Key text: "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss,
That ye may consume it upon your lusts." James 4:3
INTRODUCTION: In James chapter four God reminds us that His people are not defenseless. He has given us weapons of warfare and with these spiritual weapons; we can turn away the enemy. Two of the greatest weapons the Christian has are 1.) The Word of God and 2.) The privilege and special right to pray. Now, personally I think prayer and God’s Word are not used as much as they should be to strengthen us and help us to be victorious.
Let’s learn this great truth in this sermon and that it is there are no substitutes for the Word of God and prayer.
What are the problems found in these 10 verses in James chapter 4?
How God answers when we pray:
Why would God say no? What reason or reasons would God turn us down?
When we pray and don’t get an answer would we say, "the promises of God are wrong and therefore cannot be trusted? Let me illustrate it. If you went into your house and turned a light switch and the lights did not come on, would you think that the electricity is out, it’s dead and not working? Was Thomas Edison wrong? Was he a mistake, a fraud? We would think if a person makes a statement like that they need to be taken to the hospital and examined. There must be a problem with a person with that mind set.
Now, electricity is a proven success. We use it all time and if we went out to the electrical box and saw that the box was not working, we would
See immediately that something is wrong. We need now to look at our prayers. How?
What is wrong?
Well, let’s say first all, why God answers our prayers. Be careful when you pray and be sure you pray Scripturally.
John 14:6 – Come in the name of Jesus. John 14:6 – Come in the name of Jesus. John 14:13-14 – Twice in the two verses, Jesus said, "…Ye shall ask in my name." "If you shall ask anything in my name, I will do it."
John 16:23-24 – Go to the Heavenly Father through the Lord Jesus and make your request known in His name. 1.) Approval, 2.) Acclaim and 3.) Authority.
You see in these two verses, we are not only to pray surrendered to the Will of God, but we are instructed to pray in the Spirit.
"Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints." Ephesians 6:18 and Jude verse 20 – the Holy Spirit helps us. We can’t do it without Him and He won’t do it without us. That’s why we must pray in the Spirit.
"And this is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us. And if we know that he hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him." I John 5:14-15 – Now, it’s very important that we pray in the Spirit according to God’s will. WHY? Because the Spirit knows best. Holy Spirit may say, "This is what we are asking for, but here is what you need."
Now, friends, we need to be willing to follow God’s Will. If we are not willing to follow God’s Will, we should not pray, asking Him to show us His Will. What we need to do is just go ahead and sign the contract and tell God to fill it in.
Now, friends, how do you find God’s Will?
"Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought; but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God." Romans 8:26-27.
Lets consider three things on this thought of how do you find God’s Will and how do you know when you are doing the Will of God.
Assurance of knowing and doing God’s Will
Let us look at Romans 12:1-2
In these two verses, we find three great and tremendous things about knowing God’s Will.
You see friends; the will of God is good, perfect and acceptable. That’s why we need to search for the Will of God until we find it.
PRAY: We need to pray that God will show us His Will and let’s remember, "The prayers that get to heaven, begin in heaven. God knows us and He knows His Will for us before we pray. He already knows what He would have us to do. We just have to find it. What we do is just close the sale.
Let’s look at two verses in the prayer that Jesus taught His disciples.
"After this manner therefore pray ye; our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." Matthew 6:9-10.
In this model prayer we have a preliminary pattern on how to pray and where our prayer stops. Here is what happens.
The Holy Spirit helps us pray. He puts the Will of God in our hearts and minds. He sends that prayer to heaven and heaven sends it back to earth to do God’s Will. It is the power of the cross that makes all this possible. Our prayers go by the way of the cross and we pray in the Name of Jesus.
"And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in my Name, I will do it." John 14:13-14.
Now, you may be thinking that after we know John 14:13-14 that we can have anything we desire. You might know the following verse in Psalms.
"Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart." Psalm 37:4. We need to be cautious and careful how we pray. First and foremost find the Will of God.
And remember: We can ask God to meet our personal needs, but we should not ask God for selfish things just so we can please our human nature. Let’s get the meaning of Psalm 37:4. Look at what the text says,…
"Delight thyself also in the Lord…" You see friends, it is when we joyfully delight ourselves in the Lord that we find and do the Will of God. Heaven is happy and we are happy.
When we claim Matthew 7:7-8, lets make sure we study, learn and know how to go about using these verses.
"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find, knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For everyone that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened."
We need to move back one chapter and see the whole context of Matthew 6 and 7. The context is found in Matthew 6:33.
"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."
Through the years, I’ve found some beautiful and joyful paragraphs on prayer. I close my sermon with one such paragraph.
"Every saint who comes to God with a true heart, and sends his honest petitions to Him in faith, will have his prayers answered. Your faith must not let go of the promises of God, if you do not see or feel the immediate answer to your prayers. Be not afraid to trust God. Rely upon His sure promise. ‘Ask, and ye shall receive.’ God is too wise to err, and too good to withhold any good thing from his saints that walk uprightly. Man is erring, and although his petitions are sent up from an honest heart, he does not always ask for the things that are good for himself, or that will glorify God." Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 1, p 120, E.G.W.