In The Name Of...

Asking And

Receiving

John 14:13,14, "And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it."

John 15:16, "Ye have no chosen me,  but I have chosen you, and ordained you that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you."

John 16:23,26, "And in that day ye shall ask me nothing, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you."

Ephesians 5:20, "Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."

The "Health and Wealth" Gospel

            The "health and wealth" gospel is a perversion of Scriptural asking and receiving.  There are "religious" people who teach that asking in the name of Jesus is nothing more than asking for physical health and material wealth.  Some of these people declare that they were in need of $1,000.00, and they only had $100.00.  They felt God lead them to give their last bit of money to Him, then very soon afterwards, they came into the exact amount of money they needed.  Their theory is the exact opposite of Scriptural tithing.  Tithing is when we give God, through His local church, 10% of our earnings.  The "health and wealth" gospel teaches that God will give us 1000% of what we give to Him.  This theory is not taught in Scripture, but is the perverted thinking of those deceivers who can think only in physical or material terms.  Spiritual matters are beyond their understanding.

What does it mean to ask in the name of Christ?

            Asking in the name of Christ is asking in the authority or power of God.  It is when a person realizes he doesn't have any power or authority to help himself, confess that Jesus Christ does have the power, and ask Him to deliver him.  It is useless to pray to God to do something when we fully intend to handle things ourselves, without relying on God to direct us.

            Consider the lesson in chapter one on the authority of Christ to save sinners.  Only Christ can save a sinner, and He will save a sinner only when that sinner comes to him while he is still in his sinfulness, confessing that he is absolutely helpless to save himself and totally, completely dependent upon Christ to save him.  It is at this point that the sinner is saved.  If the sinner comes to Christ, trusting Christ 99% and himself 1%, he will not be saved, because he thinks he has some goodness to bring to Christ and is not fully trusting Him.

            Next, consider the lesson in chapter two on the authority of Christ to baptize.  Baptism is a life-changing experience for it is an outward submitting to the authority of Christ.  It is a declaration to the world that the saved person is dead to the old life, and will, from this day forward, live like Christ would have him live.  Those people who do not change their lives after baptism had no change before baptism.  Baptism was not baptism to them, but a "ducking" under.  Baptism is an experience of the authority of God in their lives.

            The title of this chapter is "Asking in the authority of Jesus."  With the background of the first two chapters, we can see that praying in the name of Jesus is a lot more than simply closing our prayer by saying "in the name of Jesus."  It's always good to close our prayer with the words, "I ask these things in the name of Jesus," but saying these words doesn't necessarily mean anything.  If you know that asking in the name of Jesus is the same as asking in the power of Jesus, then other people that hear you pray will understand that you are totally depending on Christ to grant your requests.  The only way we can really ask in the authority of Jesus is when we have run out of all our strength.  That's when we really get down to business.  Many of our prayers never get "above the ceiling" because we are still clinging to our own strength, not realizing we don't have any strength.

            We must come to Jesus just as the lost sinner comes to Jesus for salvation, without any strength.  Exactly the same principle applies to praying in the name of Jesus.  For example we can say, "We have the strength to do so and so."  We can then pray in our own strength and God will leave us alone, letting us flounder in our own weakness.  On the other hand, when we see our helplessness, and come to the Lord in His strength, He will answer our prayers.  When we understand that the answer to our prayers is not in our strength, but in God's strength, He will hear and answer.  God will not hear or answer a prayer that is full of pride.  God will not answer our prayers when we are filled with our own wicked ways.  If a husband and wife have a very serious disagreement, their prayers are hindered before God (I Peter 3:7).

 The Blessings of Having No Strength

            Asking in the authority of Jesus is coming to the end of our own strength, knowing that we can do nothing.  One of the most pleasurable experiences in this life is getting to the place that we can't go ahead; we cannot go back; we cannot go to the right or left; we cannot go up or down.  It may not seem pleasurable, but when we get to a place like that in our life, God is there.  When we fall on our knees in our heart, God is there.  We may be standing up, but the knees of our heart are bent.  We call on the Lord, praying, "I've reached the end.  I am in an impossible situation.  I cannot get out of it.  I cannot find the way.  There is no door opened.  Lord, you and only you can fix me right now."  That is when the Lord opens a door we didn't even know was there. 

            In Genesis 21, Hagar was cast out of the house of Abraham and Sarah.  Abraham provided her some food and water, and when it was gone, Hagar hid her son under a bush because she didn't want to see him die.  She went off a little way and lay down.  It seemed there was no help for her and her son.  Genesis 21:16,17 states that God heard the voice of the lad and spoke unto Hagar, opening her eyes so she could see a well of water.  That's just the way it is with us.  It is not until we reach an impassable part of our life that we realize the power of God.  The problem is: we don't like those situations.  Human nature works in us as much as it works in anybody else, and we don't like to be in a situation that we can't control.  We're all that way; everyone of us. We'd like to know what is going to happen tomorrow.  We want everything arranged in sequence, being able to control the circumstances of our lives so that things happen just like we want them to.  But things don't happen like that.  Not in this life. 

            II Cor. 12:7-10 says, "And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.  For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.  And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.  Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."  I think Paul would say, "That's the only time I'm strong."  Paul learned that the troubles and afflictions of this present world are a great and glorious thing.  We ought to take the affliction of this world just like God said we ought to take them.  We all have a lot of trouble with that, but it's when we began to walk by faith that we really get in touch with God and find God has the solution to all our problems.  Paul's strength came not from within, but from God who gave him inner-strength.  When he didn't have anything to trust in; when he got to the place that everything was falling apart; he knew that God was still there.  That is the reason, sometimes, that we have so many problems.  We have never learned what God wants us to learn.  God has a plan, he wants us to learn to trust Him.  He wants us to learn that He is able to supply anything at all that we ask for.  Remember, the only time we are really asking in the name of Jesus is when we know we don't have the strength, and are looking to Jesus to supply those things we cannot supply ourselves.

Asking by Faith

            Walking by faith and asking in the authority of Jesus goes hand-in-hand.  Anytime we walk by sight, we can ask in the name of Jesus, but our prayers aren't answered.  Anytime we walk by faith, we can ask and it will be given to us. 

            How does that work?  Like this: When we are living by sight, we think we can control our destiny.  We think we can control at least some of the aspects of our life.  We think, "I can cause this to happen, and that not to happen, I can arrange this and rearrange that, I can handle these things."  So we don't need to ask the Lord for anything.  We're doing it all.  We don't need Him, for we have control of our life.  But when we begin to walk by faith, we cannot see where we are going.  We cannot see the next step.  It's like walking in our house at night with the lights off.  When we begin to walk by faith, we don't know where everything is, but our memory, working with the Word of God, will show us where the hazards are.  We avoid hazards because we are doing what God said.  We cautiously put one foot in front of another, because we don't want to stub our toe on the drawer that somebody didn't close or because we thought the chair was right over there when it's actually right here.  We walk cautiously when we walk by faith.  But we know we can pray to God and he'll hear and answer our prayers. 

            The following article by the late J. E. Abbott reveals what it means to walk by faith.

One night as I lay sleeping I had this wonderful dream.  I thought I was walking along a path through the woods when I came out to an open place.  I thought it was a wide sandy beach running down to a long body of water.  I walked down to the water and saw it was real dark and muddy.  I looked across this water and saw a city on a small hill on the other side.  I thought the houses were a chalk white and just glistened in the sun, as I looked.  I said, "Now, that is home, that is where I want to go, but how can I ever get over there?"  I looked as far as I could see to the right and then looked as far as I could to the left and all I could see was that muddy, muddy water with no way around it.  As I was looking I heard a loud voice from the elements above me saying, "THIS IS THE AWFUL QUAGMIRE OF SIN."

As I was looking I saw others come down to the water and look across, then go back into the woods and drag logs and chunks down to the water, get on them, and start to go across.  Some would get just a little way, others would get quite a little way farther out into the water when the log or chunk that they were on would turn, and they would slide off into the water and with a loud wail or scream, they would go down.  The last thing I would see was their hands as they went under.

I was standing there wondering how I would get across, for there seemed no way to get around and all these people seemed to fail to make it across by their own works or efforts, for not one of them had got across.

As I stood there wondering what to do, I heard that same voice say, "JUST TRUST ME AND I WILL CARRY YOU SAFELY OVER."

Without doubting or wondering when I heard the voice, I walked to the edge of the water, then lifted my foot and stepped out over the water.  Just as my foot was ready to touch the water, a small mound of earth just large enough to hold my foot rose out of the water.  I took another step and again another mound of earth just large enough to hold my foot rose out of the water, and I continued on that way till I had got across to the other side. When I had got across I looked down and there was not one bit of mud on my shoes.  Soon I was up the little hill and in the city and, then I woke up.  I lay there the rest of that night thinking about that dream.  When I got up, I told my wife about the dream and told her I believed it had some kind of meaning to it.

After breakfast, I went to the field to work (for I was farming at that time).  While I was working about the middle of the morning, some things begin to come to my mind, and here they are.  In Hebrews chapter eleven, from verse ten to sixteen, it tells us Abraham was a pilgrim and a stranger here in this world, and he was looking for a City God had prepared for His own.

Then I thought of the song by Arthur Ingler about the Pearly White City John saw coming down.  Then I thought we are all Pilgrims and strangers in this world and we are looking for that City God has prepared for His own.

Then I thought we must all go through this world of sin before we can reach that heavenly Home, and we can never make it by our own works and efforts, we will fail every time, and go down to doom and despair.  But if we trust Him He will carry us safely through to our heavenly Home.

Yes, just trust Him, not a year at a time, or a month at a time, or a day at a time, but just a step at a time.  When God tells us to step and it is ours to step, it is God's to furnish the firm foundation for our foot to rest upon.

Yes, if we trust Him one step at a time, He will carry us safely through this old sinful world to our heavenly Home.

I used to be a person who would get blue and discouraged very easy.  But ever since I had that dream, if things get dark and discouraging it seems like I can hear that voice again saying, "JUST TRUST ME, AND I WILL CARRY YOU SAFELY OVER."

And praise His Name, He will, for I have tried Him and found it to be true.

Help!!

I've Asked In The Name of Jesus and Still My Prayers Aren't Answered.

            There are those people who pray "in the name of Jesus" and nothing ever happens.  So they conclude something is wrong with God.  It's not that something is wrong with God.  It is that those people are not asking the way God wants them to ask.  I know a junior high school teacher who wants his students to call him "Mr.  Gaskin."  When the students called him, "Hey you," or "teach," or "Larry," he ignores them.  Mr. Gaskin wasn't being mean, he was teaching his students to have respect for those in authority.  God wants us to show respect for Him, and He doesn't answer our prayers when we ask in the wrong way.

            Matt.  7:21 says, "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven."  This passage will further confirm that simply saying "in the name of" means nothing.  There are a lot of people who will die and go to hell, even though they have said the "right words."  Verse 22,23 reads, "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name?  and in thy name have cast out devils?  and in thy name done many wonderful works?  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."

            These verses also fit into chapter five entitled "Satan's Power," but we are going to use the passage to show that just because we use the phrase "in the name of," does not mean that God hears our prayers, or that we are even doing the will of God. The people in this passage are saying they have preached, cast out devils and done many wonderful works in the Name of Jesus, but He said, "I never knew you."  You see, the phrase is not what counts, it's the condition of the heart that makes the difference.  When you are burdened about the work that must be done, God will hear your prayer.  When you look on the fields that are white unto harvest, whether you are looking at the local community, or the whole world, and pray with a prayer that is totally committed to God's will, God will hear that prayer.  Will God reach those people?  I don't know what God will do.  What God does with our prayers is His business, not ours.  Our business is to be where God wants us to be, doing what He wants us to be doing, and letting Him take care of everything else.  I do know this: if we're burdened about the condition of those around us, and we assemble together and talk about those things, God hears and writes it down in a book of remembrance and one of these days He will call it back (Mal. 3:16-18).  God hears; God sees; and God knows when we pray earnestly.  He also knows when we are just playing around.

            In Nehemiah 1:1-3, Nehemiah asked about the condition of Jerusalem and how everything was going.  He was told and his heart was broken.  The Bible says he prayed certain days and was sad.  It distressed him to the extent that he couldn't think about anything else.  He was a high official in Babylon, but seemingly couldn't do anything to restore Jerusalem.  As Nehemiah went about his daily tasks he devised a plan to help Jerusalem, if he only had the authority.  One day he went in before the king and the king asked him why he was sad.  Today, it is not a very serious offence to employers if their employees are sad, but in that day, it was a very serious offence.  The king had the right to kill Nehemiah because of his sadness.  Nehemiah said "Why should I not be sad when the gates of my city lay in destruction?"  The king said, "What do you need?"  Nehemiah prayed and said, "Here is what I need."  The king gave Nehemiah the authority to go to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls and Nehemiah went.  God heard Nehemiah's prayer and granted him grace to go to Jerusalem and rebuild the wall, all because of a broken heart.

Ten Reasons Our Prayers Are Not Answered

James 4:1-11

1.   James 4:1,2 says, "From whence come wars and fightings among you?  come thy not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?  Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not."

            There are a lot of reasons we don't have what we desire and one of those reasons is because we don't ask.  Matt. 7:7,8 declares, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for everyone that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened."  Don't be surprised if you don't receive when you ask the first time.

            The great prophet, Elijah, didn't receive when he asked the first time.  A careful reading of James 5:17,18 and I Kings 18:44, indicates that Elijah prayed more than once to stop the rain, and more than once to bring the rain again.  In II Kings 4:32-35, Elisha stretched himself on the dead child at least two times.

            The widow woman in Luke 18: 1-8 cried unto the king until she was avenged.  Jesus declares to us, "Hear what the unjust judge saith.  And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?  I tell you that he will avenge them speedily.  Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?"

            Don't be discouraged when it seems God isn't listening.  Keep on praying, seeking, and knocking.  God will answer your prayers.

2.   James 4:3 states, "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts." 

            Sometimes we don't receive what we asked for because we haven't asked that God be glorified, but that we be satisfied.  We might say, "I've asked in the name of Jesus, but He just hasn't given like He said he would."  Remember, God always does it right; we have done it wrong.  If we haven't asked for the glory of God, He won't supply.

            For example, all of us have had times of financial trouble.  During those times, it is easy to pray that God supply our needs.  But how many of us pray that our needs be supplied for God's glory?  If we are praying that our needs be supplied simply so we will have the necessities of life, we are praying in vain. 

3.   James 4:4 says, "Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?  whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God."

            God won't answer our prayers, even if we pray in his name, if we are going to mix with the world and be like the world.  That's why John 15:7 says, "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you."  We must abide in Christ.

4.   James 4:5 tells us, "Do ye think that the Scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?"

            The Spirit that dwells in us is the Holy Spirit of God.  The Holy Spirit will not intercede ."..for us with groanings which cannot be uttered" (Romans 8:26) if we do not intend to use those things for the glory and honor of God.  It is inconceivable that a husband would give his wife money so she could spend a night "out on the town" with another man.  It is just as inconceivable that God will allow us to have things we intend to use to gratify the lusts of the flesh.

5.   James 4:6 states, "but he giveth more grace.  Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble."

            God will not answer our prayers when we are full of pride.  One of the most difficult things to see is pride when it is in us.  It is not difficult to see pride in someone else, the problem is for me to see my pride.  We must pray that God will reveal our foolish pride to us, and we shouldn't be proud of our humility.

6.   James 4:7 declares, "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."

            God doesn't hear and answer our prayers if we are serving Satan and not Him.  The way to have our prayers answered is to submit ourselves to God, then resist the devil.  It is impossible to resist the devil without first submitting ourselves to God.

7.   James 4:8 says, "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.  Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded."

            A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways, like water seeking the easiest route.  Sometimes God doesn't want us to take the easiest route, but he always wants us to go His way.  And when we go that harder way, God will always supply the things we need, and many of the things we want.

8.   James 4:9 states, "Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness."

            The Bible says, "He that goeth forth weeping, bearing precious seed shall doubtless come again, rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him" (Ps.  126:6). This Scripture means the one that isn't afflicted, and doesn't mourn and weep over lost souls won't get any sheaves.  It takes a burdened heart to get through to the Lord.  Not a burden that we have made, but a burden because we see the work of God that He wants us to do.

9.   James 4:10 says to, "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up."  Let God lift us up.

10. James 4:11 says, "Speak not evil one of another, brethren.  He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge."  Sometimes God doesn't hear our prayers because of wickedness. 

            If we've not asked with a broken, humbled heart, we've not asked right at all, we've just asked.  Asking aright is a very individual thing.  We know that when we really pray to the Lord, He will hear and answer our prayers.

Requirements for Asking

            There are actually five requirements for receiving an answer to our prayers.  These are:

Requirement # 1:  Believing.

Matt. 21:22 - "And all things whatsoever ye ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive."

Requirement # 2:  Asking in the Name of Jesus.

1.   John 14:13,14 - "And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the son.  If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it."

2.   John 15:16 - "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, He may give it you."

3.   John 16:23,24 - Verily, verily, I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.  Hitherto ye have asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full."

Requirement # 3:  Abide in Christ.

John 15:7 - "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you."

Requirement # 4:  Ask together.

1.   Matt. 18:19 - "Again I say unto you, that if any two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven."

2.   James 4:2 - "Ye have not because ye ask not."

3.   I John 3:22 - "Whatsoever we ask we receive of Him."

Requirement # 5:  Ask according to His will.

I John 5:14,15 - "According to His will, he heareth us; and if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him."

Conclusion

            If your heart is broken because of the sinful conditions around you, then pray to the God of the universe.  God will hear, and heal.  If God can restore Israel as a nation, He can surely do anything else.  He owns the cattle on a thousand hills.  Everything belongs to Him, and He is well able to do anything.