Telling Him What We Want
Text: John 14:12-14
It is again a privilege to be with everyone here today at the West
Side Church of Christ.
God is good, so good that He gave us His Son 2000 years ago in such a
selfless sacrifice that all of us can come here today and say Amen to
the prayer asking our Lord Jesus to come (1 Cor.16:22, Revelation
22:20). We know that when Jesus Christ comes, all those who belong to
Him will have every one of their deepest desires fulfilled and each of
their tiresome tribulations over with.
Children's stories are amazing at their ability at grabbing our
attention. Many of them deal with the idea of having your greatest
wishes answered. Perhaps it's the idea of the lamp that when rubbed
produces a genie and three wishes are granted. Or, it's the
introduction to a far off place where mystical powers exist and all
your fantasies can be realized. One of Sydney's stories that I'll use
to introduce today's thought is from the Disney movie "Aladdin and the
king of thieves." Now, the King of thieves is after a wedding gift
that when in your possession produces an oracle that will give you the
answer to your one greatest question!
What would be your question?
What would I ask if I had one question to ask?
Would I ask about the future, the past or the present?
Would I seek treasure, laughter or health?
Would I ask about spiritual matters or physical?
What would be the greatest question I could ask?
The reason I bring this up this morning is because the title of
this lesson is "telling Him what we want".
Please turn to James 4:2,3.
What we want to notice first of all about this passage is the phrase
"you do not have because you do not ask". Think about this for a
moment and listen to what God is telling us through James here-
there are things in our lives that we may not have, and the reason we
may not have them is because:
- we do not deserve them.
No that's not what he says, it may be true, but that is not what he
says.
- we do not need them.
No that's not what it says either, it may be true, but that is not what
James says.
- we have not asked for them!
BINGO!
Listen, you do not have, because you do not ask!
In line with this, turn to Jesus statements to his apostles in
John 14:12-14: What ever you ask in My name, I will do!
Again, whatever you ask in My name, I will do!
Now, combining James & Jesus here you get a pretty clear picture-
Jesus promises that whatever we ask, He will do. James says, we don't
have because we don't ask!
Why do you suppose it is that at times we fail to ask of God what
we want?
Perhaps we are afraid of seeming too selfish! That's a real
possibility. That's a possibility in our homes even. We don't ask of
one another because we don't want to seem selfish. We don't ask of
each other in the church because we are afraid of seeming selfish.
So, we don't want to ask God for things because we may seem selfish.
Perhaps we are afraid of making Him angry! That's a real possibility
too. Remember James later said in vs.3 that you ask for the wrong
reasons and that's another reason you don't have what you asked for!
Let me just interject something here. As I have been reading
more and more Jesus interaction with people, I've noticed something:
Jesus wants to know what we want!
Listen, if we're having health problems, Jesus wants to know.
If we're having financial problems, He wants to know.
If we're having job-related stress problems, He wants to know.
If we have hurts because of loved ones, He wants to know.
If we have a need to be connected with something bigger than ourselves,
He wants to know.
If we have the need to be released from the debt of sin and fear of
Hell, He wants to know.
We live in a world that says "cry me a river". Or, "here's a
quarter call someone who cares."
I mean "we've heard it all before, take two dosages of the latest
self-help book and see me in two weeks."
Sometimes we get so used to that world that we think Jesus would react
the same way. But friends, He never has before, and He never will.
Turn with me to a couple of passages:
John 1:38- What do you seek?
Mark 10:51- what do you want me to do for you?
Mark 10:36- what do you want me to do for you?
What was Jesus after in each circumstance?
He wanted to know what their need was! More than that, he wanted to
uncover what their want was!
It is time if we have never done so before, to start looking at
our lives and telling Jesus what we would want Him to do for us!
Jesus said, if you ask anything in My name, I will do it! Notice I
will do it so My Father can be glorified in Me.
If I want Jesus to give me rest, I need to tell him.
If I want Jesus to help my job situation, I need to tell him.
If I want Jesus to help me out of financial debt, I need to tell him.
If I want Jesus to assist me in my physical hurts, I need to tell
him.
If I want Jesus to grant me comfort with regards to the issues of
heaven and hell, I need to tell him.
What do we call this?
Prayer. How do we pray?
That's a good question, but just try this, address the Father in the
beginning of the prayer, pour out your heart's desires to Him, ask it
in the name of Jesus and you've got yourself a prayer.
God wants to know, Jesus wants to know, more important Jesus wants
to accomplish.
We need to do this as a congregation by the way- Acts 4:23-31.
We want to grow more, love more, reach out more, bond more etc.
We need to do this individually- Phil.4:6,7
What else do we need?
Faith that He can do it! Mark 10:52, 11:24.
There will be times He says no, as in the case of James & John- because
we ask amiss. But, as long as we don't ask, James says we can't have!
If Jesus were to come to Windsor this morning, something tells me that
every one of us here would have made an effort to go to the spot he was
at. Most of us would run to him, to simply touch him or shake his
hand or fall at his feet. What would you answer him, when he asked
you, What do you want me to do for you?
I've thought about this all week, what would my answer be?
You ever have those times where you rehearse what you're going to say
in a meeting with someone, and you get it down but you can't remember.
What would I say?
My greatest question or need or want, what would it be?
Before you answer let me read you Luke 4:18- now what would you want
him to do for you?
Jesus offers you something more than your wildest dreams.
He says in Matthew 11:28-30.
Would you come to Him for this rest?
What does He ask you to do?
John 3:16- believe, John 3:21- repent, John 3:3-5- be born of water & the Spirit.
If you haven't done that, then you still do not belong to Him.
If you need to do that, why not come to Him now, if you want to learn more about that,
why not speak to me afterwards about that.
You make the sermon, what do you want me to do for you?
Tell him, and believe him!
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