Topic: Little Requests Limit God [Tuesday 12, September 2017]
Memorise: And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. – 1 John 3:22
Read: James 1:5-6 (KJV)
5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
6 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.
Bible in One Year: 2 Chronicles 26-28, Ezekiel 40:5-19, Hymn: Sing hymn 3 – How Great Thou Art
MESSAGE:
The Lord Jesus Christ instructed us to ask until our joy is full (John 16:24). Due to a lack of faith in God’s ability to meet our needs, many of us ask for crumbs, and by doing so, we insult or dishonour God. Are you one of such people? During one of our special programmes sometime ago, while in my prayer room, God took me up on this issue. He reminded me of an incident that happened several years before then, when I went to London to prepare our Sunday School manual. After finishing it, I still had three days to go before my flight was due but I had completely run out of money. The kind of ticket l paid for on that trip was a cheap one and so it did not allow for rescheduling of dates. I felt I could go without food for three days but could not avoid buying certain materials, books and tapes that I needed. These would cost me 50 pounds and I had no money. So I said, “Daddy, it would be good if I could get 50 pounds.” Shortly after, my phone rang and I picked it up. The fellow on the line said, “Biyi”. I told him there was nobody with that name there. He asked, “Is that not so and so number?” As we talked, he got to know who I was and he screamed. He called out to his brother with excitement, telling him that he was speaking with me. Obviously, they had been discussing how they could see me and now was on the phone with them. Eventually, they came over, we talked, and as they were leaving, they gave me 50 Pounds. As soon as they left, I said, “Daddy if knew it would be this easy, l would have asked for 100 Pounds!”
As I went upstairs in the apartment l was staying at, I rejoiced over the 50 Pounds l had just received. Just then, the door bell rang, and then it rang a second time. By this time, it was night already. Before l got to the door, the fellow at the door had slipped an envelope through the door into the room and left. I picked it up, opened it and realised it had come from a man l had known for a long time. He was a very wealthy man who was also very stingy. He had never given me a dime before. In the envelope was 50 Pounds and a note saying, “I just felt like giving you some money. As I went towards the bedroom, I told God that if had known this second 50 Pounds would come I would have asked for another 50 Pounds! That night, before l slept, another 50 Pounds came. Then I became afraid and told God l was joking and did not want to offend Him. In my prayer room, the Lord told me I had been a foolish boy. “If you asked me for 50 Pounds and l could provide it, why didn’t you ask for 5,000 Pounds?” Are you trying to help God conserve His resources when you ask? He doesn’t need your help! Ask, and ask big! Don’t limit Him.
Key Point: If the over seven billion inhabitants of the earth were to ask their best from God, they still could not exhaust a drop of His resources.
Open Heavens Daily Devotional guide was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of the largest evangelical church in the world and also the President of Christ the Redeemer’s Ministries.
