Good morning and welcome in everybody. Today we are going to take a look at a passage of Scripture, but before we do that, I wanted to tell you a little story.
We live pretty deep in the northern Minnesota woods, and sometimes our cat likes to go outside to do some mousing. He has quite the supper table because there seems to be quite a few of them running around. After we have dinner, I usually sit down in my rocking chair and begin to read, but it never fails, as soon as I cover up with a nice Afghan, I start hearing a familiar sound outside. It is the soft meows of an approaching cat. He’s pretty quiet for the first ten minutes or so, but then he progressively gets louder until he finally jumps up on the kitchen windowsill. At that point, he begins to cry out noisily, like a dog howling at the moon. He will even tap on the window with his paw to get somebody’s attention. He pleads relentlessly, continuing this activity without ceasing. It always seems like he shows up right when you are in the middle of reading a chapter, but will not stop this behavior until he finally gets what he wants. At that point, you will need to get up and open the front door to let him in for the night.
This reminds me of a Christian Life.
God answers the prayers of those who serve and obey His precious son Jesus, but sometimes people don’t receive things, because they quit asking for them. We must cry out mightily to God, making our earnest requests known unto Him. We must never give up, and wait patiently for the moment that He answers our humble petitions.
Luke 11 ⁵ And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; ⁶ For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him? ⁷ And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. ⁸ I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth. ⁹ And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. ¹⁰ For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
First of all, to have prayer answered by God requires obedience to the teachings of Christ. We must first become pleasing unto God before we can ever receive the things that we desire.
1 John 3 ²⁰ For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. ²¹ Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. ²² And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.
How many of you parents have taken your children shopping at the grocery store, and they continued asking for something that they wanted. They were on their best behavior, as they pushed the shopping cart obediently through the store. But every aisle that you went down, they continued asking for something. What did you do as a parent? More than likely, because they found favor in your sight, you rewarded them by getting them what they wanted.
“And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:” Genesis 18:3
This is why we must depart from iniquity, because God will hear the prayer of His obedient children. God will not listen to those who are living in rebellion against His will.
“If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:” Psalms 66:18
“They cried, but there was none to save them: even unto the LORD, but he answered them not.” Psalms 18:41
Proverbs 1 ²⁸ Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: ²⁹ For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD: ³⁰ They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof. ³¹ Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
Obedience to Christ is the pathway to answered prayer. Scriptures are clear that in order to love Christ, we need to obey His commands which are found throughout the teachings of the New Testament. Our obedience to God’s will is the proof of our love towards Him and God will answer prayers when we love and serve His son.
John 16 ²⁶ At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you: ²⁷ For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God.
Once again let’s look at our study Passage.
Luke 11 ⁹ And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
Remember that this passage was spoken to His disciples who were following Him, not to the world. Notice the usage of the word “shall” three times in this verse. The word SHALL means that something is inevitably going to happen in the future. For example,….we shall go to class tomorrow. We shall go to the grocery store after school. This indicates that it certainly will, or must happen in the future. The Apostles were with Jesus all the time and preaching and teaching His Word. True disciples of Christ will do the same things that Jesus did. God answers the prayer of His faithful servants, but those who choose to live in sin and impenitence should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.
“For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.” 1 Peter 3:12
Those who are walking in the true grace of God, must pray earnestly for what they need. Those who are living their lives for Christ can expect His quick help in time of need, because He is a rewarder of those who serve Him.
John 14 ¹³ And whatsoever 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.
James 5 ¹⁷ Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. ¹⁸ And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.
Luke 18 ¹ And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;
So remember that when you pray to God, you need to be walking in obedience with Him. He doesn’t reward disobedience, and won’t even listen to the impenitent. Those who are walking according to His will can be assured that He hears our petitions. We are not to faint, or to quit asking, but continue to cry mightily out to Him day and night in order to get those things that we require. I remember this every time I hear,….
…..The Cat’s Meow
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you all, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody.
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