3. I Saw It
So I was meditating on what Jesus said about prayer in Matthew 7:7-8 repeating to myself,
“ask and it shall be given you,”
over and over, thinking about it, sometimes the second part,
“for everyone that asked receiveth,”
sometimes both together,
“Ask and it shall be given you…for every one that asketh receiveth….”
After a while of focusing on this part, and I mean days and weeks, not minutes, I decided to make it personal, so I could think about what it would mean if this applied to me, personally. So I began to meditate on it this way:
When I ask it is given to me,
when I ask it is given to me,
when I ask it is given to me…
for everyone that asketh receiveth and I’m an everyone.
It was while meditating this way that I saw what Jesus was saying.
Jesus was saying that God would give me what I asked for when I prayed, that God would do that for everyone, God would give everyone, what they asked for when they prayed. I realized then, I remember chuckling about it because it seemed so obvious, that, that’s what Pastor Price had been saying, those many years before, when he said, “God always answers my prayers.”
Few things are as scary to religious folks as taking God at his word. Religious people would get so upset when Pastor Price said, “God always answers my prayers.” You should see the comments I get on YouTube when I tell people that Jesus said, when they ask it will be given to them. And the thing is, It’s easy to see why Pastor Price, or anyone who actually read the Bible, would say God always answers my prayers, because it’s not just this one verse, that’s how the Bible always talks about prayer.
It’s not just this one verse.
It’s not just Matthew 7:7-8, that talks about prayer like it’s a sure thing. Here’s some more verse where the Bible talks about prayer like the answer is a sure thing. There’s a lot in these verses, but for right now just focus on what these verses say happens when we pray.
• Matthew 18:19-20 (NIV) “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them
If two are in agreement about anything they ask for it will be done for them. It’s a certainty, a sure thing, it will happen.
• Matthew 21:22 (NIV)If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.
You will receive. Not those things you really need, or those things God knows are good for you, or your basic necessities, but whatever you ask for in prayer, you will receive.
• Mark 11:24 (NIV) Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
Mark’s take on the previous verse. Again, whatever you ask for… it will be yours. There’s a certainty there.
• Luke 11:9-10 (NIV) “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened
Luke’s version of Matthew 7:7-8 that we’ve been talking about.
• John 14:13-14 (NIV)13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it
• John 15:7 (NIV) If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
• John 16:23-24 (NIV) In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.
This is Jesus talking, so let’s assume that he knows what he’s talking about. Jesus says, ‘Whatever you ask the father in my name he will give it to you.’ It’s a certainty, a sure thing, a done deal, a guarantee. He follows up with, “…ask and you will receive,” that’s not how most Christians talk about prayer.
But look at what he says next, “…and your joy will be complete.” Now most of us would’ve been happier if Jesus had said something like, ‘Ask and you will receive, that your basic needs will be complete,’ or, ‘…so that you’ll able to eek out an existence,’ or, ‘…and your joy may be complete when you get to heaven.’ Surely God isn’t answering our prayers just so our joy can be complete, so “that your joy may be full,” as the King James Bible puts it.
• James 1:5 (NIV) If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
I used to think that this scripture applied only to prayers for wisdom. But then I realized that James’s proof that God will give us what we ask, is based, (Just like Jesus’s in Matthew 7:7-11) on God’s nature, He gives generously, He gives to all, He doesn’t find fault.
• 1 John 3:21-22 (NIV) Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God 22 and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him.
And receive from him anything we ask. Almost makes you think that when you pray you’re supposed to receive anything you ask.
• 1 John 5:14-15 (NIV) This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.
John’s about to tell us why we can have confidence, boldness, I’d say chutzpah, when we pray. So one thing is certain, if, after reading what John says about prayer, it hasn’t inspired confidence in prayer, then we’re reading it wrong. If this scripture doesn’t increase our confidence, our boldness, our chutzpah, in approaching God then we’re not understanding it.
“Hears us,” means, “answers us.”
Look at this part. “if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.” When we read “hears us” we think, listens to us, or, the sound of our prayers reaches God’s ears, or something like that. But in Hebrew, (Remember the Apostle John is jewish, Jesus taught in Hebrew, Jesus and all the Apostles spoke Hebrew and grew up in the jewish religion and culture.) the word for hear, normally transliterated ‘shema’ but pronounced “shmaahh” also means, to do what is asked. Here’s a little bit on that from, 5 Hebrew Words that Every Christian Should Know, by Lois Tverberg:
“The word shema can refer to hearing or to any of the actions that result: listening, understanding, responding, doing what is asked. If you think about it, this is logical. Have you ever yelled at your kids to do something and then, when nothing happens, followed up with, “Are you deaf?” You’re making the same assumption—that their ears should be connected to their feet. If nothing happens, there’s something wrong.”
Here’s a good example where the Hebrew word “shema,” normally translated “hear,” means God answers our prayers:
24 Before they call I will answer;
while they are still speaking I will (shema/answer) hear.
(Isaiah 65:24 NIV)
I will hear means God will answer. Here’s that verse from a Jewish translation, the Jewish Publication Society Tanakh,
24 Before they pray, I will answer;
While they are still speaking, I will respond.
(Isaiah 65:24 JPSTanakh)
God so wants to answer our prayers that He answers them before we even finish speaking.
Here’s another good example of the Hebrew “hear” meaning “answer” and after it a passage from the Gospel of John that makes the same point also using “hear” to mean “answer.”
16 Come and hear, all you who fear God;
let me tell you what he has done for me.
17 I cried out to him with my mouth;
his praise was on my tongue.
18 If I had cherished sin in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened (shema/answered me);
That is, The Lord would not have “shema’ed” me, He wouldn’t have answered my prayer.
19 but God has surely listened
and has heard (shema/answered)
20 Praise be to God,
who has not rejected my prayer
or withheld his love from me
(Psalms 66:16-20 NIV)
Here’s the scripture from the Gospel of John where “hear” means “answer” and which echoes the point made in Psalm 66:18, that God doesn’t hear/answer sinners.
31 We know that God does not listen to (answer) sinners. He listens to (answers) the godly person who does his will. (John 9:31 NIV)
Back to 1 John 5:14
Back to what the Apostle John is saying,
’…if we ask anything (Notice the “anything” again.) according to his will he hears us.”
John doesn’t mean the sound of our prayer reaches God’s ears, he means God ‘answers’ us. Look at the next verse,
15 And if we know that he hears (Not hears us but answers us.) us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.
If we know that he answers us whatever we ask, we know, no matter what it looks like, that we have what we asked.
We have a wrong picture of God. We see Him as inviting us forward to be heard, ‘You may approach…,’ or we picture our prayer making it to God’s ears so he can decide if He will answer it. But the Biblical picture of prayer is, before we finish speaking God has said “Yes,” to our prayer.
That's the confidence that we have in approaching God.
So…
Here’s the summary of these scriptures, a summary of what the Bible says happens when we pray, It will be given you, everyone who asks receives, you will receive, it will be yours, it will be given to you, I will do whatever you ask, it will be done for you, my father will give you whatever you ask, ask and you will receive, it will be given to you, receive from him anything we ask, if we ask anything… he answers us.
You can see where Pastor Price was coming from when he said, “God always answers my prayers.”
So, as far as Jesus and the Bible are concerned, answered prayer, receiving what you ask God for when you pray, is a sure thing, a certainty, it will be done, you will receive, but…