Ask and You Will Receive. Really.

I want to share a recent experience with the Lord. But first, I need to give you some background so that you’ll understand the story.

I have a morning routine that almost never changes. Here is how the routine goes:

• First, I read the Bible while I eat breakfast.



• I make coffee, and then go upstairs to shower.


• Then I come downstairs and sit at the breakfast table talking aloud to the Lord (conversational prayer).
  
• I then kneel to pray to the Father (usually the Lord’s prayer with some daily conversation thrown in).


• I sit down again and ask the Lord what He would have me do today. (Note: About a year ago, I gave the Lord the responsibility for scheduling my days. So He tells me what to do and in what order. When I do what He says, there is always time to get everything done. It never fails.)
  

Recently, during our morning conversation (and before praying to the Father), I told the Lord that I was gaining too much weight, and asked if He could schedule in time to start working out again on a consistent basis. He said He could. We continued talking about going somewhere to do some photography that day.

Then He asked, “Why don’t you go clear the snow off the deck?”

“Now?” I asked thinking that we were going out to do some photography.

“Yes,” He replied.

I thought that the timing was odd because it was before the prayer, and we had just talked about going out shooting. I was puzzled, but I got busy and started clearing snow off the deck.

For the next two hours I worked on the deck. The sun was shinning with a soft golden glow that makes all the trees an amazing shade of green. The sky had watercolor shades of Northwest blues and slate-grays, and there were enormous, complex, and stunning cloud formations all strolling from west to east where they eventually stack up on top of the Cascade Mountains. It was just too beautiful for words. And it certainly made walking back and forth across the deck over and over pushing snow seem a lot less like work.

I came back inside and was drying my shoes and socks with the hairdryer when the Lord commented that the job didn’t take very long.

“It was quite a workout,” I responded.

“Isn’t that what you asked me to do?” He asked.

All I could do was laugh.

And, as He pointed out, “It was two days-worth of workouts.”

So then I prayed. Then I went to the store and bought some orchids.

Then I did that shooting that we had discussed.

And, sure enough, there was time for everything.

Learning to Let It Go

A few days ago, I heard something that troubled me. It involved someone close to me who was taking a financial risk that seemed both ill advised and unnecessary. Despite proposing alternate ideas to the person, I failed to convince them. Of course, I thought that I was right, but I decided that I would say nothing to anyone about it. If you’ve ever tried doing this, then you can predict what happened. Eventually, I told someone else. Immediately I regretted it.

As I talked to the Lord about it, He helped me understand that I was relying entirely on self control. My self-control may last for a few days or months, but as long as I'm holding something in, it naturally wants to come out. Plus, if I think that I’m right about something, I also naturally want confirmation from someone else. (I’m not proud of that, but I’m also being honest.)

When I began to follow Jesus, one of the first things I learned was to give Him everything—all of my sins, problems, joys, worries, ideas, plans, work—literally everything in my life. And of course, I should have given Him my concern about this situation as well.

What’s more, I’ve learned that can’t obey the Lord’s commands under my own power. Obedience is beyond our natural ability. Thus I can truly obey only through His power.

I gave the concern to the Lord. And now, instead of holding in situations that bother me, I give them to the Lord. And to remind me about this lesson, I created, or the Lord gave me, a two-sentence summary that is easy to remember. I share it here hoping that it will be useful to you as well.

Whatever you hold in naturally wants to come out.
But whatever you give to the Lord is gone for good.

Inspiring Teachings

I think that Christ followers in the United States in particular are blessed beyond measure. Among the tremendous blessings that we have is our ability to hear the teachings of inspired and inspiring pastors around the country by watching them on television.

During the past three years, I’ve found a group of pastors who continue to help me grow and understand more fully this amazing daily walk with Jesus. As I listen to them, I’ve written down my favorite quotes from them on anything that I had handy at the moment. As a result, I have a stack of yellow sticky notes filled with quotes, as well as a notebook that I continue to fill.

This week, I’d like to share some of my notes from pastors including Casey Treat of Christian Faith Center in Seattle, Kevin Gerald of the Champions Centre in Tacoma, WA, Ed Young of Fellowship Church in Grapevine, TX, and Mark Crow of Victory Church in Oklahoma City.

Here are some of the quotes. Unfortunately, in some cases, I neglected to note the pastor’s name, and I only wrote down the quote. I’ll start with the unattributed quotes first.

“Every problem is an opportunity the Lord provides us.”

“God never performs His best in our yesterdays.”

Re: Joshua 3:4. “God didn’t part the Red Sea until the Israelites stood in it.”

“Worry is faith in the devil. Faith is trust in the Lord. Faith speaks to the storm. Speak joy, life, and prosperity. Believe what you say will come to pass. Speak to your storm or your mountain.” In other cases, we must walk through our storms (Matthew 14), and in still other storms, we “float” through as with Paul on the ship in Acts 13.

“Pray with unwavering faith. Determine that you will not pray wimpy prayers.” And then live as if your prayer is being answered. If you pray for rain for crops, then go out and prepare the fields for the rain.

“We’re blessed to be a blessing.” Ed Young

“What is prosperity? It's being in the will of God.” Ed Young

“What we believe affects what we receive. Don’t go back to Egypt when God has great things in store for you. Famine is temporary. God has something better in store. Believe that God will bring you into a place of favor. God is strong in battle. He is your very present help in the time of trouble.” Kevin Gerald

Re: II Samuel 15: 13-22. “Once you’ve been in or near the presence of God, you want to stay there. The Ark of the Covenant had been with Obed Edom and he was blessed. [When the Ark returned, Ittiai the Gittite followed because he knew what it was like to be in the presence of God, and he wanted to stay there.]” Mark Crow

“There are four foundational truths. 1. Value what God values. Do not love money. 2. Trust in the Lord, and do not worry (Matthew 6:24). 3. Remember God’s ability. Do not give up. God can turn things around. God’s economy never fails. 4. Focus on what God has given you.” Casey Treat

“Operate in faith rather than responding in fear. Don’t curse the shaking. Determine to love, serve, and worship God no matter what—with confidence. The world is looking at us now and at our confidence in God. Before you speak, ask, ‘Does this glorify God?’ When others see hope in you, they will ask how they can also have that hope.” Mark Crow

“This may be the greatest hour of evangelism ever—the greatest shaking ever.” Mark Crow

“Make the most of every opportunity. Opportunity comes dressed in work clothes or disguised as problems. Concentrate on adding value, not on being valued.” Kevin Gerald

Use It Or Lose It

The story of the 10 minas in Luke 19 is familiar. A nobleman leaves his estate to journey to a distant land so that he may be appointed king. Before leaving, he calls 10 of his servants to him. To each servant, he gives a mina, about three months’ wages. Then the nobleman tells his servants to put the money to work until he returns.

On his return, the master calls the servants to account for how they invested the money. The first servant wisely invested his mina and earned 10 more. The master praised his service and put him in charge of 10 cities. A second servant’s mina earned five minas more during the master’s absence. The master commended the servant and put him in charge of five cities.

The third servant hands the mina back to his master. The servant explains that he kept the coin in a napkin where it remained untouched, useless, and dormant. The servant said that he was afraid to invest the mina because he knew that his master was a “hard,” uncompassionate man who required what was not due to him.

By way of response, the master turns the false accusations back on the servant. At the very least, the servant should have deposited the mina to gain simple interest—especially since the servant regarded the master as a strict taskmaster who would demand an accounting from him. The master took the third servant’s mina and gave it to the servant who had 10—the servant who made the greatest use of his what had been entrusted to him by the master.

In this parable, three people start on a level playing field. At the end of the story, one ends with 11 minas, another with five, and another with zero. The only differences are the choices they made.

What's Been Entrusted to You?

Although I’ve read this story many times, I always narrowly related it to the stewardship money. But as I read the story again, the Lord asked me, “What have I entrusted to you?”

The obvious answer, after having just reading the story, was money. But I knew that He wanted me to consider all that He has entrusted to my care. I thought of the valuable gifts that He has entrusted me. Years ago, He entrusted two children to my care, and, more recently, grandchildren, as well as a wonderful extended family. He entrusted me with the talents of writing and photography, with health and intelligence, and a home.

Then I added to the list my gifts of the Spirit, which unquestionably have been entrusted to me to invest in the Kingdom until He returns.

Two Choices

Following the parable, we have a choice. We can use what God has given us or not. What would I do with what the Lord has given me? One choice is to do nothing. I considered the snarly, self-centered attitude of the third servant. Was he fearful, or lazy, or was he simply determined to avoid risk at all costs? In today’s vernacular, this would be the person who says, “Why should I do this—I’m only an employee, it’s not my job?” “What if I make a mistake and lose my job. He’s just looking for a reason to fire me?” Or, “Why try? No matter what I do, it won’t be good enough; thus, it’s better to do nothing.”

The other choice is to get busy and put to work what we’ve been given. We look for ways to invest our money, talents, time, and resources in the Kingdom of God. Whatever we’ve been given will increase the more we use it. John Gill notes in his Exposition of the Bible that the Vulgate Latin version adds, “and he shall abound or have abundance.” In the case of the first two servants in the parable, abundance translated into half again as much and double what the servants started with at the beginning.

The parable in Luke 19 promises us that the Lord will give us more if we choose to put to work what He’s already given us. The only thing standing between us and the promise is a simple choice.

The Tiniest Fragment of Obedience

The following is a classic selection from Oswald Chambers book, My Utmost for His Highest. I hope that you enjoy reading and meditating on it as much as I have.

"Obey God in the thing He shows you, and instantly the next thing is opened up. One reads tomes on the work of the Holy Spirit, when one five minutes of drastic obedience would make things as clear as a sunbeam. 'I suppose I shall understand these things some day!' You can understand them now. It is not study that does it, but obedience.

"The tiniest fragment of obedience, and heaven opens and the profoundest truths of God are yours straight away. God will never reveal more truth about Himself until you have obeyed what you know already." -- Oswald Chambers

Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest (Westwood, NJ: Barbour and Company, Inc., 1935, 1963), p. 210.

Insights on Prayer

The winter of 2008-2009 in the Seattle area blew in as a force to be reckoned with. In an area that seldom sees snow deeper than 5 or 8 inches, the Christmas season brought a record 26 inches of snow in my area. As beautiful as it was, the dangers grew with each new snowfall. Roofs were heavy with wet snow, and roads that almost never see a snowplow accumulated a deep, slick snow pack. Electricity was unpredictable at best. Christmas Day, in particular, was better spent outside shoveling snow than sitting in a cold house with a few lights powered by a gasoline generator.

Just as the mounds of shoveled snow began to shrink, the floods came. Some areas received their total annual rainfall in two short days. Rivers crested 5 and 8 feet above flood level washing a foot of water into homes that had previously never flooded. Roads that had been cleared of snowpack were now covered with water and impassable again. Entire communities were transformed into isolated islands surrounded by swelling lakes of water.

Through each new weather event, I prayed. Early on, my prayers vacillated between praising God for the singular beauty of the snow and praying fervently for protection and an end to the storms. As I prayed for what I thought needed to happen, the Lord stopped me. Gently, He told me that my prayers sounded like someone asking a magician to perform tricks.

His said clearly, “I am not a magician. I am the Lord of the Universe.”

Immediately, I realized that I was praying as if I thought that I knew best, and if He would just do what I asked, then everything would be okay. Instead, I should have turned over the situation to Him and prayed for His will to be done. After all this time of following Jesus, I know without question that His solutions are always perfect--so much better and more complete than anything that I can propose.And I know that His power is greatest in the storms of life.

In short, I had been praying with my limited earthly vision. I should have been praying for intervention and help that comes from His divine Kingdom vision.

But then, I was also confused. Did this mean that I should not bring my needs to the Lord? He clarified for me, “You should ask Me for help, but not as a puppet who perform miracles on request--but as your God who is all powerful.”

Enough said. The storms have passed, but more are certain to come. In those storms, I will ask for His insight and leading, and then I’ll pray according to the insight and revelations He provides.

New Book Recommendations

There are few times when I am not reading one or more books. And I want to pass along my latest favorite books to you with my highest recommendations.

* The Language of God, by Dr. Francis S. Collins. Dr. Collins was the head of the Human Genome Project, and is one of the world’s leading scientists. And Dr. Collins is a man of unshakable faith in God and the Scripture. His book takes the reader through modern science and how it can fit with belief in God and the Bible. He also documents his path from atheism to faith. I highly recommend this book.

* What In the World Is Going On?: 10 Prophetic Clues You Cannot Afford to Ignore, by David Jeremiah. This book is absolutely up to the minute with current news, but most important, it ties today’s headlines to the essential 10 most important Bible prophecies. This is an important book for anyone who watches the headlines with an eye toward our place in the end times.

* Understanding the Purpose and Power of Prayer, by Dr. Myles Munroe. Dr. Munroe presents an essential path to powerful and effective prayer and answers practical questions about communicating with God.