What a title for a teaching. The title of this teaching will perk the interest of many people. On the surface it would imply a form of works. Asking as if God has not already provided for what it is you need or want. What is it you don’t think God already knows about you, your wants, your needs, your life?
So as I study these types of situations that have been religiously taught and interpreted, I do so from the mindset of grace. Remember it was Bill Johnson who said “We must learn to view the law through the eyes of grace, rather than grace through the eyes of law”. That means when I study anything prior to the cross in the bible, I apply the lens of grace to it to find the truth.
With that in mind lets take the word “asking”. It is found throughout the bible. When the teaching progresses there will be some who will begin disagreeing with the truth that will be presented about asking.
So lets start with the scripture references found in Matthew 18:18-20. Here it is in the New American Standard version.
18 Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.
I discussed this verse in my teaching “Manifestation”, but it bears repeating here.
God doesn’t do anything in the natural realm He hasn’t already done in the supernatural. You can tell that the truth surrounding this concept of binding and loosing was very important to God. I know that because He says it more than once within 3 chapters in the book of Matthew. Matthew 16:19 and Matthew 18:18 both contain the statement that says “Whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven”.
In the King James version you will see the words shall be. I bring this up because there will be someone who will use the KJV only and say “see there”, it says shall be. That means it will be after you bind it on earth. Well, that’s not studying the bible for truth, that’s reading the bible and forming an opinion.
Here comes truth from study. In the Greek the word for “shall be” is the word “esomai” which is a derivative of the verb “to be” or “to exist”. So, in essence this scripture is saying “whatsoever you bind on earth is already bound in heaven, and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth is already loosed in heaven”.
To further justify this point, Matthew 6:10 says “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven”. God’s will is for whatever is in heaven to be in the earth, so why would He give us power to bind or loose something that is contrary to what is in heaven? Come on. Simple logic here.
So this makes the point that nothing happens in the natural realm that isn’t already in the supernatural realm. When he said “thy will be done on earth…………….” He was telling us to seek what is already done in the supernatural realm.
It means we command it to be brought into the visible natural realm. Uncover it, bring it into the open, make it clear and visible, make it self evident, so as to arrest the attention of myself and all those around me. Well glory hallelujah!!! That is a good place to shout. Continue with the verses.
19 “Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. 20 For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.”
What about asking God? Certainly asking is well established in the bible, but the problem comes in when we don’t study how the ask is being used. Just as we’ve shown with the error in interpreting the Matthew scriptures on binding and loosing, we once again run into the error of only reading and not studying.
When you study verses 18 through 20, you first need to establish the Who, What, When, Where and Why. We notice that Jesus is speaking to the disciples. As we focus on the word “ask” you’ll find that word is “Aiteo” in the Greek. Aiteo, in this case, suggests the attitude of a suppliant, the petition of one who is lesser in position than he to whom the petition is made. We know this to be true, because it is the disciples asking Jesus. So we see this is not written to us on this side of the cross.
As I do a word search for ask in the Pauline Epistles (Romans through Philemon), I find it in about eleven scriptures, but only one is referring to asking God. The others are asking people or referring to another scripture concerning something that has been asked. The reference is Ephesians 3:20 that reads “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us”.
Used in this context, the word is used more in the context of petitioning God for what is truly ours as heirs and joint heirs. A further definition of this word "ask" is "a demand for something due" or "putting a demand on what is due". Upon further study, I find that after the cross and in the dispensation of grace, there is more declaring about who we are and what is ours and NO begging God for anything.
So when verse 19 is preached that God will do whatever you and someone else agree on when asking, it’s being a little vague and is projecting a wrong teaching. It’s actually putting people in bondage to a works oriented way of receiving from God.
Again, looking at law through the eyes of grace, we can take this verse 19, even though it is not written to us and see it this way. Jesus would say, and has said, I have completed everything at the cross. It’s all done. It’s finished. Everything you need for life and godliness has already been provided to you.
2 Peter 1:3 reads “seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence”. So as heirs and joint heirs with Jesus, we can put a demand on what is due us. What is due us is every promise God made to us.
If Matthew 18:19 was written to us and it meant begging, asking, beseech, or request, then what about these situations? What if two of you agree to ask God for a 5,000 square foot mansion, will God simply give that to you? How about a new Mercedes? How about a million dollars? Of course the answer is no, because these things are not the types of things that are due you. What is due you? Every promise that is contained in the bible.
Now I’m not saying that these things cannot be yours. If you look closely at what I said, you’ll notice I mentioned that if two of you agree to ask God to simply give these things to you. You know, one day you don’t have them and then all of a sudden they appear before you as yours. The agreement between the two of you is that your business will flourish to such a point that you will be able to easily acquire these things. Your agreement should be that God give you wisdom in whatever area of your life to bring these types of results.
If you just agree on God giving you these things, these are not the types of things that are due you. Wisdom is due you. God said if you lack wisdom, ask Him for it. Scripture says “My God shall supply all of your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus”. That scripture right there puts you and me in agreement. Scripture says you have been healed by the stripes of Jesus. I could go on but you get the idea.
God’s promises, everyone of them, is due you. It’s already promised to you. It’s already provided for you. It’s already in the storehouse of heaven. It’s got your name on it. Now, you need to find out all that is yours and put a demand on what is due you.
How do you find out what is yours and what you can put a demand on? Easy, just study the scriptures. For instance peace. Romans 5:1 “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”. What did it say? WE HAVE PEACE.
How about healing? 1 Peter 2:24 “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
In that scripture there are two powerful points. First, that we are dead to sins and get to live righteously, because of Him bearing our sins on the tree. Secondly, those stripes He took were for our total healing. We have been healed, we are not being healed, and we don’t have to beg to be healed.
Then there’s joy, provision, comfort, wisdom, and holiness. Look these up for yourself and you will find they are already ours and not things we have to beg God to give to us.
Let’s go back to the healing for just a moment. The Lord never told us to pray for the sick, in the sense that we ask Him to heal them. Even when He was speaking to the disciples he never said ask Me to heal the sick. He told them to heal the sick.
Now if He didn’t tell the disciples to beg for God to heal people, but instead for them to go and heal them, then “how much more” do we have the power and authority to heal the sick under the new and better covenant? It has to do with taking our rightful place and operating in the authority He has already given us.
Now this is difficult for many Christians, because they think prayer is begging and pleading with God to do something. Pleading with God to heal someone when He already has. Using religious sounding statements like “if it be Your will”. We already know what His will is regarding healing. There’s no power in a prayer that asks God to do what He has already done. There’s absolutely no faith in that type of prayer.
Look at these commands the Lord gave His disciples. Find for me in anyone of these scriptures where Jesus said beg the Father to do something.
Luke 9:12 “Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases. And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.”
Matt 10:1 “And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.”
You see, He gave them power to heal the sick. He gave them power to heal all manner of sickness and disease, not to mention power over all devils and to cast out unclean spirits. He didn’t tell them to squawk and scream and bind Satan. He just said, heal the sick.
I'm going to stop right here, but there is so much more truth surrounding this topic of asking. If you want to study ahead, we'll be starting part 2 with Matthew 10:7,8. Grace and Peace.
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