“Ask anything in My name and I will give it to you”, Jesus.
That’s a pretty bold statement by Jesus which He made during the Last Supper. But I’m here to tell you that it’s a true statement! He has proven it to me this week quite amazingly.
There are two caveats to this statement, one is in the sentence and one is not. The one in the statement is, of course, ‘in My name’. When I worked for Environment Canada, I had credit cards which were in the name of Environment Canada. I had authority to use those cards for purchases or travel. The one caveat was that each transaction had to be for the benefit of Environment Canada.
This, I believe, is what it means to ask for something in Jesus’ name. It’s not tacking “in Jesus name” onto the end of your prayer, it is praying for something Jesus and His Kingdom will actually benefit from – things that are in the will of God.
For instance, I realized this week that I rather desperately needed a laptop of sorts in order to continue this blog while I am away from home for several weeks this summer. My wife and I tried to buy a cheap little used laptop online, but withdrew when the price went beyond what we were willing to pay.
Ten minutes later, a good friend called and asked me if I could use an almost new ThinkPad that he had been given, having no real use for it himself. It’s a wonderful little machine and I will be able to continue this blog while traveling. That's so typical of God's timing as He's done this sort of thing many times. Also, it is good to have friends that actually listen to the Holy Spirit and obey Him.
Is the blog in God’s interest? Child sex abuse may be the worst scourge mankind has ever inflicted itself with and raising its profile has resulted in many new laws and enforcement agencies and inquiries all over the world. It is definitely having an impact. My blog is a small part of that but even a small part may save some kids from molestation.
I also encourage people to pray for the children. I have no idea how many, if any, are praying regularly, or even occasionally for these children who are in danger of, or are being sexually abused. A quarter of a billion children have been sexually abused so far in this century, most of them many, many times.
Praying for them is absolutely necessary for God to intervene and overrule the free will of man, even the will to commit such horrific evil.
The other caveat is found in another statement by Jesus, “And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive." Believing refers to faith. If you have no faith in Jesus Christ, then there is no point in you asking for anything. Faith in Jesus is the beginning of a completely new way of life - it changes you forever.
But this statement refers to more than just believing that Jesus is Who He said He is, or even that He has saved you by His death on the cross. This statement requires you to believe that Jesus is alive and active in your daily life – your circumstances right now. It expects your faith to be dynamic, and for you to be in communication with Him at all times and totally dependent on Him.
I am totally dependent on the Lord to provide me with material and wisdom for this blog, and because it is in His interest, and because I fully expect Him to help me, He does.
Just today this blog passed 20,000 page views. That’s not spectacular but I’m pretty happy with it. In a few days my Google+ account will register 150,000 page views. I’m very happy with that, but the thing I am happiest about is this:
I have been encouraging people to pray my 3:15 PM prayer, which you can see at the top of this page. In it I ask for you to pray for 5 children in total each day. Suspecting that there are not a lot of people praying it, or something like it, this week I decided to increase my own prayers to 500 children – 100 in each category. “You have not because you ask not”, Jesus’ brother James wrote.
So, yesterday I read that 450 children and 138 young adults have been rescued from a house of horrors in Mexico, and the new national law enforcement agency in the UK has concluded a 6 month anti-child pornography operation in which they arrested 660 pedophiles. They estimate that 400 children will be spared from sexually abused as a result.
That’s 850 children and nearly 1000 young people in total – in one day. I’m not claiming that that all happened because I prayed; there are many people who pray for sexually abused children. But it is a curious and encouraging result. God answers prayer!
Please join us in praying for the children who are being abused or are in danger of being abused. You can pray the 3:15PM prayer and replace the 'one' with '100' if you have the faith. Or you can pray whatever you like. But please, for the children's sake, pray.
Praise God from Whom all blessings flow.
Gary
That’s a pretty bold statement by Jesus which He made during the Last Supper. But I’m here to tell you that it’s a true statement! He has proven it to me this week quite amazingly.
There are two caveats to this statement, one is in the sentence and one is not. The one in the statement is, of course, ‘in My name’. When I worked for Environment Canada, I had credit cards which were in the name of Environment Canada. I had authority to use those cards for purchases or travel. The one caveat was that each transaction had to be for the benefit of Environment Canada.
This, I believe, is what it means to ask for something in Jesus’ name. It’s not tacking “in Jesus name” onto the end of your prayer, it is praying for something Jesus and His Kingdom will actually benefit from – things that are in the will of God.
For instance, I realized this week that I rather desperately needed a laptop of sorts in order to continue this blog while I am away from home for several weeks this summer. My wife and I tried to buy a cheap little used laptop online, but withdrew when the price went beyond what we were willing to pay.
Ten minutes later, a good friend called and asked me if I could use an almost new ThinkPad that he had been given, having no real use for it himself. It’s a wonderful little machine and I will be able to continue this blog while traveling. That's so typical of God's timing as He's done this sort of thing many times. Also, it is good to have friends that actually listen to the Holy Spirit and obey Him.
Is the blog in God’s interest? Child sex abuse may be the worst scourge mankind has ever inflicted itself with and raising its profile has resulted in many new laws and enforcement agencies and inquiries all over the world. It is definitely having an impact. My blog is a small part of that but even a small part may save some kids from molestation.
I also encourage people to pray for the children. I have no idea how many, if any, are praying regularly, or even occasionally for these children who are in danger of, or are being sexually abused. A quarter of a billion children have been sexually abused so far in this century, most of them many, many times.
Praying for them is absolutely necessary for God to intervene and overrule the free will of man, even the will to commit such horrific evil.
The other caveat is found in another statement by Jesus, “And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive." Believing refers to faith. If you have no faith in Jesus Christ, then there is no point in you asking for anything. Faith in Jesus is the beginning of a completely new way of life - it changes you forever.
But this statement refers to more than just believing that Jesus is Who He said He is, or even that He has saved you by His death on the cross. This statement requires you to believe that Jesus is alive and active in your daily life – your circumstances right now. It expects your faith to be dynamic, and for you to be in communication with Him at all times and totally dependent on Him.
I am totally dependent on the Lord to provide me with material and wisdom for this blog, and because it is in His interest, and because I fully expect Him to help me, He does.
Just today this blog passed 20,000 page views. That’s not spectacular but I’m pretty happy with it. In a few days my Google+ account will register 150,000 page views. I’m very happy with that, but the thing I am happiest about is this:
I have been encouraging people to pray my 3:15 PM prayer, which you can see at the top of this page. In it I ask for you to pray for 5 children in total each day. Suspecting that there are not a lot of people praying it, or something like it, this week I decided to increase my own prayers to 500 children – 100 in each category. “You have not because you ask not”, Jesus’ brother James wrote.
So, yesterday I read that 450 children and 138 young adults have been rescued from a house of horrors in Mexico, and the new national law enforcement agency in the UK has concluded a 6 month anti-child pornography operation in which they arrested 660 pedophiles. They estimate that 400 children will be spared from sexually abused as a result.
That’s 850 children and nearly 1000 young people in total – in one day. I’m not claiming that that all happened because I prayed; there are many people who pray for sexually abused children. But it is a curious and encouraging result. God answers prayer!
Please join us in praying for the children who are being abused or are in danger of being abused. You can pray the 3:15PM prayer and replace the 'one' with '100' if you have the faith. Or you can pray whatever you like. But please, for the children's sake, pray.
Praise God from Whom all blessings flow.
Gary
No comments:
Post a Comment