James 4:2-3
R. Lofton Hudson once told a story about a young man getting ready to graduate from high school who asked his dad for a new car. The next day, the father came home and gave his son a book which he asked him to read. Dad told him that the pages in this book had not been cut and he would have to cut them as he read them. The son promised to read the book. The days and weeks went by and the son was anxious for his answer. Finally, a week before he was to leave for college he approached his father. He said, “Dad, I don’t understand. You have always been forthright in everything but you haven’t given me an answer about my car”. Dad said, “Have you finished reading the book?” The son ashamedly admitted that he had not. The father asked him to go get the book which he did. Then the father took out his pocket knife and turned to the last two pages in the book. When he cut them, the keys to a new Ford fell out. The son jumped with joy and started out the door to go to the dealer to get his car but he stopped, turned around and gave the keys back to his father and said, “Dad, I don’t deserve the car. I didn’t do what you asked me to.” The father said, “Go ahead son, you’ve missed enjoying the car all summer and I think you’ve learned your lesson.
The sermon in which Dr. Hudson used this illustration was called, “The Uncut Pages of Life”. We leave so much on the table because we do not do what God asks us to do. Over and over, the Bible commands us to pray and study. God makes many wonderful promises which we claim to believe He will grant. When God doesn’t fulfill His promises, we begin to doubt God even though we won’t admit it to others. It never occurs to us that God is waiting for us to do what He asked so He can bless us. Our failure to ask and obey cause us to miss some incredible blessings.
Prayer is essential to the realization of God’s promises. Without prayer, God will not grant the blessings He has in store for you. Our prayers are too weak and spasmodic for God to take us seriously. Great blessings require great prayer. When we pray selfish prayers that ask God for things that we want for our own desires we are asking for the wrong things. We can rationalize and claim that what we are asking for will be used for serving God but God is a much better judge of how something will impact us than we are. He alone knows what is best.
We miss God’s greatest blessings because we ask amiss. We ask for what we want and sometimes when we get what we want, it turns out to be a curse. Perhaps you have heard the statement that the two happiest days in a boat owners life are the day he buys the boat and the day he sells it. What he longed for turned out to bring more dissatisfaction than satisfaction. The same is true of so many things we ask God for.
We learn how to appropriate God’s promises by continuing in prayer until God responds with his blessings. When we try to get ahead of God, it will backfire every time. Continuing in prayer means three things. First of all it means to keep on praying. Be persistent. If you are seeking something that is Godly, do not give up praying no matter what. Secondly it means seeking God’s will above our own. Do not rationalize your wants and try to make them God’s will. Thirdly, it means to be obedient to what God has revealed to you. God will hear the prayer of a righteous person. If we do not walk with Him, we ought not to bother thinking that He will even listen to us, let alone give us what we want. Even if we are walking with Him, He will not give us what we want unless it is in accord with His will. Never forget that you can change your wants but changing God’s will is a very difficult thing. We will have to be on very solid ground for God to change His will.
Father, as I come to you now, I confess that I have prayed many selfish prayers. You have been gracious by not answering them. Teach me to pray only for things that are in accord with your will. When my desires are not in keeping with your will, change my hearts desires to conform with your will. I want the best you have to offer to me. Help me to trust You so that when you fulfill your promises, even if I don’t understand or even recognize them as your promises, that I can accept them as what will ultimately be best for me…………………..
