CONCERT OF PRAYER

Pray Week 766

“How Much More”

Matthew 7:11 (NLT) If you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.

————————————————————————————

You may have heard people in Christian circles say: “Be careful what you ask for in prayer, you just may get it”.  This is a common saying heard among church folk and it is wrong, wrong, wrong!  This type of saying belies a deep rooted attitude of distrust and a lack of faith in who God is.  It speaks of an attitude of heart that desires the temporal comforts of the flesh and of this world over the eternal best that our Father in Heaven has for His children.  Such words indicate a lack of heart knowledge of the true character of God.

Various cults and mythology have false gods that are seen as toying with mankind for their amusement or just wreaking havoc in our lives for the fun of it.  Is this your view of the one, true God, our creator and Father in Heaven?  Is this your view of God, who loves you so much as to suffer and die for your sins?  Is this the view of God you want to portray to those who are in need of salvation through Jesus Christ?

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. – John 3:16

The Word of God does not teach us to approach God in prayer like a lawyer seeking to manipulate a favorable decision with carefully chosen words.  Rather we are exhorted to come to Him like a child to their Father.  We are encouraged to ask, seek, and knock.

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. – Matthew 7:7

God’s Word teaches us to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and not to worry about the things of this world that we need because God already knows that we need them and like a good Father, He will provide for His children.

I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread. – Psalm 37:25

When our heart’s desire and motive is to seek first a personal relationship with God and His righteousness our prayer life becomes more worshipful and intimate like a child comforted in their daddy’s arms.  We see God as ‘Abba’ and not as a genie in a bottle to do our bidding.  Our motive in prayer must be based upon a sincere, loving relationship with Father God.

You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. – James 4:3

Resolve to remove sayings from your vocabulary that place stumbling blocks in your path as well as the path of others.  Seek to go beyond an intellectual understanding of God’s character and gain a heart knowledge of how much more Father God loves you and cares for you.

I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. – Jeremiah 29:11

Close in prayer, thanksgiving & dedication of your work to the glory of God.