"Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name."
(John 16:23b, MSG)
"Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete." (John 16:24b,MSG)
To some of us, these Bible texts are not our reality. Our Heavenly Father
nonetheless urges us to ask Him, for He is willing and waiting to come through
for us. Asking leads to receiving!
If this is not our reality, then there is something wrong. If we truly believe
in Jesus, we are guaranteed that our Father will give whatever we ask in Jesus'
name.
If nothing happens, some will say that the problem we have is lack of faith.
That's a possibility. After all Jesus could only heal a few people in his home
town, as most of them were doubting of him. I can imagine what they said to Him:
"Who does He think He is!" The answer is simple: He is the Son of God! And all
we truly need is faith the size of a mustard seed.
There are other potential reasons why we don’t see the answers to our prayers.
It is because our focus is not on God. Some are self-centered and pray for
selfish reasons. Some are trapped in unforgiveness. Some focus on the promises
of this world, doing things connected with the evil one...
In order to see answers to our prayers, we need to have that mustard seek faith
(See Matt 17:20-21),
and we need to be focused on God. He needs to be our number one! Thus, recipe
for answered prayers is really quite simple: Ask our Heavenly Father and wait
expectantly to His answer. After all, didn't He say: "Ask and you will receive."
Do we truly believe in this promise?
This is my reality, and it is the reality as well for the many who have
discovered the pure life of our Heavenly Father.
"Don't bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need. This isn't a
cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game we're in. If your child asks for bread, do you
trick him with sawdust? If he asks for fish, do you scare him with a live snake
on his plate? As bad as you are, you would not think of such a thing. You are at
least decent to your own children. So don't you think the God who conceivd you
in love will be even better?" (Matt 7: 7-11,MSG)
Focus on experiencing Him, and you will become filled with wonders: "Ask and you
will receive."
Just recently I received an email from a twelve year old. He told me that lately
he wanted to commit suicide. He had been screaming at God. He saw no other way
out.
All I could do is leave him in God's care and pray with certitude that Our
Father would come through for him. The next day I received this message from
him: "Now that I read your email, life is different." I don't even remember what
I wrote, but God used it to touch him deeply.
He continued: "I feel like a new Christian! You have touched my heart, and I
will never forget you! Thank you so much! God bless you."
May we always remember to "Ask and you will receive!" Isn't this cool? Our
Heavenly Father does care for each one of us!
Rob Chaffart
The Illustrator: This daily newsletter is dedicated to encouraging
everyone to look towards Jesus as the source of all the solutions to our
problems. It contains a daily inspirational story, a Bible verse and encouraging
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The Nugget: Published three times a week, this newsletter features inspirational devotionals and mini-sermons dedicated to drawing mankind closer to each other and to Christ.