Teaching How to think and not just WHAT to think
Learning to solve problems when alone
This is a Biblical Idea
Called Wisdom
Proverbs 3
1 My son, don’t forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commands;
2 for they will bring you many days, a full life, and well-being.
3 Never let loyalty and faithfulness leave you. Tie them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Then you will find favor and high regard with God and people.
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways know him, and he will make your paths straight.
Romans 12: 1-2
1 Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
This has been my goal this entire series
To help you
Identify Bad Theology\Ideas
Wrestle With complicated Ideas
Build a STRONG base of Understanding and faith
Final week of series – PROSPERITY GOSPEL
THE PROSPERITY GOSPEL:
That individuals who exercise true faith in Christ will surely attain physical, material, and financial prosperity in this life.
Must be able to Identify ANY false Gospel Idea
Today, let me first establish an idea of Prosperity Gospel
That if you Ask God for something
Believe ENOUGH you can Obtain it
More Faith UNLOCKS a NEW LEVEL of God granting your request
Not backed up by scripture
But that doesn’t mean we SHOULD NOT ASK
What did Jesus say about AKSING…
Matthew 7:7–12
7 “Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 9 Who among you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him.
Prosperity Gospel Says…
This means all I have to do is ask God, and I can get what I want
Jesus said it himself
Not fully wrong, but not fully right either
1: Asking God MATTERS
Jesus gives 3 INVITATIONS
ASK – Will be given
SEEK – You will find
KNOCK – It will be opened
This is an INCREDIBLE INVITATIONS
Jesus is saying, “ASK! SEEK! KNOCK!
Come to the FATHER!
Jesus is teaching us that God is CLOSE, CONCERNED and CAPABLE in answering our prayers and meeting our needs
These statements are both DEFINITIVE and CONTINUAL
Ask God, and he will give
Seek God, and you will find
Knock on his door, and he will open it
How differently would you approach these people?
Dictator
Fear
May not ask at all
Boss
Respectfully
Distantly
Loving Father
Ask with confidence
For some, your father was either a dictator/boss/not present
“Father” isn’t a good word to you
God is a GOOD FATHER
A Good Father gives Good gifts
If he is a father, let’s treat him as a father, not a bureaucrat or dictator who wouldn’t want to be bothered with our trivial and irrelevant concerns. – Tom Wright
But if God is FATHER, who are WE?
HIS CHILDREN
Key Question
Do you trust God enough to pray to him as your father?
A father who truly cares
That truly loves
That sees you and all your messed up parts but loves anyway
2: How You Ask MATTERS
The Spoiled Child says: I DESERVE
The Thankful Child says: I TRUST
A spoiled child EXPECTS the good things that it thinks it deserves
A thankful child is CONFIDENT that what it gets is GOOD
For most of us, the problem is not that we are too eager to ask for the wrong things. The problem is that we are not nearly eager enough to ask for the right things.
That’s the heart of the issue
Jesus knows us
Knows we ask complacently (Half Hearted)
When we do ask, it is often not what we really need
Jesus is inviting us to the active activity of pursuing the heart of our God, and he says, “When you do, you will get it!”
But don’t expect powerful results from ANEMIC PRAYERS
Pray like:
You are invading heaven
You have no other option
The very air you breathe is dependent on God’s answer
Fast
Set Aside time daily
Go for long walks
3: What You Are Asking For MATTERS
Matthew 7
11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him.
Am I asking for this because…
I want it
I need it
I deserve it
Because God Desires it for me?
What do we do when God says no?
Jesus in the Garden
Matthew 26
39 Going a little farther, he fell facedown and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
When God says NO, it’s because of what he KNOWS
Thanking God for unanswered prayers
– Trusting God in prayer is knowing that he give you what you would ask for if you knew all he knows.