Matthew7:7-8

[Pamelasv]

18 hours ago, Your closest friendnt said:

I am glad to read your post, and while this scripture has a wide interpretation, seeking wisdom from Jesus it is more important than we sometimes think.

A good friend told me the following experience;

A certain time while I was praying a felt a strong impulse to read this part that Jesus said; "and grater works you shall do in mine name". Then he said for some reason I started to reason; If we do the same works as Jesus then we are the same as him, now LOOK AT THE  CATCH, but if we do grater works than him, then we are grater than him. The friend went on to discrive some strange feelings and thoughts he had of some superiority, or grandiose feeling he had towards Jesus Christ, thinking that he was position hirer than Jesus.

Simly put; grater works it meant grater position.

One day someone unsolicited told him, the parable of growth, the good stiuard parable, and he said immediately I heard the words within me, "no servant is grater than his master". When I imediatly relate and accepted the guidance, he said I became huble, and my bubble burst and I deflated at the feet of Jesus. At that momment some spiritual oppression left me. 

PS

The brother said; the Lord had open the door for him to experience a deceiving or a distorted spirit, to help him and develop his skills of discerning. 

Then he said he remember the scripture;

"not to be ignorant of the schemes and the ways or the traps of the devil". 

 

Intersesting. I believe that.

[WilliamL]

On 2/8/2016 at 9:32 AM, Pamelasv said:

For everyone who asks recieves, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.'

While a common interpretation, this is worded inaccurately. The key verbs are participles:

For everyone asking receives, and the one seeking finds, and to the one knocking it will be opened.

The implication is that one must continually keep asking/seeking/knocking. If so, the Lord will respond faithfully in his own due time, which may not necessarily be as fast as we desire. But if we only ask once or twice and quit, then where is the faith in it? without our continuing faith the Lord will not respond.

Another key passage to consider about these things is this one:

1 john 5:14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, 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 the petitions that we have asked of Him.

If we are asking for things outside of his will, it is impossible for us to be asking them in faith, no matter how much our hearts might deceive us. And many times we will later be glad that the Lord did not give us what we had earlier asked for!

[Spock]

Yes but doesn't the Lord also seem to chastise men for being redundant?  The woman before the judge comes to mind. And Jesus also reminds us the father knows what we need before we even ask. I'm not sure God expects us to keep making the same request over and over and over in order to get his attention.  It depends on what we asking for, don't you think?

for example, if my wife had terminal cancer, are you telling me in order for God to heal her is for me to keep on keeping on asking God for healing until the day she dies or is healed? And by asking merely a few times is not enough to satisfy him?

[simplejeff]

16 minutes ago, WilliamL said:

The implication is that one must continually keep asking/seeking/knocking.

Yes, thank you William for the simple reminder.  It is so easy to forget, I just let it slip by.

Even Moses , who spoke with God , did this.  Every Day. 

We in Him NEED to KEEP talking with the Father in heaven, listening to Him - all the time, every day.

Spock:  it is easy to heal ,  but yes, keep praying.

Perhaps like King David, a man after God's Own Heart, did for his child - He prayed and fasted right up until hearing they had died. Then he got up, got washed/cleaned up , and ate a meal.

[hmbld]

26 minutes ago, Spock said:

Yes but doesn't the Lord also seem to chastise men for being redundant?  The woman before the judge comes to mind. And Jesus also reminds us the father knows what we need before we even ask. I'm not sure God expects us to keep making the same request over and over and over in order to get his attention.  It depends on what we asking for, don't you think?

for example, if my wife had terminal cancer, are you telling me in order for God to heal her is for me to keep on keeping on asking God for healing until the day she dies or is healed? And by asking merely a few times is not enough to satisfy him?

What if the continued asking is not to, as you say, satisfy Him.  What if the continuation in prayer is to simply come to God, to seek to align ourselves with His will?  You question reminds me of trying to understand how we are not to merely engage in a repetitive prayer, but yet we can still pray, possibly for the same thing, but earnestly, not just saying words, which may be the same words for days on ends, but really desiring that communication with God.  I say, yes continue to pray, even knowing that God already knows what we need.  

[Spock]

My daughter's first marriage took a downward turn shortly after the marriage. My wife and I began prayed incessantly for God's grace, mercy, etc to keep them together in love. Then they had a baby and guess what?  It got worse.

for three more years those two were always fighting, and we were having to referee their affairs. Many times my daughter and child came back to our house to cool off. They had counsellors, ministers, everyone involved, yet to no avail.  For three more years, wife and I were on our knees beseeching God's mercy and grace for that family. 

It  was then I realized something- God will not overrule FREE WILL he has given to man.  I then came to this belief-  no matter how much I prayed for God to keep them together in peace, that was up to THEM, not God. 

Well, their marriage happily ended and things are much better for both mother and daughter. That poor child no longer has to hear mommy and daddy yelling and cursing and throwing things, etc.. She now is in a home of peace. 

Anyhow, you don't have to agree with me on this, but the lesson I learned was for me. I know praying for healing of cancer is different so that's another matter. 

Thanks for listening,

spock

[simplejeff]

How is praying for God's Will different ? 

If they both had obeyed God,  their marriage would have been healed.  But , if an unbeliever wants to leave a marriage, let them go ((the BIBLE says)).     That's no disobedience for the believer to let them go.

Likewise,  unless there's a  different PLAN of GOD, if someone prays to be healed and is trusting HIM, obedient / faithful, they will be healed.  This is witnessed all through the old and the new testaments, right?  Sometimes they recovered, sometimes they didn't:  the difference are important TODAY... BECAUSE >>>>>

6 minutes ago, Spock said:

God will not overrule FREE WILL

 

6 minutes ago, Spock said:

I know praying for healing of cancer is different so that's another matter. 

 

[WilliamL]

3 hours ago, Spock said:

Yes but doesn't the Lord also seem to chastise men for being redundant?  The woman before the judge comes to mind. And Jesus also reminds us the father knows what we need before we even ask. I'm not sure God expects us to keep making the same request over and over and over in order to get his attention.  It depends on what we asking for, don't you think?

for example, if my wife had terminal cancer, are you telling me in order for God to heal her is for me to keep on keeping on asking God for healing until the day she dies or is healed? And by asking merely a few times is not enough to satisfy him?

In this section of Matthew, Jesus is speaking to "the multitudes," 5:1. That is, the spiritually immature. Once our faith has matured to the point that when we pray and then listen intently, we know what the Lord's will is concerning our prayer, then that is the point where we no longer need to keep asking/seeking/knocking.

But the spiritually immature have many turbulent thoughts contesting in their heads, and have a hard time hearing. So for them, it is better to keep at the prayer until they are satisfied that they have received an answer yea or nay.

This all goes back to what John was saying about if we ask anything according to His will. The Lord will show us his will if we are ready and able to receive it. Many are not able, because they they are not praying in fullness of faith. They are reluctant to pray "not my will but thy will," because they are still too self-centered.

[Leonardo Von]

On 2/8/2016 at 2:32 PM, Pamelasv said:

How would you 'teach' this to people if you were up at the pulpit teaching?  Now I ask it this way for a reason.

'Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to. For everyone who asks recieves, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.'

Dear sister Pamelasv,

Grace and mercy and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

·        “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” (Matthew 7.7,8).

 

I will preach according to what comes before:

 

·        “Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.” (Matthew 7.1,2)

 

That is, when he speaks to knock on the door, at no time does he say that it is to punch the door, whether to try to repair it at all costs or to change it. It is not for us to judge individuals, much less to condemn, punish, or even execute them in our lives. Just as Jesus came into the world to save souls (and not to condemn them - Luke 9:56; John 3:17), it is for us to see that judgment does not fall upon them.

 

·        “And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.” (Matthew 7.3-5).

 

Jesus did not hire us to be private detectives to look for defects in one's life. Rather, it is to love those whom He has given us (John 17:12) and to ask and seek that He use our lives to cover their shortcomings (Ezekiel 22:30).

 

·        “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.” (Matthew 7.6).

 

Why should the Eternal give us good things (individuals - pearls - Matthew 7:11) if we do not take care of them properly, if we do not give them proper value?

•  “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without  end. Amen.” (Ephesians 3.20,21).

 

Continues on next post...

[Leonardo Von]

On 2/13/2016 at 2:29 PM, hmbld said:

Matthew 6:33  But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Psalm 37:4  Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

James 4:3  You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.

Psalm 27:8  You have said, “Seek my face.”  My heart says to you,  “Your face, Lord, do I seek.”

What if I am asking wrongly; asking for earthly things, for an easier life, for less struggles, and God sees things differently, has a different purpose, 

Moreover, most of the time we pray in an offensive way to the Eternal. The impression we convey is that the God we serve is very stingy and cruel.

For you to understand what I mean, imagine that son who, because the father is very angry, he is afraid even to talk to him and when he goes to ask for something, he asks for small things, because he fears that if he asks for something big, he can even take a beating.

Well! Many times we go to the Eternal in this same way. Although we confess that God is love (1 John 4: 8,16) and Almighty, we pray to Him in the certainty that He has no interest in hearing us, how much more to attend, and thus when we turn to Him, our requests are made according to our miseries (and not according to His riches):

 

·        “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4.19).

 

For you to understand the difference:

For example: If we are thirsty, we beg the Lord for a glass of water. Even if He answers our prayer, soon we will thirst again. What's up? What do we do? Continue to seek the Eternal thinking only in having our needs supplied? How long will we keep going to Him just like an addict goes to the drug dealer to get his daily drug?

In contrast, what did Jesus promise us?

First: supply us with something that will end our thirst:

 

·        “Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” (John 4.13,14).

 

Second: to make the rivers of Living Water leave our interiors.

 

·        “In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)” (John 7.37-39).

 

Realize it is not a stream, but a river. And not just one river, but several rivers. That is, what the Eternal wants is not only to quench our thirst but to make our lives an abundant source of His various virtues, so that all the oppressors of His people may find refuge in us (Isaiah 14:32).

 Another example: imagine that someone is in darkness. The tendency of individuals is to ask the Eternal to change them of place. Suppose the Lord listens to this prayer. Well, there will always be problems wherever we go. What's up? Are we going to get away from every difficult situation? In this case, what use will our life have?

On the other hand, see what the Eternal wants to do?

 

·        “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4.6).

 

That is, He wants us to be light wherever we go (Matthew 5: 14-16).

As you can see, what the Eternal wants from us and for us goes far beyond all that exists in this world, from everything we can come, hear or imagine (1 Corinthians 2: 9).

May Jesus help us to ask only that which pleases the Eternal, to seek only what is good in His sight and to knock only at the gates of Christ (see Psalms 24:6-10).