Hello and greetings in the name of Jesus Christ. I am thinking of starting a series that is called "49 Commands of Christ." For me, in my life, I am studying each of those commands, one per week. Lord Willingly, it should take 49 weeks to get through it.
Why am I doing this? John 14:15, 21 says it clear. "If ye love me, keep my commandments. He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him." What a blessing it is to know that we love God by keeping His commandments and know that He first loves us.
John 15:10 says "If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love." If we keep His commandments, we abide in His Love. Should I go on farther? I just started on this journey to spend a whole week studying on 1 of those commandments. And things are literally changing in my life.
So let's start off with the first one: Ask in Faith. The main verse that speaks about it is in Mark 11:22 - 24 "And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them."
As I looked at this verse, I made a list of what all is being said here.
1) The main thing is to have faith in God.
2) Nothing is impossible with God.
3) We should not doubt at all in our hearts. Doubting is the exact opposite of faith.
4) When we ask, we must believe that we will receive them.
Hebrews 11:6 says "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."
When we come to God, first we must acknowledge His existence, His being, and of what He is capable of. Nothing is impossible with God. And that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. First, it explains about His existence, then it goes onto His character. He wants to bless us if we seek after Him, diligently.
And before we can ask, I believe we must seek Him. "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." (Matthew 6:33)
We must seek Him in diligence and faith. Now what about the part of Him granting our desires? Will He give us 1 million dollars? Or a very expensive car? I don't think so. When we are born again, we will have new desires and our desires should match up with His. We should never ask for lots of money, unless maybe to help with the ministry or for homeless people. "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts." (James 4:3)
But the main thing of this study is to focus on God and don't doubt when we ask Him of anything we need and don't ask in your own lusts. Believe that you would receive them and believe that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek after Him. "But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed." (James 1:6)