Command 17 : Ask, Seek, and Knock | Day 115

Ask With Confidence!

God will always act in accordance with His Word. What an awesome opportunity this affords us to know the will of God! Our responsibility is to study His Word and have it continually before our eyes so that we can obey it and draw upon it when a need arises. This is the basis for effective prayers.

Daniel looked to God's Word given in the writings of Moses and Jeremiah to understand God's will regarding the Jews captivity. Based on this understanding of God's will from Scripture, Daniel prayed for God to carry out His sovereign will. (See Daniel 9.)

What greater source of confidence could we have than God's Word, which states, “Everyone that asketh receiveth” (Matthew 7:8)/.

Years ago, after a Basic Seminar in Seattle, Washington, a couple asked me if I would pray with them for a child. They had prayed for several years and had not yet received a child. As I asked several questions of the couple, I also asked the Lord for the Scriptures on which I could base my prayer.

He brought to my mind His first command to mankind, “Be fruitful and multiply." He also brought to mind the words of Psalm 127:3-5, “Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. ... Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them." Then I remembered the words of Jesus: “Whoso shall receive [including receiving into one's family] one such little child in my name receiveth me” (Matthew 18:5).

As these Scriptures filled my mind, a great source of faith filled my heart, and I had great confidence that God was going to give this couple a child. After we prayed, I made them promise to bring the child to the seminar the next year. Sure enough, the next year during a break, I saw this couple pushing a baby stroller toward the platform so that I could see the answer to our prayers.

The preparation of an effective prayer often requires more time than the presentation of the prayer.

The vital importance and effectiveness of basing prayers on the Word of God is clearly stated in John 15:7: “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." The commands of Christ that we are learning are the words of Jesus. Thus, John writes, “And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight” (I John 3:22). Let's learn the Word of God so that we can confidently present our requests to Him, knowing that they are in accordance with His will.