The Highway Forums General Discussion Theology Discussion Forum Let your requests be known to God?

Philippians 4:6 (King James Version)
6Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

James 4:2 (King James Version)
2Ye 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.

Ephesians 1:3 (King James Version)
3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:

Philippians 4:19 (King James Version)
19But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

Matthew 6:31-32 (King James Version)
31Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
32(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

How do all these verses work together? I'm especially wondering about "ye have not because ye ask not." Is asking something God knows that the elect will do and therefore the elect are the ones who will receive? What if an Arminian asks and receives(is that just coincidence)? Wait, nothing is coincidence!

It means, "ye have not because ye ask not"

I treat this the same way that I look at something like perseverance/preservation of the saints or divine sovereignty/human responsibility. Both are equally true. God uses means to accomplish His ends. We can "waste" our trials and bear unneeded burdens because we don't go to God for help. Sure, it's all under God's sovereignty and not a hair falls from our head apart from our Father's will, but there's the sobering truth that sometimes we really don't have because we have not asked, or because we have asked amiss to spend it on our own pleasures.

It isn't that He needs to know, but that we need to ask, because doing so places our expectation and hope where it belongs - in the One who has unassailable mastery over the living and the dead, and absolute rule over every act of every creature and every force of nature.

I understand what you are saying.

The Epistle of James was written to Jewish Christians, right? Were these Christians lusting and killing? What was God withholding from them until they asked? And don't they have to be obedient to God's commands in order to receive?

James 4:2 (King James Version)
2Ye 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.

1 John 3:21-22 (King James Version)
21Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.
22And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.

Let's not forget:

Psalms 66:18 (ASV) "If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear:"

Proverbs 28:9 (ASV) "He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, Even his prayer is an abomination."

Isaiah 1:15 (ASV) "And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you; yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood."

John 9:31 (ASV) "We know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and do his will, him he heareth."

James 4:3 (ASV) "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may spend [it] in your pleasures."

AND

1 John 5:14-15 (ASV) "And this is the boldness which we have toward him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us: and if we know that he heareth us whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions which we have asked of him."

Lynda,

Here is a link one of my favorite sermons on the subject of prayer by JC Ryle. I hope you will enjoy this as well. You can read it here.

Thanks, Chestnut Mare. I'm saving that to my favorites so I can get back to it later.