Text: “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…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.
Good morning, Christian in need! What are you in need of today? Having an all-sufficient Father in Heaven, is it not time to ask Him to supply your perceived need? After all, the Scriptures teaches us that we can have just whatever we desire - don’t they?
Oh no they do NOT! Read on, my friend, and become more aware of a grievous error being taught in the church today. (Psalm 119:105)
I have heard some TV Evangelists say, “Just name it and claim it, brethren!” I have also heard some utterly foolish things said, such as “I bind you, Satan!”
What a load of old twaddle! We Bible-believing Christians must not listen to such erroneous nonsense! We are encouraged in God’s Word to ‘test’ such spirits. The Devil would tear us to pieces if it were not for God’s Spirit!
“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try (test) the spirits whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” (1 John 4:1)
But how are we mere mortals to even begin to test beings in the Spiritual realm? How are we to know if what we are being taught is truth, or error?
Praise God, He has given you and me a ‘yardstick’, a Spiritual measuring rod; a sure tool with which to discern God’s truth from the spirits of worldly error. We have been blessed with our Bibles, God’s Holy Word. Hallelujah!
“Sanctify them (regenerate Christian believers) through Thy truth; The Word is truth.” (John 17:17)
“To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this Word (the Word of God revealed in our Bible), it is because there is no truth in them.” (Isaiah 8:20)
Okay, so how do we know that the ‘Name it and claim it brigade’ of TV evangelists teaching such tripe are teaching error? Let is look into God’s Word to find the answer. (Proverbs 3:5-6)
What our fallen hearts desire is not always what the Lord God would want us to desire for ourselves. We have an old nature that is incurably sinful; always prone to covetousness and sin; and which will perpetually seek selfish things until these bodies of death actually die and return to the earth from whence Adam was made. This is a fact, my friend. We are very real sinners - even we who are graciously saved by Christ Jesus, our very real Saviour.
Look at the apostle Paul’s self-revelation of sinfulness:
“For I know that the law (Ten Commandments) is Spiritual; but I am carnal, sold (by Adam) under sin. For that which I (should) do I allow not; for what I would (do), that I do not; but what I hate (sin) that I do…For I know that in me (that is in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing; for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would (do) I do not; but the evil which I would not (do), that I do.” (Romans 7:14-19)
Furthermore, you and I latter-day Christian believers are no different than Paul. We are weak in Spiritual matters and so very prone to disobedient sin.
“…For there is no difference; for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God (Christ’s perfect sinlessness).” (Romans 3:22-23)
So, back to our initial premises: We do not always ask the Lord for things according to His Holy will, but we do sometimes try to ask Him to supply the totally selfish desires of our carnal hearts. God cannot grant such requests.
“Ye lust, and have not; ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain; ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not (according to Godly desires!). Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts…Do ye think that the Scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth (continuous verb: lusts, and continues to lust) to envy.” (James 4:1-5)
‘Name it and claim it’ at all times IF what you are ‘naming and claiming’ is according to the revealed will of our thrice Holy Lord God. Come, ask now.
Thought: Praying for what God inspires us to request: we shall have our requests, but at all times according to His Own Sovereign will alone.
