What Is It You Want?

In the Bible we come across at least three instances where people were asked:

What is it that you want?

If God is asking the same question in our life what would our answer be?

Let us look at the three specific answers that were given - the three answers which were acceptable to God and which the Bible says were pleasing to God.

We shall divide them into three phases of our prayer life.

PHASE #1

Matthew 20:29-34

As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!"

The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!"

Jesus stopped and called them. "What do you want me to do for you?" he asked.

"Lord," they answered, "we want our sight."

Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.

The blind men came to Jesus expecting a miracle. Note that they were away from God’s family and were strangers. Jesus had compassion on them and healed them completely. Then they followed Jesus.

PHASE #2

1 King 3:5-14

The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. So God said to him, "Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both riches and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. And if you walk in my ways and obey my statutes and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life."

God told Solomon “Ask for whatever you want me to give you”. Solomon asked for wisdom and the Bible says “The Lord was pleased”. Solomon understood the magnitude of his task being the ruler of people too numerous to count. He was not the eldest of the sons yet God made him King. He did not ask for wealth, fame or victory but asked for wisdom to govern the people. And God gave him all! Often we try to highlight our personal requests to God as though our entire life depended on it. Solomon learnt to ask the right thing.

PHASE #3

Nehemiah 2:4-5

The king said to me, "What is it you want?"
Then I prayed to the God of heaven, and I answered the king, "If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my fathers are buried so that I can rebuild it."

Nehemiah worked in the King's palace. He served wine to the King. Though he was a captive, he served in King’s palace. But his profession had no bearing on his vision. His vision was not narrow and limited to his profession but he learnt to look outward. He heard a report that Jerusalem was in shambles; its walls had been destroyed. People living there lived in constant fear. He did one thing:

I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.

He prayed not for himself, nor for his family, nor for his profession. He prayed for the nation! He was downcast and his face was sad – to the extent that the King noticed it. He said “Why should my face not look sad when the city where my fathers are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire”

Today we live in a similar situation as that of Nehemiah. The walls have been broken. The Nations’ spiritual state is in shambles. We were captives - oh but now we are in King’s palace, saved and sanctified, serving God - for what? Do we have enough reason to smile? Or like Nehemiah do we need to weep and fast?

The blind man’s vision was limited to himself. And what did he achieve? He followed Christ and that’s all. Solomon’s vision was limited to his profession. And what did he achieve? He built a temple and died. Nehemiah’s vision was broad and outward. He brought a dead nation back to life!

The problem with most of us is that we feel content to stay in PHASE #1 and do not look beyond. We must learn to prioritize things in our prayer life. Our prayer should not be loaded with personal requests or worldly things. While the dear Lord will bless us and give us everything we ask for, He wants us to move forward. We should not become an embarrassment to God. God’s plans for us are great! If there is someone who can limit the power of God in our lives, it is we ourselves.

Leonard Ravenhill is well known for this quote: “If you only want to be saved, sanctified and satisfied, God’s battle has no need of you”.

LOVE

I corinthians 13 chapter describes love.

- Love calls us to God's ministry
- Love changes others

I. LOVE CALLS US TO GOD'S MINISTRY:

- God's love made Mother Theresa to leave her comforts and come to India for doing the ministry for God.

- God's love made her continue God's ministry inpite of shames and tribulations.

1. Short story:

Once Mother Theresa went to a baker and asked him bread for the children and people in her home. The baker got angry and spat on her. She wiped it off and told the baker that she will accept the spit for her and again asked the baker to give something for her children and people in her home. This statement of hers convicted the heart of the baker. So he gave a lot of bread to the home on that day.

- God's love made Mother Theresa do the ministry. She faithfully did the ministry. So, God protected her ministry.

2. Short Story:

Feeling jealous about the ministry of Mother Theresa, few people complained to a governement official about closing the home run by Mother Theresa. To check what was really going on in the home, the officer went in disguise and observed what was going on in the home. The scene of Mother Theresa's ministry broke the govt. official's heart. She was cleaning the wounds of lepers, and feeding them. The next morning the officer told the jealous people that if they could do what Mother Theresa was doing in the home, he'll close the home. So, God protected Mother Theresa's ministry.

- Love of Mother Theresa was honoured:

To honour the love of Mother Theresa, TamilNadu CM, Mr. MGR opened a university in her name.

II. LOVE CHANGES PEOPLE:

1. Short story:

A man fell in love with a girl. The girl was so cruel that she told the guy to prove his love towards her by bringing the heart of his mother. The guy killed his mother and took his mother's heart to the girl. On the way he slipped and fell down. His mother's heart fell down too. It spoke to him from the ground, saying: "Be careful my son, are you hurt?" Moved by his mother's love, he understood what is true love.

Inference : True love is not selfish, but selfless, just like Jesus' love for us.

2. Story from Fr. Berchmans:

In a college, there was a very pious girl. A guy loved her very much. On the farewell day, the guy proposed his love to that girl. But the girl said that she gave her heart to another person (Jesus) and handed over a Bible, asked him to read it, and left him. Considering her gift as a great asset, the guy read the Bible fully and understood that no love is equal to the love of God. From that day he gave his life to God and started doing the ministry of God.

Inference : Love of God changed that guy to do the ministry of God.

3. Story from Mohan C. Lazarus:

In a town, there was a newly married couple. The husband was very pious and God fearing. He never watched movies whereas his wife liked to watch movies. One day the wife wanted to go for a new movie. She told her husband about her wish. In order to protect the peace in the family, the husband took the wife to the theatre, made her sit in the theatre and told her that he'll come and pick her up after the cinema gets over. He went back home and prayed. The wife initially started to watch the movie. But she could not concentrate on the movie. Thoughts of her husband and what he did without any anger or argument, kept running through her mind. She was not able to watch the movie even for 15 min. She got up and ran back home, and from then on gave up watching movies.

Inference : The love of a husband changed the heart of his wife. True love is patient.

Love is a powerful weapon that changes people. So, love one another in Christ.