YP Address—M. Graham
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
#46 in the back of the book. #46 in the back of the book.
Have I an object, Lord below, which would divide my heart with thee, which would divert its even flow in answer to thy constancy?
Oh, teach me quickly to return and 'cause my heart a fresh to burn.
Have IA hope however dear.
Which would defer thy coming, Lord? Which would detain my spirit here? Where not can lasting joy afford from it, My savior set me free to look, and long and wait for thee. Be thou the object, bright and fair, to fill and satisfy the heart, my hope to meet thee in the air, and nevermore from thee depart.
That I may undistracted, be to follow, Sir, and wait for thee #46 in the back of the book.
Oh.
And therefore it's just as necessary for you young ones to be looking to the Lord each day and moment by moment.
Or we cannot look away from the Lord, or even a moment. But what that one who's opposes all things of Christ?
Would seek to distract you from him and lead you into the path of sin.
You may think because you have not been given some great thing to do.
That you cannot serve the Lord.
About these things of trying to witness for the Lord among your schoolmates.
I'm sure you will find a very difficult thing.
You will feel the reproach of the Lord Jesus Christ.
As you seek to live the life that you should live.
If you know the Lord Jesus as your savior.
So we would like to look at a few verses of scripture.
Where there is that praying to God.
And we will find that in some of them he answers their prayers.
And that right away.
We'll also find that there are some prayers that are answered, but it's contingent on the coming to pass of certain things.
I believe we'll also find that there are some prayers that could not be answered in the affirmative.
So we'll turn to the book of Luke.
00:05:00
The book of Luke.
And in the 18th chapter.
And the first verse, we're not going to read many verses, but we.
That are follow chronologically or in their order.
We may just read a verse here and a verse there, but we trust, with the Lord's help, that there might be a continuity of thought.
That first verse of the 18th chapter of Luke.
And he spake A parable unto them.
To this end.
That men ought always to pray.
And not pain.
Now when we find the word man found in scripture, it's not restricted to grown men, but it's mankind and it includes children as well as the older ones.
And we have the Lord's own word here that men ought always to pray.
And not think.
We need to be before God.
In our prayers, we need to be dependent upon him or we will faint.
But the thought here is the word pray.
We know that throughout the Scriptures there have been many, many prayers and we will not have time to look at all of them.
But we look at a few of them. It might turn now to Philippians 4.
And in the sixth verse of Philippians 4.
We have God speaking through the apostle.
Be careful for nothing.
That is, do not be full of cares. Be careful for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God.
Now in the supplication we have strong crying.
Too many times our prayers are just.
Well, shall we say that it lacks that supplication, it lacks that earnestness.
It's only that we look to God, and because he's been so gracious, because he has provided so much for us, we in just the.
Simple way, pray to him, but as the heart is exercised, there would be that strong crying to him.
And some of the older ones have experienced this very thing that they've had to go before the Lord and on their knees.
With a strong crying unto the Lord about something that the Lord has seen fit to allow to come into our lives. Things that are unpleasant to us, things that we cannot see, the reason. But we thank God we have a resource in Him, and we can come to Him in strong cry. So we have that word cry, which also has the same meaning.
As prey now this is to make our request known unto God.
We might look at the 6th chapter of Matthew. Here we're exhorted to make our petitions known unto God or our request, but in the 6th of Matthew.
We find the Lord speaking there.
And the.
Eighth verse.
We'll read the last part of that verse.
For your father N what things ye have need of before ye ask?
Well, if God knows what we have need, why should we make our request known unto Him?
00:10:04
Well, you know, this is one way of revealing to our own hearts what is the desire of our hearts.
We know that the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. And you and I cannot know our hearts, but God would have us to make our requests known unto Him.
And in this way we find out what is the object of our hearts.
Now you younger one, as you live in this scene, there may be many things that.
Are very interesting to you.
Some of you boys may think that the most important thing in your life is a bicycle.
Well.
The girls sometimes think, well, not so much of bicycles, but maybe it's a dress, or maybe it's a doll, if they're small enough.
And they often look to the Lord that he might see that they receive these things.
Well, you know, your heart is no different than the older one. Sometimes the older ones get occupied with a new automobile.
Our new home.
Or something that to occupy the heart rather than the Lord Jesus Christ.
And when you go to the Lord and you say, Lord, I would like to have a bicycle.
You know you're making your request known to him, and he has already known what your heart was asking for before you ever stated this thing.
But do we analyze these requests that we present to God? Is it for God's glory or is it something to please us?
Well, we will move on and take a look at James in the 5th chapter.
We find here a man who was just exactly like you and I.
And yet, here was a petition that went up to God.
And God honored in a most wonderful way the petition of this man in the 17th verse.
Elias was a man subject to lack of passions as we are.
So Elias is not someone who has.
Experienced or had no experience like you and I have, but he was a man of like passions, as we are.
And he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.
And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain.
And the earth brought forth her fruit. Well, we know that this was a time of Israel, when they had gotten far from the Lord, and when there was a wicked king.
But here is a man that trusted in the Lord.
And he prayed to God, and he was no different than you and I. He prayed to God that it might not rain.
And God answered his prayer.
And then he.
Pray it again that it might rain. And it did rain now. This is to encourage your and my heart.
That we ought to go to the Lord. And we may sometimes say, well, I believe this thing is too, too big for me. Well, thank God if you feel that way, because he is able.
And that this would exercise our faith and we have these things brought to us that we might truly know.
That when we go to the Lord in faith, where to expect him to give us an answer?
Now, sometimes the answer may not be exactly what you and I would like to have.
But in his wisdom, we would.
We would ask that God would qualify these requests of ours and if it be pleasing to him.
Well, in the time of Elias, there had to be the reminding of the people that there was a.
00:15:04
Living in a true God when they were in the midst of all the evil around.
And the false God and the false prophets, well, God wanted to show.
By the hand of Elias, that there was a God who could hear.
And a God who could answer, and a God who could demonstrate that that faith that had been exercised by Elias.
Would be made no, and so he'd have us in the same way come before him.
Nothing doubting now we'll go back to Luke 22 again.
Luke 22.
And.
We have a case here of his disciples.
At the very time when the Lord was going through the great agony.
In the Garden of Gethsemane, and we find here again those that are just like we.
While the Lord was there in such agony.
Those disciples that had been close to him had fallen asleep and apparently.
They were not concerned about the awful agony of our Lord Jesus Christ.
When he was just about to go to that cross.
But the Lord here speaks to them and tells them in a way, the way to keep out of trouble. The way to be kept from temptation is to pray in the 46th verse.
And he said unto them, Why sleepy?
Rise and pray.
Lest you enter into temptation, well, this is one thing then, that we can do as.
We pass through this scene if we in earnestness.
We'll be looking to the Lord and praying earnestly, seeking His mind. He will answer these prayers, and He will keep us from entering into temptation.
Now we must remember that we have hearts that if we're not before the Lord.
In all our journey down here, it only takes a moment for our eyes to get off the Lord and temptation comes in.
And then we have a great deal of retracing of steps to get back into communion with God. And so, as he would tell his disciples, and sometimes our attitude is being asleep to the things of the Lord. But here he says, why sleep? Ye rise and pray.
Lest ye enter into temptation.
Now we've had several verses of scripture telling us to pray.
And where to expect God to answer these prayers now in the 37th Psalm?
We have a promise of God that he's going to give us what we pray for, provided in the 37th Psalm.
And it's a verse that I've enjoyed in my own soul. I don't say that I measure up to it, but the fourth verse of the 37th Psalm, we have God saying that he will grant these things.
Delight thyself also in the Lord.
There's the there's the secret of it all. Delight thyself also in the Lord, and he shall give thee the desires of thy heart.
Well, if we're delighting in the Lord, we're not going to be asking the Lord for things that are contrary to the things that belong to Christians.
But we have to be in communion with God in order that we might delight ourselves in the Lord.
Now, I know that you boys sometimes think of your games as being the most important thing in your life, and you think, well, tomorrow we're going to have a certain game. But I believe I'm just like you are or I was, and those things seem to be so important to me when I was a boy. But I'll certainly say that it was not delighting myself in the Lord.
00:20:15
And neither will you find God.
To give you all the answers, or all the petitions he may to teach you. And you may wish many times that the Lord had not given you the things that you asked for. But here's the real secret of getting the things that God would have you to enjoy is by delighting thyself in the Lord, and He shall give thee the desires of thy heart. So we must be sure that these petitions of ours according to the mind of God.
So that he might give us the desires of our heart.
Now in first kings.
And the third chapter.
We have.
In this the.
Man who had more wisdom than any king that had ever been on the earth.
And we find that Solomon.
Felt his inability. He felt his weakness, so that he went to the Lord and he prayed to the Lord that he might.
Be able to serve the Lord.
Pleasing to him in the sixth verse.
Of the third chapter first kings and Solomon said, Thou hast showed unto thy servant David, my father, great mercy.
According as he walked before thee in truth and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee, and thou hast kept him, kept for him this great kindness that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. And now, oh Lord, my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father. And I am but a little child. I know not how to go out.
Or come in.
And thy servant is in the midst of thy people, which thou hast chosen a great people, that cannot be numbered, nor counted for multitude. Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad. For who is able to judge this thy so great a people?
And the speech please, the Lord.
That Solomon had asked this thing, and God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing.
And has not asked for thyself long life, neither hast as riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies, but has asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment. Behold, I have done according to thy words. Lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart, so that there was none like thee before thee.
Neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.
And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches and honor.
So that there shall not be any among the kings like unto the.
Like unto thee all thy days.
Now here we have a man that was.
Asking of God a thing that was pleasing to God and he did not ask for riches.
And I wonder sometimes if our hearts aren't occupied with riches or some other thing that is only temporal things that soon will pass away. But here God honored this servant of his in asking for an understanding heart, and he gave him things that he didn't even ask for. Well, this reminds us, does it not, of the Lord when he said.
Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.
00:25:01
You know God is not going to hold back anything that's good for us.
And thank God that He doesn't give us just exactly what we asked for, but His great kindness He gives us more than we ask for, provided, however, we have hearts that are pleasing to Him, because if He were to give us things that we've not asked for, we might, in trusting our own hearts, use those things for His dishonor and our sorrow. But here it was He had prayed, and at pleased the Lord that He had asked for an understanding heart.
And these are some of the things that you younger folk can ask.
Of God.
You don't need to be occupied with your bicycles and your dolls, but you can ask him for an understanding heart.
You can ask him that he might keep you through the day when you come in contact with your.
Playmates at school and the older ones have found that it's necessary for them to get on their knees the first thing in the morning and commit themselves unto the Lord and say, preserve me, O God. For the older ones come in contact with those who are the avowed enemies of God, those who have filthy conversations, and some of them, some of us have hearings that are not so keen, and how many times we thank God that we didn't hear so well because of some conversation that took place around about us.
And we were not defiled with that conversation. Oh, here it is.
Thanking God for something that we ordinarily would think was adverse to us.
At all. How wonderful it is to see that God has in some way.
'Cause some physical defect that has saved us from some sorrow.
It's a it's a thing that we who have not had some.
Condition like this, it's hard for us to say, Well, we thank the Lord for that, but those who have experienced it and those who have been near them have been able to thank God that such is true. Now there's another man that we'd like to look at in First Chronicles.
4th chapter it is.
First chronicles the 4th chapter and the.
10th verse.
And Jabez.
Called on the God of Israel saying.
Oh, that thou wouldest blessed me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that my hand, and that thine hand might be with me.
And thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me. And God granted him that which he requested.
Why we're trying to put before you is if these things can be used for God's glory, He'll give you the answer of your prayers. But we need to be warned about these hearts of ours, the sea that the things that we ask of Him.
Might be used for his glory and not for the.
Pleasure of the flesh.
And you know, we'll have the flesh with us all the time. We're down here in this scene.
And we cannot trust it. And therefore we need to be before the Lord like these men.
Always seeking of the Lord that which would keep them from evil.
You and I may say, well, we've gotten through the day pretty well without evil, but as our brother was speaking last night, that there is no one of us and get down on our knees at the close of the day and say that this was one day in which we had pleased the Lord in everything that we had done.
Or said or thought. But it does encourage our hearts to know that there are men just like we, having same passions that we have, and go before the Lord and ask him to grant unto them the things that would be for his glory, and that would keep them from the evil.
Might take a look again then at that Matthew 633.
00:30:07
And this is again to give us to realize that if we ask these things of God for his glory.
That He will not limit these things, but He'll give to us those things that He can trust us with. Not that we're to be trusted in the flesh, but through His grace and mercy He would grant unto us others in that 30.
33rd verse of the 6th of Matthew, where he says, But seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you, so that he is not.
As some would say in our day, stingy at all. But he's going to give us everything that will be for his glory and our blessing. But we are responsible for the use of those things that He grants unto us.
When we present our petitions to Him, because we're only stewards down here and we must give an account so that if we're going to use it for our own pleasure, to the displeasure of the Lord, we're going to be in trouble. And it would be wonderful if the Lord would just say no, I'm not going to let you have this because you don't know how to use it. Well, we may be disappointed down here, but when we get up in glory.
And we look back and we see the reason that God had not granted this petition.
This thing on, we had our hearts so greatly set, we'll thank him that he didn't allow us to have the desires of our heart, because it's only if we delight ourselves in the Lord.
That he shall give us the desires of our heart. And if we then look back and say, Lord, we thank thee, that thou didst not give us our petition, because we would have dishonored you so much with that.
Oh, what a wonderful God we have.
Now then.
Also, you might look again in the 23rd of Luke.
And the 39th?
All these things we've been discussing things that the Lord can.
Grant unto us Here is a wonderful prayer.
That we find that the answer came immediately and to the eternal praise of God, and for the good, the eternal good of one who had presented his petition to the One who was rejected, when there was nothing in the man hanging there on that middle cross that would cause the men to say, well, this man will be able to give me whatever I ask.
But we see that God is working in the heart of this man, and in the 39th verse of the 23rd chapter of Luke. And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, that Israel on the Lord Jesus Christ. If thou be Christ, save thyself, and us. We see in this a man wanting to be saved from the judgment was his.
Without.
Acknowledging that he had done anything worthy of that judgment, and all he was wanting to do is to get down from that cross, get away from the judgment that was his. Not that he wanted to give any glory to the Lord Jesus Christ. It was one of those things that he wanted to consume upon his own flesh. But the other, answering rebuked him, saying, Dost thou not fear God, seeing thou art in the same condom nation?
And we indeed.
Justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds, but this man.
Hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto him unto Jesus, Lord, Remember Me when thou comest into thy Kingdom.
And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise. Now look at the.
00:35:00
34th verse of this same chapter we find another petition.
And we find it's the Lord Jesus here as man looking to his Father while the Lord Jesus is hanging there on the cross. Now he's praying too. And he said then said Jesus, Father forgive them for they know not what they do.
Well, you might ask, did God grant this? Did God grant this petition of His own beloved Son, the one whoever did those things which pleased the Father?
Well, yes, but it was contingent.
That is, it depended upon those who had cried out. Crucify Him, crucify Him, those who had rejected Him.
If they would only receive him, they could have this forgiveness.
So we say yes, God answered that request, but of course it's contingent upon the center receiving that rejected one as their Lord and Savior. Now we might look at Hebrews 12.
And the 17th verse. Now we have another prayer here.
And we find that the petition of this man was not granted.
And this ought to speak to the hearts of everyone here, especially those who know not the Lord Jesus as their Savior, when there has been the telling forth of the wondrous love of God as expressed in the gift of the Lord Jesus on Calvary's cross.
That you don't turn your back on this.
Wonderful good news concerning Christ the Savior. Or if you do, it might be like this man. Or the time may come when it'll be too late for you to reconsider.
In the.
17th verse of the 12Th of Hebrew. Well, we better read the 16th verse to find out who this man is.
That had made a petition, but his petition was denied.
And that for eternity too, in the 16th verse, lest there be any fornicator or profane person as Esau.
Who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright, for we know it. For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. Now this word, this as we have here, might make you think that.
Esau sought repentance, but it isn't that.
It was that he sought the blessing and there was number repentance with this Esau. It might be better read if we'd say that when he had.
For you know how that afterward when he would have inherited the blessing?
He was rejected or when he would have inherited the blessing.
He found no place of repentance, and therefore he was rejected. Now he had sought carefully the blessing, but there was no but he had not found any place of repentance, and therefore he was rejected, and that for all eternity now you've been hearing these blessings of the Lord presented to you in the gospel, and it might be that there's some here, and we pray God that it may not be.
It may be.
That if you reject and if you refuse to believe.
That love of God, you die in your sins. It will be too late. It will be too late. You'll have no opportunity.
Now again in James.
In the 4th chapter.
We find why Esau was not able to get this blessing that he sought when there was number repentance on his part.
00:40:04
He asked, and you received not because he asked amiss that she may consume it upon your lusts.
So we have to be careful that the things we ask of the Lord does not ask for this.
Purpose that we might consume it upon our lust. God's not going to grant these petitions. We've had so many verses here showing how God has granted these petitions, but there are certain ones that he does not grant because we only want to please the flesh. Now we'll go back to Matthew again.
And the 25th chapter.
And we have another petition.
That's also denied.
And this we heard the other night about the foolish virgins.
And how that in the 10th verse while they went to buy, the bridegroom came.
And they that were ready went in with him to the marriage, and the door was shut.
Afterward came also the other virgin, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily, I say unto you.
I know you not.
So this is the danger of you young people when you still have minds that doesn't require reasoning these things out.
If you go on until some other time after you have enjoyed all the pleasures of this world, thinking that you finally will come to the place when you don't enjoy the things that the flesh enjoy, and then you'll give yourself to the Lord, it may be that you'll never arrive at that place, because the Lord could come tonight. He could come this afternoon. He might come before we finish this hour.
So we're just putting before you that this thing of refusing the gospel.
Heard here, and maybe many times in your own city, it may be that you will come after it's too late.
But there will then be that statement that we find here. I know you not now. There's one more. There's one more prayer.
I'd like to bring that to you, and it's the last chapter of Revelation.
The last prayer of the Scriptures.
In the 20th verse.
He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly.
Quickly.
Amen.
Even so, come Lord Jesus, is that the prayer of your heart and mind? Is there some other object that we would like to see the for the fulfillment of before the Lord comes, or is this our prayer?
Even so come Lord Jesus.
#324.
Lord Jesus, come, nor let us longer roam afar from thee in that bright place where we shall see thee face to face. Lord Jesus, come, Lord Jesus, come Thine absence. Here we mourn no joy. We know apart from thee no sorrow in thy presidency.
Come, Jesus, come.
Lord Jesus, come and claim us as thine own, with longing hearts the path we tread, which thee on high to glory. Lead. Come, save your Come, Lord Jesus, come and take thy people home that all thy flock, so scattered here with thee in glory, may appear. Lord Jesus, come now, if there's any of you here that does not know the Lord Jesus as your savior.
00:45:19
If you sing this hymn what you're really saying, Lord, come close the door and then I will cry afterwards. Lord, Lord, open unto me. Do you want to sing that Lord Jesus come, if you don't know him or when he comes, the door will be closed and you'll be left on the outside.
It would be better that you do not sing this if you're still a stranger.
To his love.
Oh, Jesus Christ.
Lord promises, let's pray.