Ask Not Have NotLearning to ask and receive !om God

Do You Ask?

In life we sometimes end up roaming around

For instance: Jason at the Home Depot

We are prideful and do things our way

We end up making things rea#y difficult

James 4:2

You want something but don't get it.You ki# and covet, but you cannot have what

you want. You quarrel and fight.You do not have, because you do not ask God

But I Do Ask!

We pray and pray and beg God for things

Sometimes we feel that God doesn’t hear us

Why doesn’t this work as advertised?

We are not asking with the right motives

James 4:3

When you ask, you do not receive,because you ask with wrong motives,

that you may spend what you geton your pleasures.

Hold On Now...

God’s desire is for us to love each other

God wants us to give Him the glory

We usua#y ask for things for ourselves

We usua#y take a# the credit for it!

We need to understand God before we ask

John 15:7-8

If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it wi# be given you. This is to my Father's glory,

that you bear much !uit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

The Big If...

I have found that when I am intimate with God, asking Him to meet my needs works

When I fa# away !om God and don’t spend time with Him, I end up not receiving

That’s because God desires a relationship with you and I above everything else

A)er God’s Heart

King David was appointed to be king of Israel because he was “a man a)er God’s own heart”

What was it about David that was different?

He spent time trying to be close with God

He asked God for things including riches

He gave God a# the glory for what he had

Acts 13:22

A)er removing Saul,Samuel made David their king.

He testified concerning him: “I have found David son of Jesse a man a)er my own heart;

he wi# do everything I want him to do.”

He Sought To Do God’s Wi# Before His Own

Are You DoingThe Wi# Of God?

The Prodigal Son

You have probably heard this story

We feel rea#y good for the son that screwed up

What about the son who did everything right?

He was legitimately upset at his dad

Luke 15:11-32

Meanwhile, the older son was in the field.When he came near the house, he heard

music and dancing. So he ca#ed one of the servants and asked him what was going on.

“Your brother has come,” he replied, “and your father has ki#ed the fattened calf

because he has him back safe and sound.”

Luke 15:11-32

The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father,

“Look! A# these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders.

Luke 15:11-32

Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my !iends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you

ki# the fattened calf for him!”

Luke 15:11-32

“My son,” the father said, “you are always with me, and everything I

have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again;

he was lost and is found.”

What’s Up With That?

We live with the father, we can ask anything

The prodigal son asked for his inheritance

The father gave it to him because it was his

The other son could have asked the same thing

Why didn’t the father even throw him a party?

What’s Up With That?

We live with the father, we can ask anything

The prodigal son asked for his inheritance

The father gave it to him because it was his

The other son could have asked the same thing

The Other SonNever Asked!

John 16:23-24

In that day you wi# no longer ask me anything. I te# you the truth, my Father

wi# give you whatever you ask in my name.Until now you have not asked for anything

in my name. Ask and you wi# receive,and your joy wi# be complete.

In Summary

Get intimate with God

Get your life in the wi# of God

Get away !om the desires of the flesh

Ask for things that are not selfish

Ask with the authority of the name of God

But Don’t Stop ThereYou Need To Receive!

Land of Milk & Honey

The Promised Land was promised to Israel

God gave it to them because they asked for it

But we wi# not obtain what we ask God forunless we step out and take it in faith

Think of what milk and honey have in common

It is good stuff but you need to work to get it

I Asked You For Life

I asked You for life,and You sent your son

to die for me

I asked You for hope,You came in the nightand gave me a dream

I asked You for !eedom,You broke every chainand gave me the keys

I asked You forlove neverending and

every day You surround me

and now my faith inYou is a mountain

that can't be shaken

Now my strengthis found in You,

it is joy that can’t be taken

Praise spills from my lips,flowing onto the feet

of You, my King

You deserve all the loveand all the honorthat I can bring

I asked You for life,and You sent your son

to die for me

I asked You for hope,You came in the nightand gave me a dream

I asked You for !eedom,You broke every chainand gave me the keys

I asked You forlove neverending and

every day You surround me

and now my faith inYou is a mountain

that can't be shaken

Now my strengthis found in You,

it is joy that can’t be taken

Praise spills from my lips,flowing onto the feet

of You, my King

You deserve all the loveand all the honorthat I can bring

Praise spills from my lips,flowing onto the feet

of You, my King

You deserve all the loveand all the honorthat I can bring

Here is my song,here is my heart,

here is my love, all for You, Jesus!

Here is my song,here is my heart,

here is my love, all for You, Jesus!

Here is my song,here is my heart,

here is my love, all for You, Jesus!

Here is my song,here is my heart,

here is my love, all for You, Jesus!Holy, Holy, only You are worthy!