Eternity Daily Bible Study
(A ministry of Eternity Christian Fellowship)
Walking In The Spirit - 24
Studies in this series can also be found online at www.globalchristians.org/walkspirit/
Topic: What Do You Desire That I Should Do For You?
Date: 17th August 2009
What would you do if God asked you: “What do you desire that I should do for you”?
Mark 10:51-52 MKJV And answering Jesus said to him, What do you desire that I should do to you? The blind man said to Him, My Lord, that I may see again. (52) And Jesus said to him, Go, your faith has healed you. And instantly he saw again, and he followed Jesus in the way.
Now why would Jesus bother asking such questions? Surely He already knew the answers? The need to ask specifically is for our benefit. God already knows what we need even before we ask!
Matthew 6:8 MKJV …. for your Father knows what things you have need of, before you ask Him.
We are creatures who need to ask specific things from our Creator. The grace of God is often for specific situations such as healing, temptation, daily bread, and the challenges of ministry. His blessings are tailored to our daily requirements.
And as we saw in an earlier study, one of the rules of thumb is that we only get as much grace as we think we need. Pride and self-sufficiency are a great blockage to blessing while poverty of spirit and being spiritually hungry are some of the keys to blessing. So we often need to ask, humbly and specifically, for that which we need from God.
When we ask specific things from God we will find at least seven benefits:
1.We acknowledge our need and become humble before God
2.We grow in faith and boldness as we see God answer specific, concrete requests
3.We become practiced in prayer
4.We have a daily walk with God – asking Him into every situation of life
5.We learn more about what God wants us to ask of Him
6.We develop a testimony of what the Lord has done for us over the years
7.As our stubborn pride and independence vanish our relationships improve
We also need to believe that God wants to fulfill your desires:
Psalms 37:4 HCSB Take delight in the LORD, and He will give you your heart's desires.
Psalms 145:15-16 MKJV The eyes of all wait on You; and You give them their food in due season. (16) You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.
Indeed God is a rewarder of those that seek Him:
Hebrews 11:6 MKJV But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
The phrase 'diligently seek Him' is important. There is a degree of diligence required even in the spiritual realm. Hannah had to get to the point of emotional desperation before she was noticed by Eli and received God's blessing; Zaccheus had to climb the sycamore tree; the Syrophoenician woman had to press in and give a good reply to Jesus testing statements; and it was the blind men who cried out noisily that received the miracle while the bystanders were not particularly blessed at all.
Proverbs 13:4 Webster The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.
Focused emptiness before God: persistently asking, seeking, knocking, mourning, hungering, thirsting, praying in the Spirit at all times and looking to the Lord for His answers to our prayers.
[Now I do not mean 'emptiness' as in having a blank mind but rather being empty and poor in spirit, having no ego, pride or independence with regard to our Creator. It is the lowly empty vessel that is filled from above.]
When God appeared to Abraham he had a very specific answer – a male heir. The men and women of faith were always able to say something when God asked them what they desired Him to do for them. Faith believes that God will do specific positive, tangible and real things. Faith believes that God rewards and answers our deepest desires.
There are those who take a very philosophical line and say that we should not request earthly rewards from God but should just ask for vague spiritual blessings, and perhaps not even that. They often say 'we should seek the Giver and not the gift'. While this sounds very noble it is a load of unbelieving nonsense that is designed to dodge the uncomfortable realities of specific answers to prayer. God tells us, again and again to “ask” . Asking is good. Asking is obedience.
Matthew 7:7-8 Webster Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and the door shall be opened to you: (8) For every one that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, the door shall be opened.
Matthew 21:22 Webster And all things whatever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.
John 14:13-14 Webster And whatever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. (14) If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.
How can we put this into practice? One good way is to keep a prayer diary ruled up into three columns: a wide column in which you write prayer requests, and two narrower columns in which you put the date requested and the date the prayer is answered. You may even keep such a prayer diary in your home church or bible study group so all the members can submit prayer requests and see the results of believing group prayer.
Another method is fasting – where you skip a meal and seek God about a particular matter. This shows you are serious and intent on solving that problem or having an answer from God in that particular matter. Sketch the problem out before the Lord. Even write a letter to God about it. But present it clearly before the Lord with all your heart.
And remember to picture the positive faith outcome. Ask for the positive solution, the positive blessing that you want from God. Describe what it would look like when God has entered into the situation e.g. “Lord I wish to be made well”.
Blessings,
John Edmiston (johned@aibi.ph)
Pastor – Eternity Christian Fellowship
Chairman/ CEO Cybermissions
http://www.eternitychristian.com
http://www.cybermissions.org
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