ASKING IN FAITH

Excerpt from Book # A14

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened, MAT 7:7-8.

The Apostle James teaches that God gives liberally when we ask in faith. Scripture says that if we lack wisdom, we are to ask of God. Where does wisdom begin?

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding," PRO 9:10. "The fear of the Lord" is a holy reverence for His will. If one does not have that Godly fear in his heart, he may not despair over it.

JAM 1 5-8 says, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." The next verse is an admonition. "But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed." If we come to the Lord and ask His will, we will find His revealed will in the Scriptures.

However, if you say that under these circumstances, at this time, you can't obey, then that is not asking in faith. We may not barter the Word of God. When we see His will clearly written in the Word of God, it is "Amen." Our Isaac goes on the altar; everything we own goes on the altar. There is no bartering; we say, "Lord, Thy will be done!" We cannot separate faith from obedience.

What was the unbelief in the children of Israel while they were in the wilderness? It was a matter of disobedience. Each time the Lord commanded them to do something; they murmured. They were to go forward, and they didn't do it.

They decided to have a captain over them and return to Egypt. Rebelling against the Lord's will, they disobeyed. 1CO 10:9-12 says, "Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall."

Faith and obedience cannot be separated. "Let him ask in faith;" in other words, in obedience, let him obey when he receives knowledge of the will of God. To waver means that even though you know the will of God, it is more convenient to do other things first; you can't quite make that big a sacrifice today.

What happens? One becomes like the wave of the sea, tossing to and fro, unable to truly come before the Lord to ask, "Lord, what is Thy will," because when it is shown to you, you don't do it.

Continuing, JAM 1:7 says, "For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways." A double-minded man has a double standard; he will do the Lord's will, but...not in this instance, the sacrifice would be to great. Therefore, he is unstable in all his ways. That is very important to understand.

"Ask, and it shall be given you;" but how do we ask? We are to ask in faith, i.e., in the way of obedience; when we understand the will of God, we do it. If a man has a double standard, "let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord." That is very powerful language.

The most powerful prayer is to plead God's Word or His promise. We receive insight into His will from His Word, and when we receive the application of the Word by the Holy Spirit, then we have a promise which applies to us personally. Our most powerful prayer is, "Lord, thou hast said."

2SA 7:25 says, "And now, O LORD God, the word that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant, and concerning his house, establish it for ever, and do as thou hast said." What could be more powerful than to call God on His Word? How can we call Him on His Word if we are ignorant of it or are tromping on it?

Notice how MAT 7:8 seems to be a repetition of V:7. "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." Seemingly V:8 is a repetition. "For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." Now let's see the distinction between them.

There is one very significant difference, see that word everyone! The word everyone which is not in V:7 teaches that every saint from the most established in faith, to the newest born babe in Christ needs to daily cry unto the Lord for every need. That means not one person is excluded in that command; there is no such thing as becoming so established in faith that we can go by faith without prayer.

As Jesus ceased praying, it was one of His disciples, not a Samaritan, that said unto Him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples," LUK 11:1. The oldest and most experienced saint has as much need to be shown God's way as the weakest babe in grace. There is never a time when a person can become so strong in faith that he can proceed without knowing the Lord's will. The Lord doesn't give manna for more than one day. When manna came down in the wilderness, they had to gather it every day.

1CO 8:1-2 says, "Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth. [When we get to where we think we know it all, not needing the Lord, then we find] And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know."

When we get to the place where we think we know, where we don't need to ask anymore, we have become proud and puffed up and arrogant. Then we need prayer more than the smallest babe in Christ.

This Scripture teaches us that true prayer is not only a gift of God, for His own apostles had to come asking to be taught to pray, but it is not to be learned in the schools of human learning. It is not something where we go from kindergarten on through various grades to graduate with a Master's or Doctor's degree in the matter of prayer. It does not work that way.

I find in my own life, if the Lord withdraws, I become as prayerless as one who has never known the Lord. Then my urgent prayer must be, "Lord, teach me to pray. Lord, give me prayer."

Amen.