Teachable and Blessing

Consideration of the immediate context is important in Bible study as well as acknowledging what other Bible passages say on the same subject.  It is possible to exaggerate an interpretation or application of scripture when different verses are not weighed against one another.  Undue emphasis on a particular point has ironically led to error and misrepresentation of the facts by students of the Word.  While none of us (and me especially!) claim to understand all things, as we humbly seek the LORD in the study of His Word we remain on guard against falling into this trap.

An example of this can be shown in the words of Jesus in Matthew 21:22:  "And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."  If we were to camp on this verse alone without considering other scriptures it seems Christians have the power in prayer to obtain whatever we want.  If we believe we will receive what we ask for, we will receive--after all, Jesus Himself gave us this promise!  When we don't immediately receive our requests it is obviously (based on the unfailing Word of God) because we have not sufficiently believed a mountain can be removed into the sea.  I am jesting but the results of this misguided approach to scripture interpretation is not funny at all.  This scripture ought to be weighed and compared against other times Jesus prayed or other scriptures which teach on the subject.

Because of the breadth of the subject of prayer I will merely point out a few passages as examples.  There are passages which emphasise our need to pray and continue praying, like the present continuous tenses of the Greek verbs used in Matthew 7:7:  "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you."  Instead of viewing prayer as a means to our ends, we pray to our Father in heaven in submission to His will.  Jesus did not make demands of the Father based on His "authority" but prayed in the Garden, "Not my will but yours be done."  Also it is written in 1 John 5:14-15:  "Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. ¹⁵ And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him."  Our confidence is not in our prayers but in the God who has revealed His will and enables us to perform it.  James tells us it is possible not to receive what we seek because we have prayed with selfish motives as James 4:3:  "You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures."  You get the picture.  These verses shed additional light on the subject of the prayer and provide a balanced perspective.  When we magnify one verse beyond the others it is like focusing the light of the sun through a glass which blinds us to the rest.

How blessed are those who read the scriptures with a teachable spirit, willing to receive the truth of one scripture which seems to contrast our established (but limited) theology.  And it is all well and good to form theology concerning prayer, but far better it is to put our understanding of Bible teachings into our daily practice.  It would be a great tragedy to hold degrees in theology yet spend little time or accomplish very little when we enter into the presence of God through prayer.  Hebrews 4:16 exhorts us, "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need."  A young child with faith in God can demonstrate mastery in this arena even the learned cannot know or imagine.