Watching in Prayer: May 2021

Thursday, May 27, 2021

GLORY!

John 15:7,8 gives us some crucial insight into answered prayer.

“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you,

ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

By this my Father is glorified,

that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.”

The phrase, “By this my Father is glorified” explains the intended result of prayer. God is to be glorified. Our desire to be honored above everyone else is one of the things that God needs to prune out of our lives. Selfishness is so automatic that we usually do not even realize that we have the problem. We begin cleansing self-centeredness from our hearts by recognizing and rejoicing in the glory of God. God is the Creator/Provider of all things. He is the center of creation. He is the source of all good things. All prayer should revolve around Him. All praise and honor and glory belong to Him. In the third chapter of John some people came to John the Baptist saying that Jesus, whom he had endorsed, was baptizing more people than John was. John answered, “He is the bridegroom. I am the friend who rejoices when I hear the voice of the bridegroom.” Then John added, “He must increase. I must decrease.”

The point of God answering our prayer is that God will receive the honor due Him. That is at the heart of our joy in the Lord. Real joy comes as we shift our focus from ourselves—me, me, me, and begin to focus our hearts and minds on Jesus.

I do not believe Jesus is simply saying that the point of prayer is the glory of God. Rather, He is saying our whole lives are to bring Him glory. We are to remain in Him, His word planted deeply in our lives, bearing fruit as disciples of Jesus, so that God will be glorified in everything He does in and through us.

This is part of a blog series on keys to answered prayer. If you click on http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/ and scroll down you can see the previous posts.

http://thinkinginthespirit.blogspot.com/

http://theanchorofthesoul.blogspot.com/

http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/

http://writingprayerfully.blogspot.com/

FaceBook

https://www.facebook.com/bdavidyoung49

Website

http://daveswatch.com/

YouTube

https://goo.gl/PyzU

Amazon Author's Page

https://www.amazon.com/David-Young/e/B008C7VLAQ/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1

Thursday, May 13, 2021

ASK

I began this blog series earlier. If you click on http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/ and scroll down you can see the previous post. The series is on keys to answered prayer taken from John 15:7,8.

“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you,

ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

By this my Father is glorified,

that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.”

After Jesus had laid the foundation of living and praying in God’s will, He invited us to ask. “Ask and it will be done for you.” While this passage and others give a fuller picture of prayer, a number of Bible verses simply say, “ask.” John 16:24, “Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” Matthew 7:7, “Ask and it will be given to you.”

Actually, you do not have to read far in any of these passages to find the concept of praying in and for God’s will. However, they all emphasize the opportunity to ask. Asking is a practical way of merging our will with God’s. Like so many things in life, you learn by doing.

This calls us to consistent continuing prayer. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 calls us to, “Pray without ceasing.” Matthew 7:7 reads,

“Ask, and it will be given to you;

seek, and you will find;

knock, and it will be opened to you.”

Greek, the original language of Matthew and the rest of the New Testament, has a tense that most other languages do not have. The action in this verse must continue or be repeated. One English translation renders these words, “Ask and keep on asking. Seek and keep on seeking, Knock and keep on knocking.” We are to keep our petitions before God until He answers or redirects our prayer.

God also gives us a safety valve on the power of prayer so we do not move mountains onto our neighbors’ houses. In inviting us to ask, Jesus assures us that asking is safe. God protects us as He teaches us to pray. You don’t need fear that you are praying for things that may ruin your life or the lives of people around you. This ought to give us a freedom to pray for whatever we believe to be God’s will. Ask and you will receive.