ASK OF ME

ASK OF ME

Ps 2:7-9; II Chron 7:14, 19-22
Ask of me is the condition. God has promised that He would give us the earth for our possession if we ask. We have not asked and therefore, Satan still has control. If we want to depose Satan and send him packing, we must ask God for possession of the land. Because we have failed in prayer, Satan has prospered. It’s time to reclaim the land. We can go back and blame previous generations for the rampant wickedness in our country. We can blame the Republicans or the Democrats. We can blame the liberal theologians or the fundamentalists for driving people away. The bottom line is that it doesn’t matter who broke it, it’s still got to be fixed. Why waste our time trying to analyze what happened or who caused it. Let’s just fix it.
II Chronicles tells us what we need to do. We are to (1) humble ourselves, (2) pray, (3) seek His face-be obedient, and (4) turn from our wicked ways-repent. If we are faithful to do these things, He will hear, forgive, and heal. If we forsake His commandments, He will uproot us from the land. He will give it over to the enemy and we will experience adversity. Since we have not done what God requires, we have not been given possession of the land. We are merely wannabees.
In Deut 1:21 God commanded His people to take possession of the land without fear. In verse 26 we are told that they disobeyed God by refusing to go. Verse 45 tells of their repentance but it was too late. They had to wait another forty years wandering aimlessly in the desert.
I get chill bumps thinking how exciting it must have been in the Israeli camp after the death of Moses and Joshua was given the charge to take the people in. Joshua 1:6-8 gives the formula for success that Joshua followed and is the same formula that will give us success today. We are to be strong and courageous, meditate on God’s Word day and night, and be perfectly obedient to God’s commands. After forty wasted years, their dream was finally going to be realized. Joshua sent word to the people to get ready. They promised to be obedient. When they were, they had great success. When they were not, they had great failures.
With Moses gone, and Joshua now in charge there is an opportunity for a new beginning. God’s plan was the same as it was from the beginning of time. Blanton Collier was a long time coach of the Cleveland Browns. Once when his team was losing at half time he came into the locker room and said, “We have got to get back to the basics.” Then he held up a football and said, “Gentlemen, this is a football.”
Don’t look for some new innovative program to revolutionize things. God has not changed the basics. The pastor might stand in the pulpit hold the Bible up and say, “Ladies and Gentlemen, this is a Bible. We need to get back to the basics of studying His word, praying, and being obedient.” And when we do, we will see God pouring out His blessings on us day after day.
Our pastor recently shared a dialogue between a youth minister and Jim Cymbala, pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle, a great praying church. The youth minister asked Rev. Cymbala what he did for his own spiritual life. The response was, “Read the Bible and pray.” Not satisfied, the youth minister said, “No, what do you really DO?” The response was the same, “Read the Bible and pray.” Still not satisfied, the youth minister wanted to know his secret so he kept asking and kept getting the same answer. For whatever reason, we think there is something more effective than Bible study and prayer. God has not changed the basics.
Bible study and prayer time can be as deep or shallow as we want it to be. There is no devotional book or other aid that will take you to the depths of the Word if you are not ready. Until you are hungering and thirsting after God, your study time and prayer life will be on the surface level and you be disappointed.
Historically, great spiritual movements were preceded by a return to studying God’s Word. Many efforts have been made to have revival in a church but those efforts that rely on preaching alone are short lived. Studying God’s Word is not the icing on the cake. It is the basic ingredient. I’m not talking about the kind of Bible study that leads to edification but that which leads to changed lives. It is only when God’s Word finds its way into our behavior that it can take root. Bible study for the sake of knowledge alone is powerless.
Father, forgive me for being lax in my Bible study and prayer time. Don’t let me use another man’s writings as anything more than a jump start. Teach me how to encounter you personally in my quite time by studying Your Word and allowing You to show me how to fashion my life according to Your Word. Show me how to make the study of the Scriptures and prayer the foundation of my life…………………….