Word of Encouragement (3/15/2021)

From today, we will talk about what to pray for. But before we do that, let’s think about what Jesus told us not to pray for: “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all” (Matt. 6:31-32). Jesus commanded us to pray on many occasions. He also gave many promises concerning prayer, such as, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened” (Matt. 7:7-8); “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it” (John 14:13-14); “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” (John 15:7). These words seem to promise unrestricted, unconditional answer to our prayers, whatever we pray. So, Jesus words in Matt. 6, telling us not to pray for something, stand out.

But we instinctively know that Jesus’ “blanket” promises cannot be taken literally. God is holy and He does not delight in, or condone, sinful things. And He who does all things according to the counsel of His will (Eph. 1:11) cannot go against His will (which is best) to do what we ask of Him to do (which is second best at best). So, we have sayings like, “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us” (1 John 5:14). Even Jesus’ promise in John 15 says, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish....” If we abide in Christ and His words abide in what, what do you think are the kinds of things that we would desire? Wouldn’t they be according to His word? And Jesus’ words in Matt. 6 tell us that there are certain things that we should not pray for.

Of course, even as Jesus’ “blanket” promises have to be understood in relation to what the rest of the Scriptures say, this prohibition in Matt. 6 should be approached the same way. This prohibition is not absolute. There are many instances in the Scriptures when God’s people prayed for temporal things (“what to eat, what to drink, what to put on”) and God answered them (notably in the wilderness). Would it be wrong for Christians in poverty-stricken areas to pray for temporal provisions? But here, Jesus was highlighting the fact that He was ushering in the kingdom of heaven. He began the Sermon on the Mount with the Beatitudes and the Beatitudes began, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:3). Even in the Matt. 6 passage, Jesus followed the prohibition with, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matt. 6:33).

Jesus gave those “blanket” promises concerning prayer as a way of highlighting the unprecedented, open access we now have to the throne of God because He came and gave His people the right as God’s children to pray to God in His name. The prohibition He gave in Matt. 6, too, was given as a way of highlighting the presence of the kingdom of heaven in and among us, our present citizenship in it, and the priority the kingdom of God deserves as the ultimate and everlasting reality as opposed to the reality of this perishing world. So then, even when we pray for temporal things, we must have the things of God and eternity in mind since we now belong to the kingdom of heaven, not to this world. We don’t just pray for temporal things to have greater comfort and ease in this world. We must consider how the cause of the kingdom of God and His righteousness would be served through them. So, Paul expected to be released from prison and live longer, not because he didn’t want to die and stay here in this world longer, but because he believed he was still needed “for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again” (Phil. 1:25-26). And we have the assurance that, as we seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness, our gracious heavenly Father, who knows what we need even before we ask, will provide all that we need according to His bountiful riches of grace.