<%@LANGUAGE="JAVASCRIPT" CODEPAGE="1252"%> Untitled Document • ASK
• Matthew 7:7-8
• “Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks, it shall be opened.

• Introduction
• It is remarkable that the God who created the universe with words, so high and mighty, would not only speak to creatures He made in His own image, but would invite us to speak to Him, as well – especially so in that He invites us to ask requests of Him.

• ASK AS A QUALIFIED PETITIONER
• 1st Peter 3:12 “For the eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and His ears attend to their prayer, but the face of the LORD is against those who do evil”.
• Some people God is happy to hear from, but others He deliberately ignores.
• Proverbs 28:9; “He who turns away his ear from listening to the law even his prayer is an abomination”.
• Proverbs 15:8,9 “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, but the prayer of the upright is His delight. The way of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, But He loves him who pursues righteousness.”
• Those who don’t want to listen to God, He won’t listen to either.
• In fact, their prayers are abominable to Him.

• ASK AS A QUALIFIED PETITIONER
• John 9:31 “We know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing, and does His will, He hears him”.
• There are qualifications, simple ones, which must be met in order to be heard in prayer.
• Isaiah 59:1-2 “Behold, the LORD’s hand is not so short that it cannot save; neither is His ear so dull that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear”.
• It is not that God is unable to hear the prayers of all; it’s that He won’t.
• The separation between God and the sinner is a choice of the sinner to which the Almighty merely responds in like fashion.

• ASK AS A QUALIFIED PETITIONER
• 1st John 3:22 “and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight”.
• Prayer is not a universal right, but a privilege of the obedient.
• Acts 10:4, “And fixing his gaze upon him and being much alarmed he said, ‘what is it, Lord?’ And he said to him, ‘your prayers and alms have ascended as a memorial before God”.
• True, the prayers of Cornelius were heard by God before he was saved in Christ, but prior to that he was as faithful to God as any gentile could be when the Jews were the chosen nation.
• At most, this example suggests unsaved persons who are sincerely seeking God will be heard in that request.

• ASK ACCORDING TO HIS WILL
• 1st John 5:14-15 “And this is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him”.
• God will hear what we ask only if we ask in accordance with His will.
• Matthew 26:39 “And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying ‘My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as thou wilt”.
• Even the Son of God qualified His requests with “Your will be done”.

• ASK ACCORDING TO HIS WILL
• James 4:3 “You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures”.
• Asking in prayer to win a gambling jackpot, or for a sinful sexual relationship to be spared from breakup, or any other wicked request will surely be disregarded by God.
• Luke 6:46 “And why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say?”
• It is wildly inconsistent to call Jesus “Lord”, but disobey Him.

• ASK IN THE NAME OF CHRIST
• John 14:13-14 “And whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it”
• John 15:16 “You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask of the Father in My name, He may give to you”.
• John 16:23-24 “And in that day you will ask me no question. Truly, truly, I say to you if you shall ask the Father for anything, He will give it to you in My name. Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be made full”.
• Jesus taught the disciples not to pray to Him, but to pray to the Father through Him.

• ASK IN THE NAME OF CHRIST
• Ephesians 5:20 always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father
• Colossians 3:17 “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the LORD Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father”.
• The apostles taught the same.
• Romans 1:8 “First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world”.
• Romans 7:25 “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! …”
• Paul practiced what He preached.

• ASK IN THE NAME OF CHRIST
• 1st Timothy 2:5; “For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus”.
• Hebrews 7:25 “Hence, also, He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them”.
• Because Christ is our Mediator and Intercessor it fits that prayers to the Father go through Him.

• ASK IN FAITH
• James 1:6-8 “but let him ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways”.
• It is futile to make request of God, doubting all the while whether He can perform what we ask.
• Matthew 21:21-22 “And Jesus answered and said to them, Truly I say to you, if you have faith, and do not doubt, you shall not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, be taken up and cast into the sea, it shall happen. And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive”.
• Praying in faith can move mountains.
• Of course, we must trust it would serve God’s purpose to do so.

• ASK IN FAITH
• James 5:16b-18 “…the effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain; and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the sky poured rain, and the earth produced its fruit”.
• Although Elijah was a mighty prophet, he is described as having “a nature like ours”, meaning that the drought was the result, not of a miracle, but of prayer.
• 1st Timothy 2:8 “Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands without wrath and dissension”.
• Petitions to God must be free of all doubt.
• Trust Him.

• ASK SPECIFICALLY
• Luke 11:11-12 “Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he?”
• Notice in Jesus’ metaphor that the son never told the father he was hungry; rather, he specifically asked for bread, then fish, then an egg.
• Likewise, our prayers ought to avoid generalities.

• ASK SPECIFICALLY
• If the names of those who are sick and their ailments are announced, then that’s who we should pray for and the reason why we pray.
• If the names of those traveling are announced along with where they’re going and for how long, then that’s who we pray for and the reason why we pray.
• James 5:17
• Elijah was specific in his very effective prayer.
• James 5:14 “Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord”.
• Our prayers for the sick ought to be detailed.

• ASK SPECIFICALLY
• Acts 8:22 “Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you”.
• Our prayers for the wayward ought to be detailed.
• Romans 8:26-28 “And in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose”.

• ASK SPECIFICALLY
• True, the Holy Spirit helps us when we have trouble figuring out what to say.
• That doesn’t mean we keep it generic and let the Spirit do the rest.
• It means we let the Spirit help – we keep praying until we figure out how best to put it.

• ASK GRATEFULLY
• Philippians 4:6-7 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus”.
• All requests should be couched in terms of gratitude.
• If we’re not thankful for what God already blessed us with, why would we ask for more and why would He comply with those petitions?

• ASK GRATEFULLY
• 1st Thessalonians 5:17-18 “Pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus”.
• Giving thanks in everything means doing so even when things seem lousy because we may not yet recognize hidden blessings.
• Acts 16:25 “But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them”.
• Imprisoned harshly for proclaiming the gospel, Paul and Silas found it in their hearts not only to pray, presumably for relief, but also to sing hymns – not the blues, hymns, which are songs of praise.
• Thankfulness filled them even in the dungeon.

• Conclusion
• The majority of our prayers are “ask” prayers.
• We pray for others, but mostly asking God to bless them.
• We pray for our needs by asking God to provide.
• We pray for health and so many other things.
• Nothing wrong by asking.
• Just have to remember that we must ask properly as we have discussed in this lesson.

By Carey Scott from an outline by Bryan Dockens

Return to the Sermon Outlines page

Home / Bible studies / Bible Survey / Special Studies / General Articles / Non-Bible Articles / Sermons / Sermon Outlines / Links / Questions and Answers / What Saith The Scriptures /Daily Devotional / Correspondence Courses / What is the Church of Christ / Book: Christian Growth / Website Policy / E-mail / About Me /