When You Ask You Must Be Ready To Receive

Hello, and welcome to Social Media Ministries. My name is Spencer Coffman. Thank you so much for tuning in today. We’ve got a great message for you, as every week.

So I hope that you have subscribed and followed us on your favorite social media platforms because we have excellent sermons every week coming to you to teach you more about the Bible so that you can get out there, and share your faith, and live your calling, and bring more people into the body of Christ.

In addition, every day, we have a Ministry Minute. Hope you’re following that and that it is revitalizing you and giving you energy and inspiration every morning as you get out there into the world to bring more people to Christ.

Now, you see, we talk a lot about bringing more people to Christ. Yes, that’s our purpose. That’s our calling, among others. But we need to bring more people into the faith. Why?

We need to have more people become Christians. Why? Because this world is falling away from God, and there are more people going to Hell than there are in to Heaven.

Why? How do we know? Jesus said so. Wide is the path, and many follow it, that go to death and destruction, but narrow is the way to life, and few find it. Let’s make more of the few.

Do your part. Share the Bible with others. Bring them into the faith. I know that’s heavy for the first minute of the sermon. We got a lot more to go, so get ready.

When you ask God, that’s what we’re talking about today. When you ask God for something, when you ask Him, make sure you’re really ready to receive what you are asking for.

We have a sermon called “God’s Wisdom Be Ready To Receive It.” There are a lot of things in the world, in life, that if you knew, it would blow your mind.

Think of the mind of a child. Think of the mind of a teenager. Think of the mind of an adult, of an old person. At certain ages, certain information is not meant for you. The more you know, the harder life could be. Solomon says that the more knowledge, the more grief. Why?

Because the more you know, the more you realize what’s going on, the more distraught or hopeless you could become. When you realize that politicians are just bribing their way into things, or that the government really isn’t free, or that there’s corruption, you might be like, well, what’s the point?

But if you live in that, maybe ignorance is bliss. There is a lot of knowledge that God has, a lot of wisdom, a lot of divine thoughts that we can’t even handle. If we knew, our mortal body would probably explode.

The Spirit would just be so great within us that we would literally be like in a movie when you just start radiating light, and then all of a sudden, supernova, like a star.

There are texts that say that the stars are all divine beings. And then maybe when they do go supernova, they found out too much information and exploded. Really, what it might be is that they did something wrong and God sent forth a beam of lightning from his little finger and vaporized them. And then they go into another place of waiting at a different level of Heaven, and they’re waiting with the multitudes.

Some knowledge, we’re not ready to receive. So when you ask God, make sure you’re ready to receive whatever it is you’re asking for. Now this goes for knowledge, but also for anything.

“God, I want a new car.” Are you really ready for a new car? Can you handle it? All the upkeep, the maintenance, will you take good care of it? The insurance costs, the money that it’s going to take, can you handle it?

You want a new job. Are you really ready for a new job? The time commitment, the new stress, the learning, are you ready? I want more responsibility. Are you ready for it?

Consider the weight of what it is you’re asking God. Whatever it is, a child. “God, we want a child.” Are you ready for a child? Look around your house. Is your house ready for a child? Get ready. But we’re not pregnant yet. Get ready. Show God you’re ready for whatever it is you are asking for.

You have to be ready to receive it. And you have to be ready to receive it God’s way. Not your way. You might say, “God, I want a new car. Please, I’m ready for a new car. We need another car. Our current car is too small. That car will just be mine. We need a family car, a bigger one.

We got too many kids to fill up the car, and we got more kids on the way, so we’re going to buy a new car. God, we’re buying a new car. Please, make it possible.”

So you go down to the dealership and they say, “We got great financing, a year no interest, low payments,” and you say, “Thank you, God. We’re buying a car.” Wait a minute. That’s your way. Maybe if you would wait, God would have had a car for you that He was going to give you.

If someone says, “You know what, we’ve got this car we don’t need anymore. I’ll give it to you for 500 bucks. How about I just give it to you? Because it’s old, we don’t really need it.” Whatever.

The point is, you gotta be ready to receive it God’s way, not your way. So don’t take matters into your own hands. I’m going to give you a little disclaimer here on the next 30 seconds.

This part might be a little heavy, so children might not want to be around right now. There are matters you can take into your own hands in this world that keep you from getting the things that God wants to give you.

Now, this goes for both men and women. All right, here comes the part. This part could be a little heavy, and it’s more adult than child.

Men and women, you’re asking God for a spouse, yet you take time to take matters into your own hands behind the computer, literally into your own hands to pleasure yourself, and you’re asking God for a spouse.

Stop doing it your way. Start listening to God, and guess what? You take the matter out of your own hands, and you forget all that, and God will bless you. God will give you what you’re asking for. He will do it your way. All right, you can bring the kids back.

Here’s the deal. God wants to bless you. So when you ask God, God wants to give it to you, but He’s not going to give it to you if you’re not ready to receive it. He’s also not going to give it to you if you are trying to do it on your own.

If you are taking matters into your own hands, if you’re trying to do it your way, God’s not going to do it. We don’t want “your way.” We want “Yahweh.” So if you ask God for patience, first of all, let’s go to a verse.

We’re going to support this. Isaiah 55:8-9, “As the Heavens are higher than the Earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, so are my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” God’s ways are higher than our ways. God’s thoughts are higher than our thoughts. Trust in that.

So when you ask God for something, like patience, for example, He isn’t simply going to bestow patience upon you. “God, give me more patience.” Bam. “All right, I am a patient man.”

No, no, you are going to have to build patience. God doesn’t just give it to you. He’s going to give you a way to earn it. He’s going to give you a way to develop it. Let’s go to James 4:8, James 4:8, “Come near to God, and He will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” You gotta meet God halfway.

Go near to God, He will go near to you. If there’s something you want, you can’t take matters fully into your own hands. Because why? That’s not meeting God halfway.

That’s saying, “I’m going to do it. God, I’m buying this car.” Financing, credit check, boom. “We got a loan, we got a car. Yes. Thank you, God.” “No.” God says, “That’s your way.” You gotta meet Him halfway. How are you going to meet Him halfway? Work harder. Start saving.

Okay, good, start saving. All of a sudden, that car you were looking at just went on sale. 50 percent off. 50 percent! That’s unheard of. Don’t ask. God did it. He can do it for you.

Or you see one on an ad. Someone’s gotta move across the country, or they gotta move to a different country, or they’re a missionary going overseas, and they say,

“Hey, do you want my car? I’m going to be gone for two years. You can have it for two years.” “Wow, we’ll take it.”

Two years. By then, you will have saved enough money to buy your own car. They can have their car back. Something happens, maybe it got wrecked. Oh, well, insurance. You know what I’m saying?

God’s way. Meet Him halfway. Do what you can do. Rely on God. Don’t try to take it all. Don’t try to take the whole thing. And on the same token, don’t be lazy and sitting around saying, “God, I’m waiting for you to do everything.”

Like the joke of the man drowning in the ocean, “God, save me. I want God to save me.” Drowning in the ocean, a boat comes by, “Hey, come on,” “Nope. I’m waiting for God.” “Swim over here. Come on.” “Nope, waiting for God.” And eventually, he drowns.

You know, three boats come by. I’ll shorten the joke. Gets up, “God, why didn’t you save me?” “I sent three boats to save you, okay?” The person just needed to swim to the boat and get in.

You gotta meet God halfway. Draw close to God, He will draw close to you. You’re going to have to build that skill, build those patience. God’s going to give you opportunities in which you need to be patient.

And you will develop that skill of patience. Exactly like anything you ask God for, some type of quality. “God, I want to be more bold proclaiming your word across creation.” Guess what? He’s going to give you more opportunity to do that.

“God, I want to be more like Jesus.” He’s going to give you more opportunity. “God, I want to be more loving.” He’s going to put a lot of unloving people in your life so you can practice loving them. Get the picture? Let’s go to Proverbs 27.

Proverbs 27:17, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” There’s going to be tension. There’s going to be friction. Whatever you ask God, be ready to undergo trials, hard times, temptation, anything in order for God to develop the skills you requested.

We have a sermon, “The Testing Of Your Faith Builds Character.” Check it out. Go to our website, “Builds Character.”

Literally, it’s building character. You know that saying, “Dad, I don’t want to do this.” “Mom, I don’t want to do this.” You see, it builds character. Parents used to say that a lot. I used to say it to my younger siblings. It builds character. Guess what? It really is building character.

God is telling you that I’m giving you these hard times to build character. What character? The patience, the perseverance, the hope, the trust in Him, the faith, whatever it is.

The ability to teach, the ability to undergo hard times and not become depressed, resilience, perseverance. God is building those qualities, those character traits in you. So remember that. God is building it. Let’s go to Romans. Romans 5:3.

Romans 5:3, “Not only so, but we glory in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance character, and character hope.” So, what is the point of all of this suffering and character building? Because it’s producing hope. Hope in what?

Hope that someday you won’t have to go through that anymore! We have hope in Jesus to deliver us from the suffering. There’s all kinds of hope. You just need to see the hope. Hope that God will get you through that trial.

Hope that God will get you through that suffering. Hope that God will make something good come of it. Hope that lives will be touched and changed because of it. Hope that someday I’ll be in Heaven and I’ll never have to go through this again. Lots of hope.

You just gotta see to the end. See to the hope. Trials build endurance. Let’s go to James. James is an excellent book. Very straight, matter of fact, to the point. That’s why I like it.

James 1:2-3, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.” God’s going to use any means necessary to assist you in your walk with Christ.

We got a card, a sermon. “God Uses Any Means”. Go to our website. Type in “Means”, and you will see it pop up there. God’s going to use any means to lead people to Christ.

Now, does that mean God could use evil? Of course. Think of the ultimate foil to an evil plan if God uses that evil plan for good.

God uses all things for the good of those who love him. So if Satan’s got this plan to murder someone, and that murder happens, and God uses that to bring a bunch of people to Christ, Satan thought he had a great plan. And he had a victory, but God used it for an even greater victory.

By allowing that murder to happen, He saw to the end game of more people coming to the faith. God is in control. Make no mistake. God uses any means. If something’s going on and the devil has something going on, God’s going to end up using that for good.

He’s going to use that to bring more people to the faith. So when you ask God for something and tough times happen, don’t ask God why. Don’t question him. You asked for it. You pray, “God, I want to be more like Jesus.” And the second God starts putting hard times on you…

Because Jesus went through hard times. People challenged him. People plotted to kill him. People were trying to trap Him in his words. People crucified Him. They trumped up charges against him. They had false witnesses. They had people lying to try to accuse him.

…The second God starts making you more like Jesus, you say, “Oh, no, God, why are you doing this to me? Why is this happening?”

“Because you prayed to be more like Jesus. Now I’m giving you opportunities that make you more like Jesus, and you’re trying to run away. Are you questioning me? Or you’re saying ‘why, or ‘woe is me,’ or you’re feeling sorry for yourself?” Come on.

When you ask God, be ready to receive it. So don’t ask God why or question Him. We have a sermon about that. “Don’t Ask God Why.” Now by asking why, we’re not saying like why something. No, we’re saying like don’t question Him, as in, like questioning the authority behind His decision making. There’s a difference in the why.

If you tell your child to go do something and they say, “Why?” they might legitimately want to know why they are doing what they’re doing. “Move this from here to there.” “Okay, why?” “What difference does it make? Just move it because I said so.” No. Give them a reason.

“Well, because it would look better over there, because it would make so and so happy.” “Okay, fine.” Then they do it. They should do it because they should obey you. But sometimes, they might just want to know the reason.

Other times, they might say, “Why? That’s stupid.” Okay, now it’s not about the reason. It’s questioning your authority. It’s questioning your right to make that decision.

When you ask God why, “Why is this happening to me? I don’t approve of it. I don’t like it.” You’re placing yourself above God. You’re questioning His authority. That’s pride. That needs to go. Don’t question God. Don’t ask God why. Check out that sermon for more information.

Instead, whenever these things happen, you need to thank God. You say, “Wait a minute, thank God for these troubles and trials?”

Yes. Thank God because He’s making you more like Jesus. He’s giving you what you asked for, and ask Him to give you more strength, and energy, and perseverance to get through whatever is going on. And ask Him to help you see His plan.

Because if you can see the plan developing and you can understand the why behind the hard times, the reason for it, that type of why, then you can be like, “Oh, well, this is awesome. I get it, God. I’m ready.

I’ll go through this hard time because I understand the point. If, by going through this hard time, this person becomes a Christian, I’m ready. Let’s go. Like, I’ll go through it, and I go through it again and again. If this hard time leads to this.”

Think of Joseph. He went through a lot of hard times. If God had told him ahead of time, “Hey, by going through all of these hard times, this is what’s going to happen.” Joseph would willingly go through all of that. Now God did reveal some stuff to Joseph.

And so Joseph willingly went through these hard times. He had dreams. He had visions. He was able to understand and interpret. But he always kept the faith in God because he knew that God’s plan was higher than his plan, and that God’s ways were higher than his ways, and God’s thoughts were higher than his thoughts.

So when you’re going through those hard times, ask God to reveal to you what He’s trying to teach you. And just remember, sometimes God allows Satan to do things. We have a sermon about that, “God Allows Satan”. Consider the book of Job and his story.

Why was he going through all those hard times? Not really for any reason for Job, but it was a Heavenly battle between good and evil. God was proving to Satan who is really in charge.

And so God allowed that to happen for another purpose. The sooner you are able to figure it out and the sooner you are able to learn it, the sooner you’ll be able to overcome that turmoil in your life. Why?

Because God will help you persevere through those hard times. Philippians 4:13 says, “I can do all things through Him who gives me strength.”

So when things are happening, when God is giving you what you asked for, and it’s hard, and it’s trials and trouble, instead of questioning Him, thank Him and ask Him to help you through it.

Ask Him to reveal His plan to you, and be ready to receive that. And when He reveals that plan to you, rejoice in it, that you get to be a part of God’s plan.

Let’s pray.

Father, thank you so much for this message. I ask that each and every person watching and listening would truly consider the gravity and the weight of the situation when they ask you.

When they ask God for something, that they would know what it means, that they would be willing to meet you halfway, that they would be ready and willing to receive whatever you’re going to give them, whatever they are asking for.

That they would make sure that they’ve done all that they can do here on Earth to not take matters into their own hands, but to meet you halfway and to let you meet them, to allow you to bless them.

And that when things happen, that they would thank you and that they would see you in the trouble, that they would seek you more and more, and that they would ask you and rely on you, Lord, to reveal your plan.

And that you would do it, that you would reveal your plan to them, piece by piece, giving them just enough to just encourage and inspire them to keep persevering, to build character, to have hope, to see it through. And Lord, that you would bless them abundantly with the results.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Have faith in God. Trust in his plan. His ways are higher. Believe it, live it out, and be blessed.
Have a great week, and God bless.