most encouraging. Luke Chapter Eleven, beginning in 149 00:13:39.750 --> 00:13:43.460 verse five. This is right after he teaches his disciples the Lord's prayer. 150 00:13:46.700 --> 00:13:50.139 Mark my place here in First John so we can get back there easily. 151 00:13:50.419 --> 00:13:56.850 All Right, Luke Eleven, verse five. And he said to them. 152 00:13:56.289 --> 00:14:01.970 Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say 153 00:14:01.009 --> 00:14:05.210 to him, friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine 154 00:14:05.250 --> 00:14:09.129 has arrived on a journey and I have nothing to set before him, and 155 00:14:09.289 --> 00:14:11.679 he will answer from within. Do not bother me. The door is now 156 00:14:11.759 --> 00:14:16.000 shut. My children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and 157 00:14:16.080 --> 00:14:20.080 give you anything. I tell you, though, he will not get up 158 00:14:20.159 --> 00:14:22.679 and give him anything, because he is his friend. Yet because of his 159 00:14:22.759 --> 00:14:28.070 impudence, he will rise and give him whatever he needs, and I tell 160 00:14:28.070 --> 00:14:30.909 you, ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will 161 00:14:30.950 --> 00:14:35.389 find, knock and it will be open to you. For everyone who asks 162 00:14:35.470 --> 00:14:39.460 receives, and the one who seeks finds, and the one who knocks it 163 00:14:39.580 --> 00:14:43.899 will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a 164 00:14:43.059 --> 00:14:46.580 fish, will, instead of a fish, give him a serpent, or 165 00:14:46.659 --> 00:14:50.820 if he asks for an egg, will give him a Scorpion? If you, 166 00:14:52.139 --> 00:14:54.769 then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your 167 00:14:54.850 --> 00:15:00.690 children, how much more will the heavenly father give the Holy Spirit to those 168 00:15:00.730 --> 00:15:13.759 who ask him? So? Jesus says this amazing thing. God is your 169 00:15:13.919 --> 00:15:20.639 father. Ask Him for what you need and he will give you what you 170 00:15:20.679 --> 00:15:31.509 need. Now, in light of this, if you really want to see 171 00:15:31.629 --> 00:15:35.220 what Jesus is saving is from, is saving us from, if you really 172 00:15:35.299 --> 00:15:41.100 want to see exactly how sinful the human heart is, here's an easy way 173 00:15:41.139 --> 00:15:46.940 watch how you can take a promise like this and whatever we ask we receive 174 00:15:48.100 --> 00:15:52.289 from him, put it into the the fleshly machine of the human heart and 175 00:15:52.490 --> 00:15:58.169 watch it just sort of grind and twist this promise up, spit it out 176 00:15:58.169 --> 00:16:03.049 on the other side and offer it as a reason not to pray. What 177 00:16:03.169 --> 00:16:07.519 do I mean? Well, how about this one? Well, if God 178 00:16:07.600 --> 00:16:11.440 is sovereign, prayer doesn't really matter. Why bother if he's going to do 179 00:16:11.559 --> 00:16:17.960 what he's going to do anyway, let me ask you this, wicked little 180 00:16:18.000 --> 00:16:26.429 heart. If you really believed that God was sovereign, King over all things, 181 00:16:26.669 --> 00:16:30.230 capable of making heaven and earth, space and time to bend his will, 182 00:16:32.549 --> 00:16:40.179 would you really so easily disregard his command to pray? Really, would 183 00:16:40.179 --> 00:16:44.500 you really disregard this promise to you, his offer to hear you as a 184 00:16:44.539 --> 00:16:48.370 father to his children? No, you don't believe that he is sovereign. 185 00:16:49.090 --> 00:16:53.649 You believe that you are. You believe that you are in control, not 186 00:16:53.850 --> 00:17:00.330 him, and that's why you don't pray. Or here's another from the devil's 187 00:17:00.330 --> 00:17:03.519 playbook. I'm not going to bother asking for things because I know he won't 188 00:17:03.559 --> 00:17:08.160 give them to me. Well, why won't he give them to you? 189 00:17:10.359 --> 00:17:12.720 Do you think that God is a liar? Is that what you're saying, 190 00:17:15.039 --> 00:17:18.910 that though he says he will, he actually won't? Or let me ask 191 00:17:18.990 --> 00:17:23.029 this, how do you know that he won't give them to you? Are 192 00:17:23.109 --> 00:17:27.910 You God? Maybe you know that he won't give them to you because you 193 00:17:29.069 --> 00:17:33.779 know that the things you ask for are wrong. Maybe it's not really about 194 00:17:33.779 --> 00:17:40.859 God's unwillingness, but it's about your own sinfulness. Maybe you don't ask for 195 00:17:41.059 --> 00:17:45.329 things because you know you shouldn't have them, like a child not asking for 196 00:17:45.369 --> 00:17:48.970 a fifth scoop of ice cream and then being angry at their parents, who 197 00:17:49.009 --> 00:17:53.529 wouldn't give it to him if they asked. We do this with God. 198 00:17:53.690 --> 00:17:57.599 There's things that we know we shouldn't have and so we don't ask for them. 199 00:17:59.640 --> 00:18:03.720 But then we blame God instead of our sinful hearts, for not really 200 00:18:03.759 --> 00:18:07.240 giving us the things that we don't ask for. Like I said, it 201 00:18:07.440 --> 00:18:11.640 just a sort of mixed up, confused thing. Instead of being thankful for 202 00:18:11.759 --> 00:18:18.430 God's teaching, we grumble against him, as though he were unwilling. Maybe 203 00:18:18.549 --> 00:18:23.069 why we don't ask has less to do about God's will and more about our 204 00:18:23.190 --> 00:18:30.299 will. Or maybe it's because you think what you ask is too small. 205 00:18:30.900 --> 00:18:34.940 The God is unconcerned with those things. You think that God doesn't care about 206 00:18:36.019 --> 00:18:41.180 small things. Maybe. Well, we heard from Luke Eleven. Let's hear 207 00:18:41.259 --> 00:18:45.650 from Luke Twelve, where Jesus says you can buy five sparrows for two pennies. 208 00:18:45.690 --> 00:18:52.089 He's basically saying sparrows are essentially worth nothing. Right you can get a 209 00:18:52.089 --> 00:18:55.250 lot of them for very little. Five sparrows for two pennies. And he 210 00:18:55.410 --> 00:18:57.759 goes on, he says, yet not one of them is forgotten before God. 211 00:19:00.440 --> 00:19:06.119 Do you hear them right now? Every single one of them? God 212 00:19:06.279 --> 00:19:11.470 knows. He's providing food for them, he's taking care of them. Why? 213 00:19:11.509 --> 00:19:17.269 Jesus says, even the hairs on your head are numbered. Fear not, 214 00:19:18.109 --> 00:19:25.180 you are of more value than many sparrows. God controls all the details 215 00:19:25.420 --> 00:19:30.259 in your life. Nothing and no one is too small for God. I 216 00:19:30.539 --> 00:19:33.819 ask God to help me find my car keys, and he answers that prayer 217 00:19:33.900 --> 00:19:41.930 a lot, unfortunately. I heard it said of Charles spurgeon that he never 218 00:19:41.089 --> 00:19:45.410 prayed for more than five minutes, but he never went more than five minutes 219 00:19:45.450 --> 00:19:52.640 without prayer. However much that's true, and I'm sure it is true at 220 00:19:52.680 --> 00:20:00.279 least in it's general sense of what it means. It's true because spurgeon understood 221 00:20:00.759 --> 00:20:07.789 that you give everything to God, you don't withhold parts of yourself up from 222 00:20:07.829 --> 00:20:11.470 him, you don't doubt him, you don't not trust him, you don't 223 00:20:11.470 --> 00:20:18.269 stay away from him. All of that is about you being in control and 224 00:20:18.430 --> 00:20:22.460 doubting him anyway. You see what I mean about our hearts. Only the 225 00:20:22.619 --> 00:20:27.019 sinful human heart could take a promise like this. Whatever you ask, you 226 00:20:27.099 --> 00:20:32.099 will receive from him. Twist it up, walk away and then blame God. 227 00:20:33.859 --> 00:20:37.210 Even a dog wouldn't do that. You put the promise of a treat 228 00:20:37.250 --> 00:20:41.769 before a dog, a bone or a toy, and they will wiggle and 229 00:20:41.890 --> 00:20:47.890 they will squirm as long as it's there. And here's one more. If 230 00:20:47.970 --> 00:20:52.240 you really want to see what your priorities are, imagine how you might respond 231 00:20:52.319 --> 00:20:56.119 if, instead of God saying he would give you whatever you ask, it 232 00:20:56.279 --> 00:21:00.319 was a new employer, let's say, asking what kind of perks you would 233 00:21:00.319 --> 00:21:07.349 like. Anything's on the table, or a rich friend saying happy fifty birthday. 234 00:21:07.470 --> 00:21:10.670 This one's for you. Whatever you want. It's yours. I mean 235 00:21:10.789 --> 00:21:15.029 it, whatever you want. What would you do with that? Well, 236 00:21:15.069 --> 00:21:18.779 you'd probably start making lists. What should I ask for? This is really 237 00:21:18.779 --> 00:21:22.140 exciting. You'd go tell other people about it. Right, you wouldn't spend 238 00:21:22.220 --> 00:21:30.299 a single moment not pursuing those gifts. But yet, when it comes to 239 00:21:30.380 --> 00:21:36.250 God, who actually is infinitely wealthy, infinitely in control and promises to be 240 00:21:36.289 --> 00:21:37.730 a father who loves you. We say, Oh, yeah, he probably 241 00:21:37.730 --> 00:21:48.279 doesn't mean it. God. Why does this happen, this insane, sinful 242 00:21:48.440 --> 00:21:53.119 attitude towards our heavenly father? It happens because, as Paul said, the 243 00:21:53.359 --> 00:22:02.430 flesh is opposed to spiritual things. There at war with each other. Noticing 244 00:22:02.509 --> 00:22:06.589 that is half the battle, but the other half is trust in God to 245 00:22:06.789 --> 00:22:15.150 actually change things. I hope you're beginning to feel and to remember how weak 246 00:22:15.190 --> 00:22:22.019 your flesh is. It is weak, and that's why God gives us his 247 00:22:22.180 --> 00:22:27.460 spirit to put wind in the sails, to put fire in the engine, 248 00:22:29.299 --> 00:22:33.369 to change things. Do you want a change of heart? Do you want 249 00:22:33.369 --> 00:22:38.730 to trust God more than you do? Then it's time to believe what he 250 00:22:38.930 --> 00:22:45.039 says, to simply admit your weakness before your father, go to him and 251 00:22:45.160 --> 00:22:49.559 hit the strength that he's promised you in the name of his son, by 252 00:22:49.599 --> 00:22:57.240 the power of his spirit, and with that prayer, that position of faith 253 00:22:57.279 --> 00:23:03.869 underneath the God who speaks, then were prepared to hear this promise, and 254 00:23:04.109 --> 00:23:11.390 whatever we ask we shall receive from him. We understand it by standing under 255 00:23:11.390 --> 00:23:18.339 him, not by standing over him and saying well, so how do we 256 00:23:18.420 --> 00:23:23.900 understand it? This phrase, this promise, this doctrine, whatever we ask 257 00:23:25.099 --> 00:23:30.049 we shall receive from him. Well, of course it has to be qualified 258 00:23:30.089 --> 00:23:34.890 if we're going to understand it fully incorrectly. Every true statement has qualifications. 259 00:23:37.490 --> 00:23:41.720 Take another verse from this chapter, First John, three nine. The Sun 260 00:23:41.880 --> 00:23:45.960 appeared to destroy the works of the devil. That's true, but we also 261 00:23:45.960 --> 00:23:49.079 have to understand that in light of first Timothy One hundred and fifteen, which 262 00:23:49.119 --> 00:23:55.039 says that Jesus came into the world to save sinners. We don't put those 263 00:23:55.079 --> 00:23:56.670 in opposition, right. We don't say, well, he came to destroy 264 00:23:56.710 --> 00:24:00.789 the works of the devil but not save sinners, or that he came to 265 00:24:00.829 --> 00:24:03.470 save sinners but not destroy the works of the devil. Right, they go 266 00:24:03.630 --> 00:24:10.140 together and we understand what he's saying more fully and more richly when we take 267 00:24:10.259 --> 00:24:15.859 them together. And this is true always of God's word qualifications. That are 268 00:24:15.900 --> 00:24:22.019 not a bad thing, but we can't qualify something in any way we want. 269 00:24:22.900 --> 00:24:26.450 In other words, we have to understand every scripture in the light of 270 00:24:26.529 --> 00:24:33.650 every other scripture, letting the clearer things interpret the less clear things to ignore, 271 00:24:33.529 --> 00:24:38.440 either on purpose or by accident. Other relevant scriptures is like having a 272 00:24:38.559 --> 00:24:42.079 half a key and trying to get into your house. This is not going 273 00:24:42.119 --> 00:24:45.599 to work. It is half the key and that's great. So far, 274 00:24:45.759 --> 00:24:49.440 so good, but it's not going to do you much good. or You 275 00:24:49.480 --> 00:24:53.910 could compare it to something else. Having a portion of God's word and thinking 276 00:24:53.950 --> 00:24:57.430 of it of the whole thing is like having a stripe of red and calling 277 00:24:57.509 --> 00:25:06.990 at the rainbow. It's just not true and it's misinformed. We can't pick 278 00:25:07.109 --> 00:25:11.140 and choose from God's word. How would you like it if someone did that 279 00:25:11.299 --> 00:25:15.940 to you, choosing bits and pieces of what you said to make it different 280 00:25:15.019 --> 00:25:22.170 than what you fully meant, and so going to other passages to understand what 281 00:25:22.329 --> 00:25:27.809 is meant by a phrase like this is not a problem, it's a requirement. 282 00:25:27.849 --> 00:25:33.369 And for this verse and First John Three, we don't have to go 283 00:25:33.529 --> 00:25:37.400 very far, because in first John Five, just a chapter and a half 284 00:25:37.440 --> 00:25:41.720 later, he says that we pray according to his will, and that's how 285 00:25:41.759 --> 00:25:51.549 we receive the things we ask for, according to his will. Whenever we 286 00:25:51.910 --> 00:26:00.630 ask according to his will, we will and always receive from him. It's 287 00:26:00.670 --> 00:26:06.940 often said that prayer is a dynamic thing. It's simply talking with God a 288 00:26:07.220 --> 00:26:14.500 conversation, and that is true. But when we talk with God, we 289 00:26:14.819 --> 00:26:19.930 must do so in a way that aligns our will with his, and we 290 00:26:21.049 --> 00:26:23.849 forget this about prayer. When we forget it about prayer, that's why we 291 00:26:25.130 --> 00:26:30.210 don't pray. Yes, we talk with God, but we talk with him 292 00:26:30.210 --> 00:26:34.400 as supplicants to a Lord, as supplicants to a Lord, we talk with 293 00:26:34.440 --> 00:26:40.640 him as children to a father, as servants to a master. Yes, 294 00:26:40.839 --> 00:26:45.440 prayers about a conversation, or is a conversation, and we ought to be 295 00:26:45.519 --> 00:26:49.230 a hundred percent honest with God about where we are, about how we feel, 296 00:26:51.190 --> 00:26:56.349 but it's not a conversation of equals or conversation about us in charge. 297 00:26:56.430 --> 00:27:03.619 We're not advising God in our prayers. We're not bargaining with God or encouraging 298 00:27:03.740 --> 00:27:08.140 him to act in such and such a way. We are beggars, pleaders, 299 00:27:08.420 --> 00:27:15.809 petitioners, thankers and praisers. All this means that we should never even 300 00:27:15.970 --> 00:27:23.529 desire for him to give us whatever we want. We should only in always 301 00:27:23.609 --> 00:27:32.559 desire to get whatever we want according to the spirit. Why would sinful things, 302 00:27:32.599 --> 00:27:37.480 things that are against God's will, or even things that simply are things 303 00:27:37.559 --> 00:27:45.069 that he doesn't desire not necessarily morally wrong. Why would we want them? 304 00:27:45.109 --> 00:27:48.309 Why would that even be a consideration? Why would we ever, in other 305 00:27:48.349 --> 00:27:52.230 words, read this verse and say, well, I know that God won't 306 00:27:52.230 --> 00:27:57.579 give me whatever I want. What? Why are you even thinking like that? 307 00:27:59.259 --> 00:28:02.220 Why would you even ask that? Why would you even process this in 308 00:28:02.299 --> 00:28:06.859 that way? Why would we ever think that that's what God might mean? 309 00:28:07.539 --> 00:28:11.500 And then is renegging on that promise? Of course that's not what he means. 310 00:28:12.569 --> 00:28:17.450 The only reason we would ever consider that God would be required to give 311 00:28:17.490 --> 00:28:21.970 us anything and everything that we want is because we think that we know better 312 00:28:22.089 --> 00:28:26.519 than he does. Now, of course, sometimes God does give us exactly 313 00:28:26.640 --> 00:28:34.440 what we want, and it ain't pretty. It can be disastrous, especially 314 00:28:34.519 --> 00:28:40.880 if we don't belong to him as his children. God gave Pharaoh up to 315 00:28:40.920 --> 00:28:45.869 the hardness of his heart, and Romans to God taught. God talks about 316 00:28:45.349 --> 00:28:48.670 giving people up to the lusts of their heart. That's what you want, 317 00:28:48.710 --> 00:28:52.589 go after it, and they go after it right on into hell. It's 318 00:28:52.710 --> 00:28:59.859 terrible. They get what they want, but for us who belong to God, 319 00:28:59.980 --> 00:29:03.420 who are his children, this is who he is talking to. is 320 00:29:03.500 --> 00:29:10.769 He gives this promise. He gives us whatever we ask, not according to 321 00:29:10.849 --> 00:29:15.769 our sinful inclinations, are misunderstandings, are confusion, our lack of knowledge and 322 00:29:15.849 --> 00:29:18.970 so forth. He gives us whatever we ask as it is for our salvation. 323 00:29:22.289 --> 00:29:26.640 Now I'll go back to Augustine. Augustine has a great way of putting 324 00:29:26.680 --> 00:29:32.319 this. He says that we have to distinguish God's different ways of hearing prayer. 325 00:29:33.400 --> 00:29:37.559 We can be heard for our wish or we can be heard for our 326 00:29:37.720 --> 00:29:41.309 salvation, and he gives some great examples. He talks about Paul. You 327 00:29:41.390 --> 00:29:47.869 remember Paul Praying about the thorn in his flesh and he says three times I 328 00:29:48.230 --> 00:29:53.859 prayed and the Lord said No. The Lord said no, and Augustine says, 329 00:29:55.059 --> 00:29:57.980 so, are we supposed to think that Paul is this unholy person who 330 00:29:57.980 --> 00:30:02.900 doesn't obey the Lord and that's why the Lord's not answering this prayer? No, 331 00:30:03.059 --> 00:30:07.809 of course not. The Lord doesn't answer this prayer because he wants to 332 00:30:07.930 --> 00:30:15.450 be perfected through Paul's weakness. He wants Paul to be perfected and grow into 333 00:30:15.450 --> 00:30:19.210 the strength of the Lord. The Lord doesn't answer Paul, Augustine says, 334 00:30:19.329 --> 00:30:23.359 and rightly according to his wish, but he does answer him according to his 335 00:30:23.559 --> 00:30:29.359 cell Vation. You can see this on a flip side of the coin. 336 00:30:29.799 --> 00:30:33.519 Think about the demons who said to Jesus, please, please, send us 337 00:30:33.519 --> 00:30:38.069 into the swine. Did he hear them? Did he answer their prayer, 338 00:30:40.029 --> 00:30:44.829 the prayer of the demons? Yes, he did. He gave them exactly 339 00:30:44.910 --> 00:30:49.299 what they answer for and he sent them into the herd of pigs. But 340 00:30:49.420 --> 00:30:55.059 did he answer them according to their salvation? Were these demons saved? Was 341 00:30:55.140 --> 00:30:59.099 the devil saved when he went before God and he asked to tempt job? 342 00:31:00.700 --> 00:31:06.369 No, but did he get what he asked for? Yes. So Augustine, 343 00:31:06.529 --> 00:31:10.009 as I said, rightly says we have to distinguish these ways in which 344 00:31:10.089 --> 00:31:14.009 God hears us or the ways in which God answers our prayers. Is it 345 00:31:14.089 --> 00:31:18.529 according to our sort of bear wish, or is it according to our salvation? 346 00:31:21.200 --> 00:31:25.000 Both were heard and both were not heard, but in different ways. 347 00:31:26.039 --> 00:31:30.039 Paul was heard according to his wish, but not or not according to his 348 00:31:30.200 --> 00:31:34.069 wish, but according to his salvation. Satan and the demons were heard according 349 00:31:34.109 --> 00:31:40.069 to their wish but not according to their salvation. Now, ideally we get 350 00:31:40.150 --> 00:31:42.990 both right. We wish for things that according to God's will, that are 351 00:31:44.029 --> 00:31:52.900 according to our salvation and often the things that we ask for our but what 352 00:31:52.019 --> 00:31:57.460 about those cases in that were simply don't know? Then we trust the God 353 00:31:57.500 --> 00:32:04.450 who does know, the God who is sovereign. That's why we trust him 354 00:32:04.529 --> 00:32:09.450 and we pray as Jesus taught as to pray. Thy Kingdom come, THY 355 00:32:09.650 --> 00:32:16.200 will be done on earth as it is in heaven. So I'll finish this 356 00:32:16.319 --> 00:32:23.799 way. Does God give us whatever we ask? Yes, God gives us 357 00:32:23.839 --> 00:32:30.150 whatever we ask when we ask, according to his will. And what is 358 00:32:30.349 --> 00:32:36.470 his will for us, as those who have been bought with a price, 359 00:32:37.750 --> 00:32:40.269 those who have been named children of God through the Son of God? What 360 00:32:40.670 --> 00:32:47.059 is his will? It is to give us a complete and perfect salvation in 361 00:32:47.180 --> 00:32:53.019 Christ, to give us the regeneration of our whole selves, from top to 362 00:32:53.339 --> 00:32:59.250 bottom, from inside to out, so that we might enjoy him forever and 363 00:32:59.609 --> 00:33:05.690 all of his gifts forever in a blessed and Eternal State of glory. That 364 00:33:06.170 --> 00:33:13.440 is God's will. You can't ask for anything more than that, and you 365 00:33:13.559 --> 00:33:17.319 shouldn't ask for anything less. Let's pray