ALPHA MAAMA (A.M.)

 FALAITE FEPUELI 9

PRAYING WITH CONFIDENCE

LOTU ‘I HE PAU‘IA

"Everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened... If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" LUKE 11:10, 13

LUKE 11:10, 13

10 He ‘ilonga ‘a ia ‘oku ne kole, ‘oku ne ma‘u; pea ko ia ‘oku kumi, ‘oku ne ‘ilo; pea ko ia ‘oku tukituki ‘e to‘o kiate ia.

13 Pea kapau ‘oku mou ‘ilo ke foaki me‘a‘ofa lelei ki ho‘omou fānau, neongo ko e fa‘ahinga kovi kimoutolu: huanoa ‘a e Tamai ‘i he langi ‘ene foaki ‘a e Laumālie Mā‘oni‘oni kiate kinautolu ‘oku kole kiate ia.

When a teenager who has just gotten her driver's license asks her mom or dad for the car keys, it's not typically a vague, half-hearted request. Instead, her mind is engaged and her will is focused: "Please can I have the car keys? I want the car. I'd like to use the car. I'm asking you for it now."

Similarly, the verbs that Jesus uses to teach His disciples how to make requests to God

in prayer ask, seek, knock - convey urgency, consistency, and clarity. It's as if He's saying, I want you to pray in a way that involves humble, persistent determination. I want you to seek and to go on seeking, and I want you to knock with an urgent sincerity.

He is inviting you and me to come before our heavenly Father and simply to ask. We must be careful about what we ask for, though. When we present our petitions before the Lord, they need to be tempered by the Spirit through what John Calvin calls the "bridle of the word of God." In other words, the Bible teaches that we can ask in total confidence for the things that God says are good and right-things like His help so that we can present our bodies as living sacrifices, grow as witnesses to the gospel, or increase our desire to worship. But we must not think that we can manipulate God, demanding that He gives us whatever will make our life casier or wealthier. It is possible to "ask and ... not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions" (James 4:3).

So we are to ask boldly, but we are also to ask humbly. We are to ask God to do great things, and then we are to accept His answer. There are good reasons why God will not always give us what we ask, even when what we ask is in itself good and godly. Our prayers are not always in accordance with His good and sovereign will. We cannot always determine what's good for us but God always knows what's best for His children. Therefore, when we bring our requests before God, we must look to His word as our roadmap and remember that He is working to bring about His purposes for our lives and to conform us to the image of His Son.

So come before God and just ask. Your requests can be specific, and bold, and shaped by God's word-and then you can expect, and indeed desire, God to answer them exactly as He sees fit.

Reflective Questions: COLOSSIANS 1:9-12

- How is God calling me to think differently?

- How is God reordering my affections - what I love?

- What is God calling me to do as I go about my day today?

Fakalaulauloto mo e fehu‘i : KOLOSE 1:9-12

- Ko e ha e founga ‘oku ui mai ai ‘a e ‘Otua ke liliu ‘eku fakakaukau?

- Ko e ha ‘a e founga ‘oku fai tu’utu’uni mai ai ‘a e ‘Otua ki ho ngaahi manako -  

ngaahi me’a ‘oku ou ‘ofa ai?

- Ko e ha ‘a e me’a ‘oku ui mai ai ‘a e ‘Otua ke u fai ‘i he’eku fononga’i ‘a e ‘aho ni?

Bible Through The Year: Isaiah 47-49; Mark 12:1-27