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1 Samuel 4

Good Morning “Full Time Worshippers.”  Today we are in 1 Samuel 4.  

“In Jesus name, Amen.”  Whew… ok I tagged my prayer with the right ending.  Now God has to do what I ask.  After all, that’s what The Bible says… ”And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.“
‭‭John‬ ‭14‬:‭13‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Have you ever thought that?  Even secretly?  First of all let’s be clear, that’s one of the most popular misinterpretations of that passage.  We love to interpret things in such a way as to put God in our box… make Him our genie in a lamp, force Him to do what we want.  Thats NOT how it works.  In that passage Jesus was sharing some parting Words of encouragement, prior to His arrest and crucifixion.  “In My name”, literally speaks to “According to My will”, Jesus later modeled this in the Garden as He prayed to The Father, “Father, please take this cup from Me - Nevertheless not My will but Yours be done” (Luke 22:42).  “In Jesus name”, is an acknowledgment statement.  Kind of like - “Lord with my limited understanding, this is what I pray, but you know better than I - so Your will be done, for Your Glory.”

We find the same idea in John 15 ”If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.“
‭‭John‬ ‭15‬:‭7‬ ‭NIV‬‬  The key here is us remaining in Him and His words remaining in us… then our thoughts will be more like His thoughts and our prayers will be in line with His will.  We don’t, with the right combination of words, somehow get God where we want Him.  It’s not about aligning Him with our will.  It’s about us growing up and aligning ourselves through Biblical study and growth - with His will!  When we get to know Him we understand His character and thus His expectation.  We become like minded…like a healthy husband and wife relationship.

Israel is not in a good place in this chapter.  Eli’s sons are a mess.  He knows about it and has done nothing.  They loose 3,000 men in battle and so they reason, “next time we go out let’s take the Arc of the Covenant, then God will have to give us the victory… or be dishonored.  Never mind the fact we’re immersed in disobedient living - God will have to.” How do think that worked out for them?  You’ll have to dig in to see what happens, if you haven’t already.  Remember Gods promise to deal with Eli and his sons from 1 Sam 2:30- .  Also recall Leviticus 26:14-17.  

Love you all!  Dig in!