Transcript

Larry Crabb writes: When I was 10, I first heard Matthew 21:22, where Jesus, who never lies, said, “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” It was the “whatever” model of prayer—believe, ask for whatever you want, and it’s yours.

I remember running outside, standing on our driveway, closing my eyes real tight, and praying, “Lord, I want to fly like Superman. And I believe you can do it. So I’ll jump, and you take it from there.”

I jumped four times—and each time landed half a second later and half a foot farther down the driveway. I had believed and I had asked, just like the Lord said. But I didn’t receive. Thus began my 50 year journey of confusion about prayer.

I believe he’s like many when it comes to prayer and how prayer works. But we don’t need to be confused about prayer when we rightly divide the Word.

God want us to “pray with the understanding,” I Cor. 14:15 says, or pray intelligently, with a clear grasp of what the Scriptures, rightly divided, say about God’s will and His provisions for our prayer lives in this present dispensation of grace.

Prayer works differently today than it did for the nation Israel under prophecy and the law. God’s instructions regarding prayer have changed under grace and for the Church, the Body of Christ today.

There can only come disappointment, frustration, discouragement and in extreme cases, spiritual ruin, if we claim a prayer promise that God never made to us.

But there is joy and peace when we understand the Lord’s promises for us today in this present “dispensation of the grace of God.”

Matthew 21:22 reads, “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” Mark 11:24 says, “What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”

Luke 11:9,10 reads, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth.”

John 15:7; 16:23 says, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” “Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, He will give it you.”

Many sincere believers have been encouraged by these verses to expect physical healing, daily employment, their marriages to be fixed, deliverance from temptation, and solutions to all sorts of problems in answer to their prayers.

But when they ask for these things in prayer, believing, and don’t get them, they often are so disappointed they stop praying or conclude that the Bible just isn’t true.

Why is that these promises of whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive do not work in people’s experience?

The problem of the “ask and receive” prayer promise begins to be answered when we notice that these promises are found in certain parts of your Bible, namely: in the four Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

In the four Gospels, during our Lord’s earthly ministry, the Lord Jesus Christ was sent to Israel and ministered to Israel. As He told a Gentile woman during His earthly ministry: “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt. 15:24).

The Lord ministered under the Law, in fulfillment of prophecy, preparing Israel for the 7 year Tribulation, and His Millennial Kingdom on earth.

Jesus Christ was sent to Israel and came as Israel’s Messiah, to fulfill all the promises made to the nation of Israel in the Old Testament.

And His message in the Gospels was that of a kingdom of heaven being “at hand,” a Kingdom over which He was to be Israel’s King.

It is in this context these prayer promises were made: in the context of Christ’s ministry to Israel under the Law and His instruction to Israel. And importantly they are in the context of the “gospel of the Kingdom,” the good news of the kingdom that is to be established on the earth with Christ as King.

These prayer promises are made to Israel, and not to us the Body of Christ. And this prayer promise is tied to Christ’s teaching regarding the kingdom of heaven on earth. And when our Lord reigns in that kingdom, things will be drastically different in the world.

Isa. 65:20,24,25: “The child shall die a hundred years old And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock.”

Isa. 11:6,8: “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp [cobra], and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ [viper’s] den.”

Now under grace, I wouldn’t recommend that you allow your children to play on a cobra’s hole or put their hand in a viper’s den!

But these are the kind of miraculous conditions which will prevail during our Lord’s reign on the earth.

And this prayer promise will be fulfilled and in effect at that time. They are tied to this kingdom. And Israel’s prayer life will be in accordance with the miraculous nature of the kingdom.

In Acts 4:29-31, we find an example of this, “And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all BOLDNESS they may speak thy Word, by stretching forth Thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done….And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the Word of God with BOLDNESS.”

Miraculously, the place where some of the kingdom church were assembled literally shook beneath their feet as the church prayed this prayer.

Here we see kingdom saints praying for something in faith and receiving it, and a miracle takes place, and they received the boldness they asked for.

In the days of the kingdom on earth, the Word of God teaches that the kingdom saints will be supernaturally filled and controlled by the Holy Spirit, and God will cause them to do His will (Ezek. 36:26,27).

We learn from this that their prayers in that future day will be Spirit-inspired, so they can be trusted with this prayer promise, so whatever they ask in prayer will be God’s will and they will receive it.

Not only in the Gospels do we find the “ask and receive” prayer promises, we find them also in the Letter of James. James writes, “Let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally and it shall be given him” (1:5), and “Is any sick among you? The prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up” (5:15).

We see asking and receiving, and the prayer of faith resulting in God miraculously healing the sick.

But when we read the first verse of James’ letter we know that he is writing “To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad” (1:1).

According to God’s plan, James was writing to the twelve tribes of Israel in the past, who had been scattered abroad, and his book will also directly apply to the twelve tribes of Israel who will be scattered abroad AFTER the Rapture of the Church.

By who it is addressed to, we learn that James is not “our mail” in the Bible. We are not the 12 tribes scattered abroad. We are the Body of Christ.

We can and should read the Book of James and study it and learn from it, but the 12 tribes, the nation of Israel, are temporarily set aside in unbelief today and God’s program today is with the Gentiles, the nations, in the dispensation of grace.

And Israel’s promises under the Law and prophecy, and her prayer promises, are just like God’s program with Israel, they are temporarily set aside also. They don’t work today for the Body of Christ under grace. It doesn’t apply to us.

The prayer promise of asking and receiving is not given to us today living under grace. It was made to Israel by Christ with their Millennial Kingdom in view.

Romans 8:22-28: “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

“Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

Today we are living in the dispensation of the grace of God, and under God never promises that if we ask in prayer, believing, we will receive what we asked for. This can be tested and proven by simply reading through the letters written by the Apostle Paul.

Paul wrote thirteen letters, Romans to Philemon, and we never read one ask and receive prayer promise. Romans-Philemon are our letters from home, written directly to us the Church, the Body of Christ for this present dispensation of grace.

In them, we find our prayer instructions that are to be fully applied and lived by.

Under grace we are taught to “Be careful for nothing, but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God,” and not whatsoever ye ask in prayer, believe ng, ye shall receive, instead “the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts & minds thru Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:6,7).

We are to take EVERYTHING to God “by prayer”: Every need, every question, every anxiety, every heartache, every concern is a call to prayer. Every single issue in life is a call to prayer. Even the good things in life are all a call to prayer.

A country preacher decided to skip services one Sunday and head to the hills to do some bear hunting. As he rounded the corner on a perilous twist in the trail, he and a bear collided, sending him and his rifle tumbling down the mountainside.

Before he knew it, his rifle went one way and he went the other, landing on a rock and breaking both legs. That was the good news. The bad news was the ferocious bear was charging at him from a distance, and he couldn’t move.

“Oh, Lord,” the preacher prayed, “I’m so sorry for skipping services today to come out here and hunt. Please forgive me and grant me just one wish: Please make a Christian out of that bear that’s coming right at me. Please, Lord!”

That very instant the bear skidded to a halt, fell to its knees, clasped its paws together and began to pray aloud right at the preacher’s feet: Dear Lord, bless this food I am about to receive.”

As we pray under grace, God wants us to pray and thank the Lord for our food. 1 Timothy 4:4,5 says: For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.”

Under grace, we pray with the knowledge that “we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith [faithfulness] of Him” (Eph. 3:12).

By the shed blood of Christ, we have boldness and access with confidence to the Father. Thus, with confidence we know bring all our requests to Him, and because of that constant access we have to the Father, we know that He hears all our prayers.

For all of us in the Body of Christ, we pray in the relationship we enjoy with God the Father. Because we are “accepted in the Beloved” and have free access to Him, we can speak directly to our heavenly Father, and He WANTS us to bring all our requests to Him.

Under grace we also pray knowing God is able, and is “able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think” (Eph. 3:20), in prayer, according to His perfect will.

When I was attending Bible School, at Berean Bible Institute in Slinger, Wisconsin, a couple of our instructors took a group of us to Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago.

Pacific Garden Mission is a well-known mission in Chicago, and is where the radio program, Unshackled, is recorded. We got to see a taping of the one of the salvation stories of Unshackled, and we were also given a tour of the facility.

David Saulnier, the director of the mission at the time, led our tour. We went into the cafeteria, and the large room was full of homeless men who were eating their dinners.

David Saulnier went to the center of the room and stood up on one of the tables, and he shouted, “Little Prayer!” And all the men in that cafeteria shouted back: “Little Power!” Then David shouted, “Much Prayer,” and all the men shouted back: “Much Power!”

Hearing all those men loudly shout this went straight to my soul, and I’ve never forgotten it. But how true that is, that when we pray little, we have little power for our lives. And when our lives are filled with much prayer, we have much power. By prayer, we are strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man (Eph. 3:16).

And of course, we know that the power of prayer is not in the one who says it, but in the One who hears it, and answers our requests according to His perfect wisdom and will.

The Lord desires much prayer in our lives, and under grace we are taught to “pray without ceasing” (I Thes. 5:17). Just pray and pray all the time is how we are taught to pray today.

God always wants us to turn to Him in prayer. He wants us to relate every experience in life to Him. Nothing is too small or insignificant to take to Him in prayer; He cares about everything. It’s not less spiritual to pray about everything, including physical things, it’s more spiritual. By this we demonstrate by faith that all our life is set apart to God.

All parts of our lives is prayer material. The Word is clear that God cares about everything in our lives. Thus, we are taught to lead a praying life, praying always about all things.

Romans 8 also teaches us how to pray under grace. We also see in Romans 8 how intimately involved in our lives God is. Paul says “Likewise” in verse 26, or “In the same way.” And we should ask “Likewise, or in the same way as what?”

There is a progression in Paul’s teaching in this context. In verse 22, we see that the “whole creation GROANETH.”

Then in verse 23, we learn that “even we ourselves GROAN within ourselves.”

Paul reminds the believer that the whole creation groans, and not only they he says, even we ourselves groan, the believer, who has the firstfruits of the Spirit.

So we see that the believer is not immune from the suffering and pains of this life. We live in this sin-cursed world too, and as a result we groan and suffer along with everyone and everything else.

Then in v. 26 we see someone else that groans: the Spirit groans within us, “with GROANINGS which cannot be uttered.”

The Spirit indwells each believer. He is with us in all circumstances of life. He is with us in all the groans of our struggles, pains and suffering. Oftentimes in life, that’s all you can do when the pain or the burden is so great, that you just groan.

But we should never be tempted to think that God is cruel or that He would ever leave us in our suffering or trials. He is in us. Thus, He’s always there.

And by the passage we see how God the Holy Spirit within us groans to God the Father with groanings too deep for words in our difficult times, with such depth of feeling for us it cannot be expressed in words.

He knows what we feel. He knows what we are going through. He feels what we feel. And when we groan and are hurting, the Spirit feels this. When we groan, He groans too.

Out of His great care for us, He sympathizes deeply with us and “helpeth our infirmities” and He intercedes on our behalf.

When He does so, it’s been said so well that He prays to the Father “with wisdom that we do not possess, requesting for us what we are too shortsighted to perceive…interceding so that our minds and the mind of the Father will unite and His will be accomplished.”

Today, prayer is not receiving whatever we ask in prayer believing. Today many times it’s just praying, “Lord I do not even know what or how to ask,” and the Spirit helps us and groans within us, conveying the pain and needs of our heart to the Father, and He intercedes on our behalf out of His deep love and care for us.

And when we pray under grace, we pray according to God’s will, trusting Romans 8:28 by faith, that God is working all things together for good.

God’s instructions for the Body of Christ have changed in many respects from His instructions to Israel, about prayer and about many other things.

When we want to know how to pray under grace, we must turn to the letters of the Apostle Paul, because Paul is the apostle of the Gentiles through whom Christ has given His instructions for His Church today under grace.

2 Corinthians 12:7-9: “And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.

“For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

God’s people can devastated if they are told that God’s plan is to fix all their problems if they ask in prayer, believing, and then it doesn’t happen.

The Lord never promised that for us in the dispensation of grace. Here we learn that the Apostle Paul did not get everything that he asked for in prayer.

We are all very much like Paul here, because we like to pray, “Make it go away! Lord, fix it!” We learn how Paul prayed and begged three times, for the Lord to remove his problem.

And then the Lord spoke to Paul, and He didn’t say, “Whatever you ask in prayer, you’ll receive, if you have faith and believe!”

He didn’t, like in Acts 5, under a different program and prayer promise, shake the building, and immediately give what was requested.

Instead, the Lord told Paul “My grace is enough,” that His grace was more than sufficient for him. When we are weak, we have the promise of strength by the grace of the Lord. And that promise remains true to this very moment. The Lord’s grace is always sufficient. And it is that all-sufficient grace that transforms and strengthens our lives to live for Him.

In John 1:14 it says “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us…full of grace and truth.” Christ is full of grace. The grace that comes from Christ comes in the abundance of God’s infinite supply.

It never diminishes, and it is more than sufficient for all our needs. God’s grace in Scripture is always spoken of in terms of lavishness, of excess, of fullness, of richness. We need this, because we all need much grace.

And in times of trouble and suffering, God puts His grace on display. In those times, we often want the Lord to remove the problem; but the Lord wants to show the all-sufficiency of His grace, and the majesty and greatness of His power at work in our lives.

Under grace, the Lord often does not answer our requests in the way we want, and He often does not take away our pain. Instead, His answer to our prayers is the same that He gave to Paul: “My grace is sufficient for thee.” And He promises His grace and strength to help us in and through the trouble.

God does not promise us a trouble-free life, but He does promise His grace, comfort, nearness, and strength which is available from Him at all times.