The Ask

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you…how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” Matthew 7:7,11

 

 

Eight years ago today, it was sunny, warm and breezy. My father, brother, Jenny and I were standing in front of my mother’s casket at the cemetery towards the end of the graveside service. The breeze had a playfulness to it. The other family and friends had been invited to place flowers at the foot of the casket and nearly all of them had been blown off by the playful breeze to the other side – away from all of us on this side. It was now time, for the four of us to place our flowers at the head of the casket, concluding the service. And so each of us placed the flowers there – before that playful, joyful breeze pushed the flowers this time back at us, falling at our feet. And without missing a beat, Jenny smiled and said, “Aw, she’s giving them back to you.”

 

It was a moment I will never forget for a couple of reasons. As you might imagine, in the middle of grief you have a numbed, nauseous feeling and it was the last moment I would be only a reach away from my mother’s body. And yet, in the middle of it all, the playful breeze, the love of the flowers being returned to us and Jenny’s sweet voice explaining it all, as if God speaking through her – confirming many thoughts and prayers in just a sentence.

 

Answered prayer. In the haze of grief, as many of you know, you lift up a lot of prayers. “Let me know she is okay. Let me know she is with you. Let me know you kept your promise,” were among my many prayers of those days.

 

You see, about four years before that day, after going to the visitation of a good friend and hero from high school, Matt DeYoung, I went to my now infamous prayer hill in Radburn’s “B” park. As you might imagine, when you are in your 20’s or younger and you see someone around your age in casket, it is an awful feeling. It throws everything off – it defies logic and the order of things. So I was already upset about that, but I also had other questions and prayers on my mind. My mother, Kate, was going through a particularly difficult time with her health and with life general. My prayers for her went something like, “Lord, when will it end for her! Can you please release her from her suffering!”

 

And then I was quiet for a few moments. And in that quiet, the following phrase entered my mind, “She will know joy.” And it was the first time I understood God communicating to me with words. Number one, because I don’t really talk like that. And I could tell that it was not coming from my mind – it just started bouncing around in there. I took as it an answer and a promise and started to head for the car to visit her.

 

I never told Kate about my “message” about her. But it never left me. And as her life in the next few years seemed to get worse and worse, I clung to my asking, seeking and knocking and the idea of “She will know joy.” How many times did I remind God of His promise? Countless. The waiting is always the hardest part.

 

And then Kate died. Her broken heart finally broke altogether, depriving her beautiful mind of oxygen for too long. This is knowing joy, you say? Hold on…

 

She died in ICU with her husband holding one hand, her younger son holding her other hand and her first son (me) at her feet – all together again, just as she wanted it all along – joy. Kate left behind the suffering, the illnesses, the hurt, the guilt and the tears – joy. She entered into the presence and fullness and joy of Jesus where there is only joy, praise and adoration.

 

I asked. I sought. I knocked. And it was given to me. I found it. And it was opened to me. She now knew joy – complete joy. A joy, that as hard as I tried to give her here on earth, it could never come close. Is this the way I would have liked it? Absolutely not. But here is what I can tell you without any doubt: God hears our prayers. God answers our prayers – every time. God answers prayers in the way that is best for us and for those for whom we pray. God answers prayers in His own time.  

 

In His time, there we were at the cemetery, the sunshine, the playful, joyful breeze, the gift of the flowers back to us confirmed to me deep in my soul, that the Lord had heard my prayers and answered them…and would teach me that He always would – sometimes the way I expect, but most times not – but always answering with His best.

 

Keep asking. Keep seeking. Keep knocking. “How much more will your Father in heaven, give good things to those who ask him!”

 

Amen.

 

Discussion Questions

1. Are you asking, seeking and knocking about something in your life right now? Do you believe He will answer? Why or why not?
2. Is there something you have been afraid to ask Him for – because you don’t think He will give it to you? How about now?
3. How do you think God defines the “good things” He wants to give us?
4. Do you have an answered prayer story? Please email me back and share it.

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The Peace of God

Philippians 4:5-7

“…The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:5-7

We are a bunch of “worriers” aren’t we? We worry about everything. And yet that wasn’t the design.

This passage today gives us some basics. First, the Lord is near. Great! Part of what happens when we worry is our perception is narrowed. It is a little bit like when you are asked to do a presentation or public speaking and you get up there and your heart is pounding and you can’t remember what you were going to say. The worry we experience on a daily basis is a lesser version of that. It may not feel like being in front of a crowd, but it does affect us. It is a mental and spiritual thing. On the spiritual side, it seems to cause us to be less aware of God’s presence. Sometimes we feel like God is far away…most, if not all the time it has to do with our spiritual perception and us. So yes, the Lord is near whether we believe it, or see it…or not.

And if the Lord is near…”Do not worry about anything…” Think about it this way, if you were fully convinced that the Lord was near, would we worry about anything? If the Creator, Savior and Sustainer of our lives was right next to us, not a lot to worry about (read Psalm 121 for more on this idea).

But we keep on worrying and the passage asks us to, “…in everything by prayer and supplication (fancy word for request or plea) with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. A couple of thoughts here. First, do you wonder why thanksgiving is in there when what you have asked for might not have materialized yet? Faith. The idea is that if we are asking for something in God’s will or ways, we can believe that it will happen (Matthew 7:7-11). And so the thinking here is that we should already be thanking God for His answer as we are praying about it.

Next, “be made known to God.” God knows everything so what does this mean? The meaning of the Greek word for “made known” carries the understanding of “recognize” or to reveal. But again, why do we need to reveal or share something that God already knows? This is the relationship part of prayer. Think about this…you may love your spouse or family members or friends and you think, “They know I love them.” They may know it, but they also need to hear it from you. Likewise, God knows our hearts, but the connection with Him is built and strengthened by saying and sharing our needs and hopes in prayer. See???

Here is what happens when we trust that the Lord is near and we are sharing and expressing our needs and hopes to Him. “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Looking at these verses, part of what is happening, part of why the worry is supposed to evaporate is because we have handed over or given away, through prayer, those things that are stressing us out.

Often what we do though, is think or pray about the things that are stressing us out and then hold onto them. We may think we have handed them over…but we often grab them right back…so that we can worry and fret some more! You know it’s true!

This not to say that believing the Lord is near and letting our requests be made known to God means a pain or worry-free life. Not at all. But in all that happens, according to these verses we have access to a peace that is beyond what any pill or drink or drug can offer – no matter what is happening. It won’t change the circumstances, but it will alter how we deal, face and witness through.

A “peace of God, which surpasses all understanding.” What else can I add to that? Except to say that I have experienced it and it does…surpass all understanding. There is nothing like it. And I know many of you reading this have experienced it too. It is real.

This “peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your heart and your minds in Christ Jesus,” is possible and something I think we are all in need of.

I know this guy who said to me one time, “All I want is peace.” That is great. We want that too. God wants us to have His peace too. It is waiting for us if we open ourselves to the Lord’s nearness and truly share and hand over our needs and hopes to Him.

Amen.

Discussion Questions

1. Name some things that are really stressing you out right now? After reading this, what can you do differently to deal with them?
2. Have you actually tried this before and not felt this peace? What happened? Did you really hand it over to God?
3. Are you tired of worrying? Have you become so used to it that it would feel strange not to worry?
4. Do you find it hard to believe the Lord is near? Why is that?
5. Have you felt this peace before? Can you describe it? If you haven’t, what do you think it might be like?

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