I. Dare. You.

So I started reading this book by Francis Chan called "Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of The Holy Spirit"
Wowzers. So I'm on page 50 and there are probably 50 things I could write a blog about, but I just want to touch on one thing.
How many times have you asked God for something and it doesn't happen? Or how many times have you wanted to ask God for something and it didn't happen because of fear?
This is a simple truth that I've talked about before, but Chan added something new to this. Luke 11 is pretty significant in this. The first part of this chapter talks about "how to pray". (Someone remind me to talk about this later, do we really think Jesus meant us to pray EXACTLY this prayer? )
In verse 5, he talks about the two neighbors. Neighbor #1 goes to #2 late at night and asks for bread for a visitor, and #1 has nothing to give to him. #2 initially says, "No, it's late, I'm sleeping go away," but because of #1's boldness (or persistence), the bread will be given to him. Later in Luke, Jesus gives another parable about this persistent Widow. (luke 18). So here we have two EARTHLY examples of what persistence looks like when seeking something.
Jesus then turns around to the things of Heaven and says

"So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. 11"Which of you fathers, if your son asks for[f] a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

So God WANTS to give us the things in which we ask for, ESPECIALLY the Holy Spirit. So, this is kind of revolutionary, but now ask yourselves "What have I asked for, and what have I gotten?" Chan makes a HUGE point here in saying
Do not let your faith be made small when you ask for things that ARE NOT PROMISED by scripture and you do not receive them
Whoa. I think the reason this has hit me so hard recently is because I've wanted to begin studying God's promises. What EXACTLY is it that He has promised His children and what can I rightly expect from Him to provide? But then that naturally leads to, what have I asked Him that He hasn't promised to me? And do I expect that of Him? Is it right to go to your older brother and demand he spend the day with you when he hasn't promised it? (Disclaimer: I'm not saying limit God purely to what He promises in Scripture, I'm only saying let's BEGIN with the things He HAS promised for us, and go from there.)
I think this is HUGE! We've gotten into the habit of praying for things such as a "nice house" or "a good job" etc... And when those things don't come to pass, we point a huge finger at God and ask "What the heck?" But did God EVER promise those things? I don't think so. If we are truly seeking to "be more like Jesus", especially in regards to life, then we should be giving our houses and possessions away! I know Jesus promises we would be hated for loving Him. I know I don't pray that people will begin to hate me, but the point here is that most of what we THINK we deserve (whether we think it or not, we sure as heck are praying for it), God didn't actually promise those things.
And I wonder if people are just interpreting John 10:10 incorrectly. The abundant life? By whose standards?
My Dare For You: Pray that God would begin to show you HIS IDEA of what the ABUNDANT LIFE is supposed to be and that you would begin to exemplify that. I. Dare. You.