ASKING
FOR NOTHING? – Monday May 22nd 2017
Memorise:
Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your
joy may be full. John 16:24
Read:
Luke 15:25-32 (King James Version)
25 Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and
drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing.
26 And he called one of the servants, and asked what these
things meant.
27 And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father
hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound.
28 And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his
father out, and intreated him.
29 And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years
do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet
thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends:
30 But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured
thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.
31 And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all
that I have is thine.
32 It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for
this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.
Bible
in one year: Acts 3-4, Jeremiah 33:12-26, Hymn: Sing hymn 10
MESSAGE:
The benefits you derive from a person depends on
how much that individual has and on how desperate you are to receive. If God is
the One you need something from, then you are dealing with the Almighty God who
has all things and who can do all things. Before approaching God, you need to
first determine what you want and how much of it you want from Him. If your
response is to ask God for nothing, I am afraid you will leave empty-handed. James 4:2
says,
“Ye lust, and
have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet
have not, because ye ask not.”
In John 16:24, after several years together, the
Lord addressed His disciples one day and said something that should shock us:
“Hitherto
have ye asked nothing in my name: ask and ye shall receive, that your
joy may be full.”
They lived, ate and slept with the Fountain of
living waters, yet they failed to drink from it. Some people take contentment
to the extreme. They think it is covetousness to ask God for anything decent,
whereas God is waiting for them to ask. How much have you asked from God? Are
you like the disciples who asked for nothing? Open
Heavens Daily 2017 Monday 22 May 2017:-Ask For Nothing? They asked
for nothing at a time when others, who were not even walking with Jesus, were
already using His Name to get benefits from Heaven (Luke 9:49-50). Even God knows
that living nothing is not good for you. The container of joy of the fellow who
asks for nothing will always remain empty, whereas God wants it to overflow.
In the parable of the prodigal son, the senior son
is another example of those who swim in abundance but hardly ever ask for a bit
of it. When his younger brother returned and his father declared a feast, he
was annoyed. How could his father slaughter a cow to celebrate his brother’s
return, whereas he had not even had a ram to celebrate his birthday with his
friends? This was one major difference between the two brothers. While he never
asked for the least of all he was entitled to, his brother did not mind
exceeding his limits. The younger brother had asked for all he could get from
his father and wasted it, and yet on his return, the father kept spending on
his account. Whose cow was being slaughtered for the prodigal son? It was
definitely that of the elder brother. This teaches us that what you fail to ask
for may be taken over by those who ask. God gave you a mouth with which to ask.
Ask and ask big! From today, as you ask, God will answer you speedily in Jesus’
Name.
Key
Point
When
we get to Heaven and some people see what they asked for in comparison with
what they could have asked for, they will feel seriously cheated.
Open
Heavens Daily Devotional guide was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General
Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of the largest
evangelical church in the world and also the President of Christ the Redeemer's
Ministries.
iOpenHeavens is the electronic version of the Hard Copy. The Open Heavens devotional application is available across all mobile platforms and operating systems: iOS, Android, Blackberry, Nokia, Windows Mobile and PC.
iOpenHeavens is the electronic version of the Hard Copy. The Open Heavens devotional application is available across all mobile platforms and operating systems: iOS, Android, Blackberry, Nokia, Windows Mobile and PC.
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