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Month: July 2014

Asking For Too Little For Wrong Reasons

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When it comes to prayer, do we ask for too little for the wrong reasons? Do we petition God for small things for ourselves when we should ask for God-sized things for His glory?

The apostle Paul was not afraid to ask God for extravagant blessings on behalf of others. In his letter to the Ephesians, he writes of his praying for the Ephesian believers to be “filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (Eph 3:19).

Peter O’Brien writes of this passage: “Has the apostle ‘gone over the top?'” Has he asked for too much? “No,” writes O’Brien, “for it is impossible to ask for too much since the Father’s giving exceeds their capacity for asking or even imagining” (see Eph. 3:20-21).

Paul wanted the Ephesian believers to experience God in his fullness for by doing so, he knew that God would be glorified as they delighted in knowing the depth of who He was. In addition, for God to answer such a prayer, it would show His goodness and mercy.

The key to Paul’s petitions to God were based upon God being known and glorified, not Paul’s personal will or comfort. In the New Testament letter written by James, we see the danger of asking God for things that are for our own selfish desires. James writes: You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions (James 4:3).

God not answering our selfish prayers is not a bad thing however. What would it be like if parents gave in to all the selfish requests of their children? We do not always know what is best for us. We should be thankful that God doesn’t always give us what we think we need or want.

We must understand, however, that God desires to give us good things and those good things revolve around His glory and His making Himself known in your life.

We must also realize that God is not stingy in giving. The reason why we sometimes think He is is because we ask for things for our own glory and passions which could lead to our downfall.

One story that I particularly like in showing that we might be insulting God with our small ambitions is one that is told and written by Tim Keller. It is a story (most likely apocryphal) about Alexander the Great, who had a general whose daughter was getting married.

Alexander valued this solder greatly and offered to pay for the wedding. When the general gave Alexander’s steward the bill, it was absolutely enormous. The steward came to Alexander and named the sum.

To his surprise Alexander smiled and said, “Pay it! Don’t you see–by asking me for such an enormous sum he does me great honor. He shows that he believes I am both rich and generous.”

Do we believe that God is rich and generous? Do we believe He wants to show Himself to those around us? Do we believe that He can send revival to your church and community? Let’s pray!

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Can’t Keep Quiet

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There were told to quit talking about Jesus. Peter and John had caused enough trouble and the religious leaders were annoyed at them “proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.” So they wanted them quiet!

But Peter and John could not be hushed that easily. When they were ordered to speak no more to anyone about Jesus, they answered:

Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard (Acts 4:19-20).

Why couldn’t they be quiet? Rolland Allen in his book The Spontaneous Expansion of The Church: And The Causes That Hinder It, writes…

If we seek the cause which produces rapid expansion when a new faith seized hold of men who fell able and free to propagate it spontaneously of their own initiative, we find its roots in a certain natural instinct.

This instinct is admirably expressed in a saying of Archytas of Tarentum quoted by Cicero, “If a man ascended to Heaven and saw the beautiful nature of the world and of the stars, his feeling of wonder, in itself most delightful, would lose its sweetness if he had not someone to whom he could tell it.”

This is the instinctive force which drives me even at the risk of life itself to impart to others a new-found joy: that is why it is proverbially difficult to keep a secret. 

It is not surprising then that when Christians are scattered and feel solitary this craving for fellowship should demand an outlet, especially when the hope of the Gospel and the experience of its power is something new and wonderful.

But in Christians there is more than this natural instinct. The Spirit of Christ is a Spirit who longs for, and strives after, the salvation of the woulds of men, and that spirit dwells in them. 

The Spirit converts the natural instinct into a longing for the conversion of others which is indeed divine in its source and character. 

Some things are so good that we just can’t keep quiet. Do we understand the gospel as one of those things? Do we see gospel as something so glorious that even angels long to look (1 Peter 1:12)?

May our eyes be opened today to see what we have in Christ and as a result, be compelled by the Spirit of God to make such incredible news known!

 

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