(James 4:2,3 NLT) …Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.
This morning we continue our new series entitled, “Re-Energizing Your Prayer Life.” This message flows in the same vein as the one from yesterday. Let’s start with something Jesus said while He was teaching about prayer: “When you pray, don’t babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!” (Matthew 6:7,8). A couple of highlights:
1. Don’t pray empty repetitive prayers. Growing up I was taught to pray “canned” prayers where I simply read or repeated a certain prayer over and over again. There is no evidence in scripture that any believer (Jesus or otherwise) ever prayed this way. The Father wants to communicate with us and He was us to communicate with Him. Think of your communication with Him like your communication with anyone else. Would you ever think of walking up to someone you want to have a conversation with and simply read or repeat something over and over again? That ritual may help you say “I did it,” but it will not yield results.
2. Don’t think that because God knows about it you don’t need to pray. If you think that once God knows about your situation that You don’t need to pray, then you will never pray, because God knows everything. He knows what you did and what you are going to do. He knows your thoughts before you think them and your prayers before you pray them. Jesus was fully aware of God’s omniscience, but He still commanded us to pray.
The Father knows what you need before you ask, but you still need to ask. This is where the words of James come in. James teaches us that we don’t have what we want, because we have failed to communicate our desires to the Father in prayer. In the next chapter Jesus said, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7). But what if you don’t ask? You won’t receive. What if you don’t seek? You won’t find. What if you don’t knock? The door will not be opened to you.
Without question, the Father requires us to pray. Yes, He already knows what we need and He already knows what He wants to bless us with, but He is looking for our active participation and agreement in the process.
So what does this mean to you today? A few things:
1. The Father expects and requires us to pray. We have not, because we ask not.
2. Prayer should be an open dialogue (transmit and receive) of productive communication, not a vain monologue where we repeat empty words.
3. The Father’s foreknowledge of your situation does not absolve you from your responsibility to pray. His knowledge does not guarantee His action without your petition.
4. The Father is looking for you to welcome His involvement in your life. If the Father simply went around performing His will in our lives without our involvement, then we would be puppets and not free moral agents.
Closing Confession: Father, I thank You for this revelation. Never again will I idly sit by and foolishly expect You to get involved in my situation, just because You know about it. I realize that You know everything. You clearly know what I need before I ask, but You still require me to ask. Therefore, I will. Since I will ask, it will be given to me. Since I am committed to seek, I will find. And Since I will always knock, You will be faithful to open the door in response to my petitions. I won’t give You an excuse for NOT operating in my life due to a lack of prayer. I will pray to You, in the name of Your Son Jesus, in faith, not wavering, without a doubt, in full confidence, and I trust that You will hear me and respond to my prayers of faith! In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper!
