Word of Encouragement (5/2/2020)
Good morning~! Today, let’s reflect on the last element of prayer: supplication—the act of asking God to grant us our desires.
We have seen that our prayer should be so much more than making supplications. But we cannot deny that, when we think of prayer, we think of it in terms of supplication. So, even the Shorter Catechism says, “Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God, for things agreeable to his will, in the name of Christ, with confession of our sins, and thankful acknowledgment of his mercies” (Q. 98). We are grateful that God not only hears us when we pray but also commands us to pray:
· “call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me” (Ps. 50:15);
· “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. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him” (Matt. 7:7-11);
· “Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full” (John 16:24).
How gracious and merciful God is to grant us the privilege of “offering up… our desires to God”! But in offering up our desires to God, it would help us greatly to keep in mind two things.
First, the kind of desires that we bring to God in prayer should be “agreeable to his will.” We are praying to a holy God. We cannot expect a holy God to grant us our sinful desires. God does give sinful people over to their sinful desires as a way of punishment (Rom. 1:24, 26, etc.). But God desires to give "good" things to His people. And if our prayers should be agreeable to His will, it is because God’s will is eternal and unchangeable. God’s will was forged in His infinite wisdom from all eternity and it cannot be changed without changing for the worse. The goal of prayer is not to change God’s will; it is to conform our will to His.
Consider also the fact that we are praying in Jesus’ name. The name of Jesus is not a magic chant that makes whatever we pray come true. When we pray in Jesus’ name, we are praying on His authority, which can usher us to the throne of God’s grace and grant us an audience with God as our heavenly Father. So, when we pray in Jesus’ name, we should think whether what we are praying for is worthy of Jesus’ name.
Second, this doesn’t mean that we should only pray the Lord’s Prayer or what we think are most “holy” or “spiritual.” There are things we desire, which are not contrary to God’s will, about which the Bible doesn’t say one way or the other—for example, what school to attend, what kind of job to get, whom to marry, etc. As long as they are not “sinful” or “wrong,” then we can bring these desires before God and wait on Him to see whether they are agreeable to His will.
As we conclude, let's not forget that what is "agreeable to God's will" is most clearly revealed in the Lord’s Prayer. It reminds us of what is truly important in our lives so that we do not pray just to lay up more treasures on earth, which moth and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal, but to lay up our treasures in heaven, which neither moth nor rust destroys and thieves do not break in to steal (Matt. 6:19-20).