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. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? Matthew 7:7-11
For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us. 2 Corinthians 1:20
God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? Numbers 23:19
JUST BELIEVE IT!
This week we are getting ready to celebrate "The Big Ten" and we stand amazed at all God has done in and through The ROC in ten short years. We give Him the glory for all the great things that have been accomplished. We know that God has responded to our prayers, as David wrote in Psalm 61:1, "Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer." We know that without prayer, believing, and rolling up our sleeves and joining God in His work, none of this would have happened. It makes us realize the need to pray more, believe more, and never quit!
I think there are two basic reasons why Christians don't pray: 1) They don't believe God wants to answer their prayers and, 2) They don't believe God will answer their prayers. If Christians truly believed that God will answer prayer and that He wants to answer, more Christians would be praying. The purpose of this devotional is to try to convince you through God's Word that He is waiting to answer the prayers of His children.
It is amazing how little Christians pray. The least attended meeting at any church will be the prayer meeting. It is simply because Christians have not gotten hold of the truth that God will answer prayer and is in fact, waiting for us to pray. It is a matter of us believing that truth. We go through the drive-through at McDonald's and place our order, and believe it will be filled when we get to the window. It seems like we have more faith in the McDonald's drive-through than we do in God. That sounds crazy, but it is true.
We have made prayer much more complicated than God ever intended it to be. Prayer is really simple. It simply means "asking." God in Heaven is a loving God. He is good and He loves His children. God hears our prayers and He answers them. All He asks is that we abide in Him. He asks that we walk in His footsteps and do the best we can to live our lives according to His Word. He really doesn't ask for much, but we make it way too hard. Why do you think too many Christians do not take seriously the matter of prayer? Don't you think it is just because we do not believe it could really be so easy to communicate with God and have Him respond?
There is an enemy who wants to keep us from believing that the Creator of Heaven and Earth wants us to talk to Him on a daily basis. We can't believe that a perfect God would listen to the prayers of an imperfect man or woman. We can't believe that the God who created it all actually cares about what we want and need. Why is it easier to believe we are born again and going to Heaven, but we can't believe He will supply all our needs? Why are we so skeptical about God our Father in Heaven who tells us in His Word that He will supply all our needs? It is simply that we just have to believe it!
Just believe God means it when He says in Jeremiah 33:3, "Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not."
Just believe it when God says in Psalm 91:15, "He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him"
Just believe it when God says in Psalm 72:12, "For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper."
Just believe it when God says in John 15:7, "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you."
Just believe it when the Bible says in Psalm 37:4, "Delight thyself also in the LORD: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart."
I want you to see how simple this can be. Just believe it. If you don't have the faith to believe, start by asking God for faith and believe these scriptures that promise if you ask, He will answer.
God's Word is true. You can bet on it and you can take it to the bank. If you are battling drugs or trying hard to quit smoking, God wants to help you do it - just believe it. You know you have tried over and over again to stop on your own, and you know deep down inside that the only way you are going to be able to be set free is with God's help. He is waiting for you to ask - just believe it!
God Word is true. You are reading this right now and thinking about how hard it is to pay the bills right now. Perhaps you have lost your job and are seeking employment. The God who said He "will supply all your needs" is the "same yesterday, today, and forever." Just believe it!
If we will just believe there is a God who is all-powerful, who knows what we want and what we need, who hears our cries and our prayers, then we would ask and believe that He will answer.
There is nothing too hard for God and nothing impossible for Him. Just believe it!
I heard a story that is a great illustration for this devotional. There was a woman who had come to the United States from South America. She was very poor and uneducated, but she was a Christian and going to a church. The pastor of the church spoke her language, so he and a couple of ladies visited her to see if they could help her with her needs. They asked if she had any family, and she told them she only had one son and he still lived in South America. They asked if he ever wrote to her, and she told them yes. She said he wrote short notes, but always included a green card, which she didn't understand. The pastor asked her what she did with them, and she said she had used them to wallpaper a small bedroom. He asked to see the room, and when she showed him, he turned to her and said, "Madam, that's not for wallpaper. They are money orders. You are rich and you don't even realize it." Hello. There are many Christians who are rich and don't even realize it. They don't realize that their Father is God and that they have direct access to Him through His Son, Jesus Christ, and they don't even realize how rich they are.
Our Heavenly Father owns it all. The cattle on a thousand hills. He is wealthy with vast resources - not just financial, but healing, deliverance, restoration, and so much more. He is our Father and we are His Son or His Daughter, which means we are His heir. That makes us rich, Church, and too many of us do not even realize it. We are rich, but we don't believe it. He said, "Ask and it shall be given unto you." But you have to believe that prayer works, because it is the only way we can ASK. Prayer is calling on the Lord. It is prayer that parted the Red Sea, shut the mouths of lions, kill Goliath, multiplied the fishes and the loaves, heal the blind man and the woman with the issue of blood, raised Lazarus from the dead and so much more. It is prayer that is still setting people free, healing them, and supplying needs. If it works for others, it will work for you. You just have to believe it!
No matter what your need is today, prayer works, just believe it! If you need healing, financial help, deliverance, the power to forgive someone, it takes prayer and prayer works - just believe it! If you are battling depression, have a rebellious, wayward son or daughter, need healing in your body, God is waiting to hear you cry out in prayer - just believe God is waiting and will answer prayer. Just believe it!
It can't get any easier than asking! Just believe it! God doesn't want it to be hard. Remember He is a good God and only doeth wondrous things. Just believe it. How simple is it? God said we only need faith the size of a mustard seed and we can move a mountain. A mustard seed is actually very small, so it is obvious that God was trying to prove a point with us that it only takes a little bit of faith to move a great, big mountain.
Give prayer a try this week. Try praying more often. Start with short prayers. Just talk to God. Tell Him about your day. Let Him in on your decisions. Ask His advice about situations that have you depressed and confused. Call on Him and believe He is just waiting to answer. You will find yourself thanking Him for answers, and the more you discover the joy of prayer, the closer you will find yourself getting to
God.
Just believe it!