Selfish Asking? - November 8, 2008

Good morning on this fine Saturday! We love the Lord Jesus and are glad to welcome Him into our hearts each and every day. The weather out in these parts is supposed to be a bit more mild today. I hear that things got pretty bad up in South Dakota this week. How great is our Lord! A new day dawns for the seizing of new opportunities; go out and live. As for me, that old garage sale continues today, but everything short of the cleanup should be done by noon.

How great is your faith today? Have you tried asking for something in Jesus name, and had the faith to put it into action? When Jesus says "anything", does He really mean that we can ask for anything in His name? Actually, I am sure He means exactly what He says. However, the limitations of what we might ask Him become clear when we come to reverence the name of Jesus and trust in Him completely. Suddenly we may find that the things we might have asked for before becoming saved are not the things that we would ask for in His name now. While a secular person might throw out the name of Jesus like they do in movies and television shows these days, their lack of belief will prevent the name of Jesus working as some sort of magic charm. When a person comes to believe in Jesus, the asking in His name becomes an act of faith and a cherished privilege. We will ask as our Lord Jesus asked, not my will but thine O Lord! Does it work to ask in the name of Jesus? Yes, it most certainly does. It is not that we can't ask for some things in Jesus name, it's more that we won't ask and take the name of Jesus lightly.

One thing that I have noticed in asking for things in Jesus name; if the request is selfish, I cannot use the name of Jesus to ask for it. You might try this for yourself. We might be able to ask in a flippant manner, "Lord, I could sure use a million bucks," but when it comes to using the name of Jesus... suddenly the magnitude of our selfishness becomes apparent. Faith helps us to realize the difference between can't and won't in our asking. We can make selfish requests in Jesus name, He said to ask for anything, but when it comes right down to it, we won't. Holding the name of Jesus in reverence does wonders for stopping those old selfish requests. Praise the name of our Lord Jesus!

Bucky