Ask, Seek, Knock

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”

Matthew 7:7

 

One lesson my Dad taught me was that it’s often worth asking.  I remember we went to a sporting event and we were told we could buy seats on metal bleachers and sit in 95 degree heat for $1, or purchase “box” seats with real chairs, and some shade.  So he asked, what is the price difference?  The response shocked us, a buck.  That’s it!!!  All he had to do what ask and I found out that what sounds like a HUGE difference was in fact very little.

 

This is how we often pray.  God I won’t ask you for that because it’s too big, it’s too much, there is just no way that could ever come true, so instead I will ask for something much smaller, something that I could probably get or do myself.  In Matthew 21:21 Jesus talks to the disciples about the importance of praying BIG and from the heart, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and don’t doubt, you can do things like this and much more. You can even say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen.”  Notice what he says, you are not praying because God is a holy ATM or genie, but praying from a place of faith and trust in Him.

 

As you pray don’t censor God, don’t “filter out” your prayers because it sounds hard or complex, because you are talking to the God who made the universe.  Trust me what you are asking is likely easier or smaller than creating the world and sending His innocent son to die on the cross for people who don’t deserve it, and can never return the favor.  Instead pray from the heart, and pray with faith that says, I am not God, and I don’t know what God is thinking.  God I will pray for what has been placed on my heart, and trust that if it is your will, not matter how “big” or small, You will do it.  God says, ask, seek, knock, and let me take care of the rest.

 

Pastor Bill

 

Discussion Questions

1. What do you want to ask God for in prayer?
2. Is there something you have wanted to pray for sometime but have not?  Why or why not?
3. What is your biggest reservation to pray for “big” things or to ask God for anything in prayer?

Count the Cost Pt.2

Each of us has had opportunities that we’ve passed up.  For some, you may even wonder, what could have been?  What would skydiving have been like?  Would I have flourished at that job, did I miss out on a great relationship?  Since we chose no, we never found out what could have been.  There are times that we get the feeling we passed up something good.

Would you believe that each day God presents each of us with opportunities to bless us, and use us to change our own life as well as others lives?  Opportunities to encourage someone, start a conversation, invite someone to church, or see miracle happen.  Often we don’t think of the opportunities God has placed before us as something we missed out on, it’s just something we chose not to do, or didn’t see.

Scripture is clear though that God is at work all around us, and ready to do amazing things, but we have to be ready, and sometimes we have to ask.  Jesus says it this way to his followers, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7, TNIV)  Jesus is not suggesting God is an ATM who just gives you all that you want on demand.  Jesus is reminding the disciples of something important, if you want something ask for it, if you want to experience something, you have to engage.  We also hear from 1 John, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.” (1 John 5:14-15, TNIV)

Do you want to see transformation in your brother who struggles with self-confidence, and hasn’t been to church in 20 years?  Pray and ask God to transform his life in a way only God could.  Pray that God would connect your brother with people who would share their faith with him in a meaningful and relevant way.  Pray daily, and pray with confidence, that God will hear your prayer.

Do you want to grow in knowledge of God’s word, to know the bible better to help you in your life?  This may sound silly, but get out the bible and start reading it.  Talk with other Christians about passage that challenge you, or leave you with questions.

Maybe you have a passion and heart to see people come to know God who has never met him before, but you have never done a evangelism class.  Great!!!  Invite them to come with you to church.  Pray that God gives you an opportunity to tell them your story of God’s grace in your life.

I don’t want to look back on my life and think, what could have been?  Instead my prayer is that we can all look back and say WOW, look what was, look at all the powerful ways that God worked in our midst.  And think, it all just started with a little asking and doing.

 

Pastor Bill

 

Discussion Questions

1. What is one opportunity God has placed before you that you need to engage, or ask God for help and guidance in?
2. What might cause you to hesitate or pass up the opportunities God places before you?
3. Who could walk with you on the journey as you seek to ask God in prayer, and follow God in action?

Prayers that Rock

I remember learning to pray as a kid, and learning not just how you pray, but what you are supposed to pray about.  You should pray to God about “small” things, but not too small, God is busy you know, so don’t bother Him with things that are too little.  On the other hand, you should pray about “big” things to God, but not too big; I mean if everyone asked God for a million dollars or to win the lottery, what would happen?  As I continue to grow, this model of prayer just did not seem to fit with the biblical model of prayer laid out for us in the Bible.

Jesus taught His disciples to pray for daily provision (daily bread), a seemingly small prayer.  Jesus teaches the disciples that prayer can cast out demons (Matthew 17:21), and that God will give them great gifts and answers to prayer if they just ask (Matthew 7:11).  One verse on prayer that stands out to me is Matthew 21:21-22, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt…but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done.  If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

I do not want to suggest God is our holy ATM, giving us all sorts of stuff if we ask right.  Instead I wonder if we ever pray like these verses suggest.  Take a moment and think about your prayers.  How many of our prayers would make heads turn if God answered them?  How many of our prayers require God’s supernatural involvement?  How many of your prayers are BIG?  I believe this is the kind of prayer Jesus is talking about.  The kind of prayer where God’s answer is so dramatic, people would not even consider giving you or another person the glory, but instead would just look and say WOW God.

Consider lifting up a prayer to God that requires an answer only God could provide, and God would get the glory and honor from.  Don’t be mistaken these prayers don’t have to be “big” in terms of money, numbers, or influence. 

A family prays for a sister dealing with cancer, praying God it is only you who could heal her, may her life be a witness to the medical staff by your healing touch.  She was healed of her cancer, and was a powerful witness to the staff at the hospital.  Her healing left doctors and specialist scratching their heads wondering, how could that happen?   But the family knew, by God’s power alone. 

Jesus makes it clear, ask whatever you want in prayer, and have faith that God will answer.  Pray big, and have faith that God will answer, and God will show up.  Pray big because God wants to show up in our lives.  Pray big because we worship a God of unlimited possibilities.

 

Pastor Bill 

Discussion Questions

1. Why do think we hesitate to pray big prayers?
2. If you had to look at your current prayers on a scale of 1 (small request) to 10 (only God could do that, it would make people’s heads turn), where do most of your prayer fall?
3. Take time to consider what might be a BIG prayer you can lift up to God for your church, your family, and your relationships.  Pray that same BIG prayer for at least 3 months, and journal about how you see God answering it.

Go Big or Go Home

Think back to all the prayers you have prayed or heard in the last week.  I had a meeting earlier this week where we took time to pray for our church and for God’s guidance.  As we prayed I had this sense of frustration in my heart; and I thought God, why am I frustrated that people are praying to you?  As the prayer continued this verse came to my head, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you…If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:7-11, ESV)  One way you could translate this is when you pray, “Go big or go home.” 

The disciples learned about the lesson of “go big or go home” from Jesus in a story you may know well.  One day Jesus is teaching, and as the sun begins to set the disciples say to him, Jesus these people are hungry, we don’t have enough money to feed them all, and there is no grocery store near here with enough food to feed them either.  Essentially, Jesus let them try to go find a snack on their own, let them fend for themselves; there is nothing we can do to help them.  Jesus asks them to gather what they can.  Then Jesus turns 5 loaves and 2 fish into enough food so that they all eat and there are a dozen baskets of leftovers for people to take home.  Disciples asked for the people to find a snack on their own, Jesus says watch this; I will feed them till they are full, I will answer your request with something much more than you ever asked for.

I think that we have resigned ourselves to snack food when God is ready to offer a feast.  Often I hear people talk about other people, other families, and other churches that God is doing something amazing in, but resign themselves to “oh that will never be me” .  We call it humility, but instead do we lack the courage and faith to pray for something bolder and greater?  Why is it always someone else?  Why can’t it be you, or your family, or your church?  Let me be clear this is not about coveting what someone else has, it’s not being greedy, but having faith that God could do something amazing in your midst.  This is about faith that says, God if it’s your will, do something greater than I could ever imagine.  So when you pray, it’s simple, go big or go home.  Pray with great faith that God can and will do something big in your midst.

 

Pastor Bill

 

Discussion Questions

1. What is one big prayer that you could pray today?
2. What is it like for you to pray a “big” prayers?  Challenging, scary, exciting?
3. What holds us back from praying big prayers?
4. Before you walk away from this note, take a moment and pray.  God if it is your will, do something amazing in my family, my life, my church.

You ought to…

How many times have you heard someone say “you ought to…”?  You ought to lose 10 pounds, you ought to exercise more, you ought to quit smoking, work less, get more sleep, spend more time with your family, and the list could go on and on.  In each case you are being asked to consider something that needs to change, something that you are not doing, or something that you need to stop doing.  Often we are being asked to consider something that currently is not being done, or to consider what might be done if only.  More often these ought to statements ask us to do or see something that is tough to imagine.  If you ought to stop smoking after 20 years of a pack a day, a life without smoking may seem unrealistic.  If you ought to spend more time with your family, but currently work 85 hours and travel 5 days a week, then more time with them may seem impossible.

Former United States Ambassador Max Kampelman says this about the power of ought, “We must recognize the power of the ought.  It’s the power to change the world.  When we see the world in terms of how things ought to be, we can dream for the impossible, and work to see it become a reality.”

So then what ought to be at our church?  What ought to be in our personal lives?  We ought to be living out our vision as a church of being, Community Focused, Caring, Growing, and Open to All People.  We ought to be the hands of feet of Jesus Christ.  But what ought to be specifically?  That is our key focus during our upcoming time of prayer.  What ought to be in our future?  What is it that God is specifically calling us to as we go forward as a church?  It is not just asking what ought to be, it is asking big.  As Kampelman says, when we can dream large enough to see what should be, that currently is not, we can see a picture of how to start working toward what once seemed impossible.

But as we pray together, I want to remind you of this quote, “If we want to reach people and see things that we have never seen before, then we are going to need to do things that we have never done before.” Pastor Craig Groeschel.  So as we pray for guidance, clarity, and wisdom from God, we have to be prepared that what God says ought to be. God may call us to something new, different, uncomfortable, or challenging. If that is what God say ought to be, then what would stop us from doing what we have been called to?

All In

In the past few years the game of poker has dramatically risen in popularity in the United States.  The World Series of Poker is broadcast on ESPN each year.  One of the many vocabulary terms used in poker is, “all in.”  All in means that you are literally putting all your money or chips in on the hand you are currently playing.  There are a number of reasons that you can use this strategy, and one of them is confidence.  A player feels that they are able to win with the hand they have been dealt so much so that they are willing to put everything they have on a single hand with confidence they will win.  It is a bold strategy, but can reap tremendous benefits for the player if used properly.

Although poker players may have created the term all in, it is a concept that we see Jesus speak to his followers about in scripture.  Take a moment to look at John 21:15-20.  In this passage Jesus asks the disciple Peter, Do you love me?  If you have ever been asked that question by someone that you care about, you know that this question cuts deep.  When someone asks do you love me, it rattles you at the core; it can bring up feelings of hurt and confusion.  But Jesus asks this to Peter, and he replies, “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”  Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” (John 21:15 TNIV)  Three times Jesus asks this question to Peter, and we are told by the 3^rd time, “Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old…someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” (John 21:17-18, TNIV)

Jesus’ call to Peter hurt Peter’s feelings, but at its core was this simple question from Jesus, “Are you all in?”  Peter to follow me, to show you love for me is going to be hard, you are going to run into obstacles and ridicule, trust me this is not going to be easy.  So when I send you down this road, I have to ask, are you all in?  Are you willing to follow me even when it is hard, even when I ask you do challenging, uncomfortable things?  Will you put My will and My plans above your own, trusting that My plans?

God has dealt each of us a hand, filled with talents, skills, people, our church, situations, and experiences.  He tells us in His Word, that if we are faithful to his leading we will bear great fruit (John 15:5).  So are we all in?  When God tells us to serve his sheep through the children at a local school, are we all in?  When God says feed his sheep by reaching out to our neighbors, by putting more time and effort into work outside the four walls of the church, by spending time and money differently, by trying new things, are we still all in?  I believe Jesus has called us as His followers to be all in, as an act of our trust and faith in Him and His will.  I believe that God will show us things and do things that we could have never imagined, if we will follow with this kind of faith and obedience.  So when the next opportunity arises from God in your life, step out in faith, be all in for his work, because God will honor that, even if the road has a few bumps along the way.

Can We Talk?

Can we talk?  This may be the most dreaded line that is ever used in relationships of any sort.  Before you even answer, you begin to dream up all sorts of awful what-ifs, about all the terrible reasons that you may need to talk with that other person.  It is not often that we ask, “Can we talk?” for positive reasons.  We are reminded often that our relationships live and die on communication.

This week at church we are going to begin a series on those sacred conversations that we have with God in prayer.  How often do we communicate with God, both in listening or speaking?  Throughout Scripture we are told that prayer is integral to our lives, it is the air that we breathe, and a cornerstone to our relationship with God.

As we reflect on our own prayer lives, when or how do we speak with God?  Like in many relationships I think that we can fall into ruts of doing things the same way.  Are you in rut when you speak with God?  Do you offer the same prayers, in the same way day after day?  Do you listen to God or just talk?  Do you offer prayers of thanksgiving and adoration, or a laundry list of needs and wants?  Do you even speak with God outside of times of crisis?

Throughout the history of the Church thousands of different ways to pray and communicate with God have been used, many of which I learned about for the first time as I attended seminary. Often our picture of prayer is shallow.  We envision closing our eyes, bowing our heads, or praying a memorized prayer like the Lord’s Prayer or the Apostles Creed.  If we believe that prayer is communication with God, then prayer is much broader and deeper than most of the ways that we currently pray.  Prayer can involve listening or being loud, we can pray through music, writing, drawing, and dance.  We can pray with our minds, our hearts, and our bodies.  How we communicate with God can be as unique as each of us.

I encourage you to think about how you communicate with God.  For some, prayer involves meditating on scripture to hear his leading, playing a musical instrument, writing out prayers in a journal, praying out loud, and more.  Take time this week to think a bit about your prayer life, and perhaps how you can improve how and when you talk with God.

“Sacred Conversations” Series

July 25^th Psalm 121 – “Trust”

August 1^st 2 Chronicles 7:11-18 – “At the Core of it”

August 8^th Matthew 6:1-14 – “More than Me”

Finding Equilibrium

Balance is a word that I hear used often in conversation as people speak about busyness and life.  We seek balance between work and family, balance in our finances so we don’t overspend, and balance with our time, so that we can volunteer, but not burn out.  Yet I believe we also want to find that kind of balance, equilibrium, and peace in our spiritual lives.

A central place that we find balance spiritually is in prayer.  We see this example set by Jesus in his life, “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” (Mark 1:35, TNIV)  Prayer was a key part of Jesus’ life and of those who followed him.  Prayer was a place to be centered, a place to discern God’s will, to hear his leading, and to grow in one’s relationship with God.

We can learn a lot about prayer in the life of the church in the book of Acts.  If you have time over the next few weeks take some time to read through Acts, paying special attention to the role of prayer in the early church.  We see the disciples pray over food and financial gifts to the church, travel safety for one another, healing, emotional struggles, casting out demons, wisdom before they meet with public and religious officials, and more.  Prayer was central to the direction and drive of the early church.  Prayer kept the early church focused on discerning God’s will and direction for their work.

As we look ahead this summer, we have a major concert June 26^th, Vacation Bible School in August, and continuing outreach in the local community.  It is important at a time as this, to take time to turn to God in prayer.  We turn to God to pray not just for these events or circumstances, but because we believe prayer is central to our relationship with God and all that we do.  As you pray, pray for myself, the consistory, and our ministry leaders, that we would be sensitive to God’s leading in our own lives.  As you continue to pray more and become sensitive to God’s spirit, God will place on your heart specific items to be in prayer for and when the Spirit does, following that leading and lift it up in prayer to God.  We are told in scripture, “We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.” (Romans 8:26, TNIV)  Let’s be a church sensitive to the Spirit’s leading, and a church that covers one another in prayer, and finds our balance in God’s Spirit.