MEMORY VERSE: ‘Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.’ Matthew 7:7.
LESSON SCRIPTURE: Matthew 7:7-12.
STUDY HELP: Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, pages 130-133.
LESSON AIM: To study Christ’s words about making our requests to God.
‘Prayer and faith are closely allied, and they need to be studied together. In the prayer of faith there is a divine science; it is a science that everyone who would make his lifework a success must understand. Christ says, “What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” Mark 11:24. He makes it plain that our asking must be according to God’s will; we must ask for the things that He has promised, and whatever we receive must be used in doing His will. The conditions met, the promise is unequivocal. For the pardon of sin, for the Holy Spirit, for a Christlike temper, for wisdom and strength to do His work, for any gift He has promised, we may ask; then we are to believe that we receive, and return thanks to God that we have received.’ Education, pages 257-258.
1. What does Jesus encourage us to do in our prayers? Matthew 7:7.
NOTE: ‘Prayer is heaven’s ordained means of success in the conflict with sin and the development of Christian character. The divine influences that come in answer to the prayer of faith will accomplish in the soul of the suppliant all for which he pleads. For the pardon of sin, for the Holy Spirit, for a Christlike temper, for wisdom and strength to do His work, for any gift He has promised, we may ask; and the promise is, “Ye shall receive.”’ Acts of the Apostles, page 564.
2. What kinds of prayers will not be answered? James 4:3.
NOTE: ‘The mistake that too many make is to suppose that Jesus meant, by the words which we have just read, to put Himself at the service of every man’s selfish desires; that He meant that whatever their fancy might light upon would be given to them if in their asking they would simply use His name. But that this is a mistake, we learn from the words by the apostle James: “Ye lust, and have not, ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain; ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.” James 4:2, 3. Selfishness is sin, and the root of all sin; and Christ is not the minister of sin. Therefore His promise does not mean that He will serve as the panderer of the lusts of all who may take His name upon their lips.’ E. J. Waggoner: Present Truth, February 23, 1893.
‘The Apostle James tells us, “Ye ask and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.” James 4:3. Here is stated a cardinal principle to be borne in mind by all in asking the blessing of God. The only way to keep the blessing of God is to give it away.’ E. J. Waggoner: Present Truth, November 23, 1893.