Overboard
Pre-Game Warm-Up
I’m guilty as charged. I overdid it big time! I was one big easy pushover with my kids…especially my two girls! If that wasn’t bad enough, I’m worse with my grandkids. I do find comfort in two things! Thanks to my down-to-earth wife, they didn’t turn out spoiled (far from it)! Funny thing about a lot of grandads I know.
The more I look around, I see a lot of pitiful old guys like me who are equally guilty of the same crime! My good friend, and the man I coached under at Texas A&M, Gene Stallings, told me a story the other day that tickled me to death about his 7-year-old granddaughter, whom he absolutely adores. For some reason, she wanted a little donkey. Her mom said “No way I’ll ever get you a donkey.” The little girl responded hastily, “Pa Pa will get me one.”
I asked Coach if he did and he fired back, like I was nuts to even ask, “You’re darn right I did! I got her four of them.”
Maybe we’re beyond repair or maybe, just maybe, we got it from God. Paul the apostle thought so, “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think…” (Ephesians 3:20)
John heard Jesus talk about it and wrote it down so we wouldn’t forget it, “Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full.” (John 16:24)
The night before His crucifixion, Jesus said it again and then repeated it, “Whatever you ask in My name… ask Me anything in My name and I will do it.” (John 14:14)
Matthew heard Jesus say it again in Jesus’ famous “Sermon on the Mount”, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek; and you will find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” (Matthew 7:7)
I look around and see all my undeserved blessings and I find God’s Word amazingly true! I received a death sentence from a doctor 7 years ago when my body showed up with a drastic case of leukemia. I asked for more time to build crosses so people could meet Jesus at those crosses. Today, I’m almost cancer-free!
I asked for a wife to love for a lifetime and He blessed me beyond measure with a bride I love beyond words. I wanted a child and I have 4. Are you kidding?! Do I deserve any of these blessings? Hardly! I’ve met men with better hearts than mine behind prison walls! Have there been surgeries, difficult days and years of desperation? Countless!!! (Try receiving bone marrow a few times…that is really fun!) Did I feel like in my 60 years many prayers went unanswered? Sure. My timing isn’t His timing. My ways aren’t His ways (fortunately – ever so, fortunately).
But through it all … tears, pains, sickness, health, laughter, depression, guilt, good days and tough days, I have found a Dad in Jesus that makes my football coaching friend with four donkeys for his granddaughter look like an amateur.
“What man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!” (Matthew 7:9-11)
Understanding God’s Heart on Prayer
Mark these Key Words: Prayer ask
Old Testament Viewpoint
Jeremiah 33:3; Psalms, 37:4; 2 Chronicles 7:14; Proverbs 15:8
Jeremiah 33:3 Call to me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.
Psalms, 37:4 Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart.
II Chronicles 7:14 If My people, who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from the heavens, and forgive their sin and heal their land.
Proverbs 15:8 The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord; but the prayer of the upright is His delight.
New Testament Viewpoint
John 14:13 – 14; Luke 11:5-10
John 14:13-14 “Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.”
Luke 11:5-9 Then He said unto them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and from the inside he answers and says ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs. So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”
OBSERVATION:
What is God saying?
1) God can do anything He wants to alone! Why does He allow us to participate in His plans with prayer?
A. It draws us closer to Him.
B. It makes us dependent on Him.
2) Why is a strong relationship with God key to understanding our prayers?
It ensures that our communication with Him is accurate and that we can pray according to His will.
3) Why does God ask you to pray before He grants you success?
So that He will get the Glory.
4) Why do many prayers appear not to get answered?
God’s answer is bigger and more fulfilling than our desires.
5) What does it mean to “delight yourself in the Lord”?
It means to be in love with him and to trust Him more than anything in the world.
6) Why does Jesus ask you to keep praying continuously about what’s on your heart?
It draws us closer to Him and makes our relationship with Him essential.
PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS:
What else of significance do you see God saying in this passage?
APPLICATION:
How does this passage relate to me today? What changes does it bring to my life?
LOCKER ROOM:
What have been some of your greatest difficulties with God during your life?
Memory Verse: Jeremiah 33:3
Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.
My Prayers
A Adoration: Father, today I praise You for…
C Confession: Father, please forgive me for…
T Thanksgiving: Father, today I’m thankful for…
S Supplication: Father, the people & things that I wish to pray for today are…
