As she [Achsah, Caleb’s daughter] dismounted from her donkey, Caleb said to her, “What do you wish?” She said to him, “Give me a present; since you have set me in the land of the Negeb, give me springs of water as well. So Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs. Joshua 15: 18, 19, NRSV.
Gracious God, you have invited us to ask, to knock, to seek. Sometimes we just don’t know how to do this. So please teach us how, as we come into Your presence this day. In the name of Jesus we pray! Amen.
I truly believe that many of the problems that we face, would cease to be, if we only knew how to pray! Someone may ask, “Well, how hard is that, if prayer is simply talking to God?” I agree that we would not have a problem, if prayer was only about words. In fact, words have very little to do with prayer! Proof of this is that, sometimes we are too pained to utter words (I have been there)! Yet many of these prayers have been answered! The longer I live – the more convinced I am, that really praying; from the gut praying; is more about what we expect, than what we say! We usually get out of prayer, what we expect (James 1: 8)!
I must hasten to tell you, that every prayer will not be answered the way we would prefer it answered. Jesus would have preferred, “if possible,” that the cup of suffering pass from Him; but it did not. Nevertheless, resurrection morning came! Mary and Martha would have preferred if their brother Lazarus had not died. But he did. Four days later, however, he was alive again! Moses would have preferred to enter earthly Canaan. He later discovered that God had the heavenly Canaan prepared for him!
John the Baptist, most likely, would have rejoiced, if Jesus had freed him from prison; but Jesus did not. Instead he died, beheaded; in prison. Nonetheless, Jesus bore testimony of him; that among the children born of a woman; none was greater than John! Therefore, for him, there remains the hope of the first resurrection! Joseph would have wanted to be freed from prison the day after Pharaoh’s cupbearer was released. Not so; he remained in prison for two more years!
What we want to study, are the norms of effective prayer. We want to see what the Bible has to say about how we should pray!
Our Scripture for today talks about Achsah, the daughter of Caleb, and the petition she made to her father. Before she made the request, she had “urged” her husband to ask her father for a field. Nevertheless, as soon as her father saw her get off of the donkey, he knew that she had a request to make of him! It is good for us to keep in mind that our Heavenly Father knows us very well; much better than we know ourselves! And He knows our needs! Sometimes even before our prayer can reach the Throne of Grace, an answer is on its way!
Achsah said something that caught my attention, “Give me a present…” Notice how specific her request was. A “present” is not something we work for. It is not something we have to repay. The kind of present we request, usually reflects the degree of confidence we have in the person we are requesting it from. We know what we can expect from them.
She went on to state the reason for her petition, “since you have set me in the land of the Negeb, give me springs of water as well.” Her father knew the kind of land she was in; so he answered her petition, accordingly. He gave her the upper springs and the lower springs. But note that even though he knew, he made her tell him what she needed, and wanted. Our Heavenly Father knows the condition of the land where we dwell; and He is well able to send the showers of blessings that we need! So go ahead, and with confidence, tell Him about Your needs, as well as your wants! And ask expecting to receive!
We will continue.