I John 3:22.
Let's take a quick "side journey" here for a lesson: the word PRECEPT means "a condition which must be met before a promise will be fulfilled". Mr. Webster defines PRECEPT as, "an instruction intended as a rule of conduct, an exhortation". The word PRECEPT (also shown as plural) shows up no less than 21 times in Psalm 119. Isaiah 28:9,10 tells us, Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little. Verse 13 of that same chapter reads, But the word of the Lord was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken. The Hebrew root word is tsavah, which means "appoint, give charge, command, set in order", from which we get tsav (precept) which means, "an injunction or commandment". All of this is to say, the Promises of God are magnificent and tremendous, but they come with an instruction to be followed, a commandment to be obeyed, FIRST.
So now let's look again at I John 3:22 so that we can know not only the promise, but ALSO the precept for it. You see, it's the PRECEPT that contains the "secret to success" in getting what we ask from God: And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS...
Keeping His Commandmants
What a tremendous statement, to be able to say, "Whatsoever we ask of God, we receive from Him." How many of us can say that? No doubt, some can say, "Many of the things I ask of God, I get." Still others could say, "Some of the things I ask of God, I get." And, there are those who would have to admit, "I do not know that I have ever gotten anything I asked of God." Yet John said, VERY plainly: "Whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him..." Then he explained WHO the "we" there is: those who KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS...
Jesus, Himself, said: IF ye love me, keep my commandments. John 14:15. That verse makes two very STRONG statements: (1) Profess what we will, there is no love for Christ in us if we do NOT do as He has instructed us, and (2) If we lack love FOR Christ, there will not be any love OF Christ in us. As harsh as it may "sound", if any of us are in the group that does NOT follow His commandments, we should express no surprise, or disappointment, when God doesn't "give us what we ask". Again, we canNOT have the promise WITHOUT the precept.
You see, this goes beyond merely getting your prayers answered! Remember, "NO" is an answer just like "No answer" is, in fact, an answer. This is about GETTING WHAT YOU ASK when you pray as I John 3:22 tells us, WHATSOEVER we ask, we RECEIVE of Him... You know, we INSIST on taking a promise that was made to someone else and trying to apply it to ourselves, don't we? You ask, "Someone else?" That's right: IF we are NOT keeping His commandments, then "we" are NOT the WE that I John 3:22 is talking about, are "we"?
OK, OK, OK, so WHAT are "His commandments"? Jesus' commandments are in the written Word of God. Are we willing to study the written Word to find out what they are and then obey them? Hello? Look at this: If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. John 15:7. So not only are we to "walk with Him" daily, but His Words are to ABIDE IN US. Abide: is MENO, a primary verb which means "to stay (in a given place, state or relation), continue, dwell, endure, tarry, remain". Now there is only ONE way for "His Words" to "ABIDE" in us, and that is if we KNOW them. And how are we going to know them if we REFUSE to study the Word of God? John 15:10 tells us, If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.
Pleasing In His Sight
Now, let's revisit I John 3:22, to complete that verse of scripture. First, we saw it as And WHATSOEVER we ask, we receive of him..., then we learned about the second part of it: because we keep his commandments... Now, let's see the FINAL part of that verse: ...and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. So the entire verse of I John 3:22 reads like this: And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.
Wow! TWO precepts! That too hard for you, when you consider what we get in return? "And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him." So what is "pleasing in His sight"? Let's look at a couple of examples to learn about "pleasing", shall we? First, let's "talk" about our children: wise parents set up rules (for guidance and well-being) for the children. Those are "the commandments" of the household, are they not? (I did specify WISE parents there.) Yet how pleasing would it be to any of us if that was only as far as our children went? We don't make a rule that says our 3-year old is to pick a lovely little flower and take it inside to Mama, do we? Oh but how pleasing indeed!
We DO rule that they must pay attention in school and apply themselves to their lessons, but it doesn't include that glorious drawing they put on the front of our refrigerator sometime during the night with "I luv yu, Mama" scrawled across the bottom, does it? When my daughter goes to the store at the end of the street, some of the RULES she's been taught are that she must watch for traffic and be wary of strangers (etc.). Beyond the rules, though--she comes back with her purchases which include a "peppermint patty" for Mama. How pleasing that she thought of me! She KNOWS me, you see! And there are times I do things merely for the sake of pleasing her: an unexpected gift of music that she likes, a new outfit she wanted but wouldn't ask for because she KNEW there wasn't a lot of money to spare, etc. See, I KNOW her, too!
Those are just a few among the many things that PLEASE us about our children. When we are loving and compassionate towards our children, they get to "KNOW us"--they learn from an early age that they can do things that PLEASE us. I well remember times that I pleased Mama and Daddy: what a GRAND and yes, GLORIOUS feeling to know that smile on their face was about me!
There are those of a rebellious nature who will not deal well with this lesson; using as their argument, "we should be Godpleasers and not man pleasers". It IS a fact, we cannot please all people all the time. However, KNOW this: the VERY reason so many have a troubled relationship with their Heavenly Father is because their earthly parent was such a POOR example of a child/parent relationship! Parenthood carries a GREAT deal of responsibility: I warn you parents: it is MOST VITAL that you establish a LOVING--not permissive or undisciplined--LOVING relationship with your children. It WILL most assuredly affect the way they deal with others in their own lives, INCLUDING our Heavenly Father!! However, the point of this lesson is NOT about us pleasing mankind on everything--it IS about us being willing to subject ourselves to the will of our Heavenly Father through obedience to Him and learning of Him. We have used "earthly" examples to make our point.
Another example is our spouse: the WISE partner in life knows there are certain boundaries beyond which they will not intrude upon with their wife or husband, Amen? Yet, if we truly love our chosen partner in life, we will seek to please them, not merely "avoid going beyond certain boundaries". A loving touch on the shoulder, a gentle hug when they are tired, a quiet, "Is there anything I can do for you?", a little note or card for no special reason--these are all pleasing to our spouse. We have come to "KNOW" them and know what it takes to ease their aches, lighten their load, bring a smile to a tired face. When you see a loving couple, what you are seeing are two people who have gone beyond merely not intruding on each others' boundaries, but who strive to please one another!!
Many of us have grown so selfish and self-centered, we can think only of what WE want, don't we? Come on now--let's talk truth here!That's why the "romance" goes out of so many marriages so quickly--we are too caught up in "being pleased" instead of "pleasing", Amen? We too quickly forget the lengths we went to, to "court" that person to begin with, don't we? We stop trying to please and insist on "being pleased".
No wonder we have trouble pleasing our Heavenly Father--we are interested only in being pleased (and we insist on making THAT progressively difficult, do we not?) Yet our Heavenly Father wants us to get to KNOW him so we can know what is pleasing to Him and do it! Our instructions from Him are that we are to forsake sin, let go of the things of this world, pray, study the Word of God, worship Him in spirit and in truth, etc. If we do those things, we will find out MORE about Him. You ask, "How do we go about pleasing God?" It's not too hard to answer: "Will it please my beloved Heavenly Father if I do this?"
Oh, my! That puts a kink in many of our plans, does it not? Is it pleasing to Him that we go some of the places we go? That we act as we do? That we talk the way we do? That we think of others the way we do?
That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God. Colossians 1:10.
WALK (peripateo, which means "to tread all around, i.e. walk at large--especially as proof of ability); figuratively: to live, deport oneself"). WORTHY (axios, which means "appropriately, correctly"). ALL (pas--remember pas? It means "every", or "all encompassing", "the whole"). PLEASING (areskeia, which means "complaisance--desirous to please"). FRUITFUL (karpophoreo, which means "being fruitful, bringing forth"). EVERY, (pas. which means the very same as "ALL"). WORK (ergon, which means "toil, labor"). INCREASING (auzano, which means "to grow or increase"). KNOWLEDGE (epignosis or "full knowledge"--recognition, discernment).
What a glorious passage of scripture! To have such a loving Heavenly Father Who would "make us meet", (hikanoo--enabled, qualified) to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light! Colossians 1:10-17 (I STRONGLY urge you to read it for yourselves) was the prayer Paul prayed for those of the church at Colossae. In his letter to them, he had written how thankful he was for them, and that he had never failed to pray for them since he heard of them, that they would be filled with the KNOWLEDGE OF GOD'S WILL IN ALL WISDOM AND UNDERSTANDING. Colossians 1:1-9.
This is a VERY vital point: prayer must begin with us seeking MORE of the knowledge of the Will of God. It is when we know the Will of God that we can be "pleasing in His sight", you see. Our prayers should not be that we are trying to make Him listen to us, but that we are striving to listen to HIM. Our prayers should not be that we are trying to "persuade" Him to do what we want done, but that we are seeking to find that which He wants us to do.
How many of us have heard the "stirring" speech of the late John F. Kennedy in which he said, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country"? How much the moreso when we talk to our Heavenly Father! We get all caught up in what we want Him to do for us and completely forget that we should be striving to learn and know what it is He wants us to do for Him!
Two things I want to press home to you:
- Too many times our prayers to our Heavenly Father are more of the "Thy Will be changed" attitude than of "Thy Will be done".
- Prayer is NOT an escape from reality--it enables us to be better able to meet the reality of our everyday lives.
To those who profess to be followers of Christ: if you want your prayers to have power, get those things OUT of your life that do not glorify God and get things IN your life that are pleasing to Him! While the unsaved may be operating in a blackout, many "professed Christians" are operating in a brown-out, with nowhere near the power in their lives and their prayers that God has made available to them!
What a privileged place to be--secure in And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight!! If we EVER get past what WE want (pleasing ourselves), to learn of God through His Word that which pleases Him and do it, we will make GREAT advances in our relationship with Him!
Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. Hebrews 13:20,21.
"Pleasing In His Sight" Copyright © 2002 by Patricia Sikes.
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