DOES GOD REQUIRE SABBATH KEEPING OF HIS DISCIPLES?

In Colossians 2:16-17: the apostle Paul declares: "Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in the Messiah." Similarly, Romans 14:5 states: "One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind." These Scriptures make it clear that, for a disciple, Sabbath-keeping is a matter of spiritual freedom, not a command from God.

Sabbath-keeping is an issue on which God's Word instructs us not to judge each other. Sabbath-keeping is a matter about which each disciple needs to be fully convinced in his/her own mind.

In the early chapters of the book of Acts, the first disciples were predominantly Jews. When Gentiles began to receive the gift of salvation through Jesus the Messiah, the Jewish disciples had a dilemma. What aspects of the Mosaic Law and Jewish tradition should Gentile believers be instructed to obey? The apostles met and discussed the issue in the Jerusalem council (Acts 15). The decision was summed up by James: "It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead, we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals, and from blood" (Acts 15:19-20). Sabbath-keeping was not one of the commands the apostles felt was necessary to force on Gentile believers. It is inconceivable that the apostles would neglect to include Sabbath-keeping if it was God's command for believers to observe the Sabbath.

A common error in the Sabbath-keeping debate is the concept that the Sabbath was the day of worship. Groups such as the Seventh Day Adventists hold that God requires church service to be held on Saturday, the Sabbath day. That is not what the Sabbath command was. The Sabbath command was to do no work on the Sabbath day (Exodus 20:8-11). Nowhere in Scripture is the Sabbath day commanded to be the day of worship.

Yes, Jews in Old Testament, New Testament, and modern times use Saturday as the day of worship, but that is not the essence of the Sabbath command. In the book of Acts, whenever a meeting is said to be on the Sabbath, it is a meeting of Jews and/or Gentile converts to Judaism, not the disciples of the Messiah.

When did the early Christians meet?

Acts 2:46-47 gives us the answer: "Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." If there was a day that disciples of the Messiah met regularly, it was the first day of the week - Sunday, not the Sabbath day - Saturday (Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2). In honor of the Messiah's resurrection on the first day of the week - Sunday, the early disciples of the Messiah observed Sunday not as the "a Sabbath" but as a day to worship Yehovah - God.

Is there anything wrong with worshipping on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath? Absolutely not! We can worship God every day, not just on Saturday or Sunday! Many churches today have both Saturday and Sunday services. There is freedom in the Messiah (Romans 8:21; 2 Corinthians 3:17; Galatians 5:1).

Should a disciple of the Messiah practice Sabbath-keeping, that is, not working on Saturdays? If a Christian feels led to do so, absolutely, yes (Romans 14:5). However, those who choose to practice Sabbath-keeping should not judge those who do not keep the Sabbath (Colossians 2:16). Further, those who do not keep the Sabbath should avoid being a stumbling block (1 Corinthians 8:9) to those who do keep the Sabbath.

Galatians 5:13-15 sums up the whole issue: "You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other."

NEXT:

Scriptures says: "All things were written for our learning", however not everything is for the disciples of the Messiah to do. Many take commands and instructions given to others and apply to themselves or others in error. This can be avoided by "Rightly Dividing the word of truth."
Notice: 2 Timothy 2:15-17: Do your best to present yourself to God as tried-and-true. Avoid pointless discussions. People who pay attention to these pointless discussions will become more ungodly, and what they say will spread like cancer.
Most of what we see in the world today presented as "Christianity" is actually a mix of Judaism, paganism, Gnoticism and Christianity.
There are four cardinal rules for Bible understanding. We must observe:
1. Who is speaking?
2. Who is being spoken to?
3. On what authority are the words spoken?
4. To what age, or time period, do the words apply?
Though the scriptures are God's infallible inspired record, it not only records God's words, but also words of men and women, words spoken by angels, Satan and demons. Some recorded words of men, Satan and demons are lies, which contradict truth elsewhere in the scriptures. Also, some of God's words are applicable only to a particular individual or group of individuals and for only a particular time. There were times when men spoke and wrote words which God gave them as His words, while at other times they were inspired to speak and write their own words and human observations which do not have infallible authority.
We are assured of God's help in observing the rules of correct understanding if we carefully study the Bible itself with the desire to be approved of God and accepted by Him.
Read:
John 7:17: Those who want to follow the will of God will know if what I teach is from God or if I teach my own thoughts.

Luke 24:45: Then he said to them, “These are the words I spoke to you while I was still with you. I told you that everything written about me in Moses’ Teachings, the Prophets, and the Psalms had to come true.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.
John 16:13: When the Spirit of Truth comes, he will guide you into the full truth. He won’t speak on his own. He will speak what he hears and will tell you about things to come.
1 Corinthians 2:9-11: I had also written to you to test you. I wanted to see if you would be obedient in every way. If you forgive someone, so do I. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, I did in the presence of Christ for your benefit. I don’t want Satan to outwit us. After all, we are not ignorant about Satan’s scheming.
Neglect of these points has lead to much confusion and false doctrine. Whereas, careful application of these precepts may help open the Holy Scriptures for a clearer understanding of the will of God for our lives.
It is readily apparent and understood by most that the law of circumcision is a Hebrew ritual which has been abolished for Christians. It should also be just as apparent that "the law of commandments contained in ordinances" is also abolished. What are these ordinances? Gal 4:9-11
The Hebrew feast days were required by the law, but described as weak and beggarly elements for Christians because they are just copies of the reality that we have in the Messiah. These feasts included: the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Harvest, the Feast of Ingathering, as well as the Sabbath Day. Disciples of the Messiah are not to be under bondage to these.
Colossians 2:11-17: "you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by the circumcision of the Messiah, buried with him in baptism, in which you also were raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And he has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of the Messiah.
This isn't saying you can do anything you want and keep others from judging you. It's saying the ordinances have been wiped out so don't let anyone require you to practice the "Do's" & "Don'ts" of the law regarding: meat, drink, holy days, new moons, or sabbath days. These were all a shadow of things to come, but disciples of the Messiah have the reality of those things in Jesus the Messiah. Like baptism, we  were baptized with the Messiah. For I have been crucified with the Messiah. The same applies to the sabbath. the Messiah was the only perfect man who kept the law perfectly and walked according to his God Yehovah's will perfectly. the law was given as a "schoolmaster" to bring us to the Messiah.
In Acts 15 we find that the gentiles (anyone not a Jew and never under the law) should not be put under the law as the Jews were.
NEXT:
Those who follow the lord Jesus and are in him do not have to keep any ordinance other than to be baptized [total immersion] and to keep the lord's supper in rememberance of him until he returns. That's it for all who in the Lord Jesus. No wearing of certain clothing, no keeping of any day or days, nothing. Salvation is a freely given gift of God and it is all of Him and nothing of us at all. To keep the Sabbath [7th day] is of an by itself not wrong to do as a believer, but to do so as a requirement for salvation is to practice what Paul calls down a curse upon those who mix law and grace.
Galatians 3:13: The Messiah did redeem us from the curse of the law, having become for us a curse, for it has been written, ‘Cursed is every one who is hanging on a tree,’
To go back to keeping the "law" including Sabbath keeping in order to be saved is to insult to Jesus and questions what Jesus has done for us by being hanged on a tree!
Galatians 3:10: for as many as are of works of law are under a curse, for it has been written, ‘Cursed is every one who is not remaining in all things that have been written in the law, to do them,’
Indeed, the law was brought into being to act as a schoolmaster until the coming of the Messiah Jesus. Now that he has come and died for us in order that we might be reconciled to his God and our God his Father and our Father Yehovah, something the law could not do!
Again, if I am in Israel and go to a Messianic Christian church and observe the Sabbath there there no problem in doing so, because I don't do it to gain salvation or reconciliation with my God since Jesus has done it all for me according to God's undeserving Grace for me.
All Jesus asks of me is to follow his creed:
Mark 12:29-31: Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, you shall love your neighbour as yourself.
This is the spirit of the law that we can keep as enabled by the power of the spirit of God and by the spirit of the Lord Jesus.
Notice that Jesus adds some words to the original command:
Deuteronomy 6:4-5: Hear, O Israel: YHVH our God is one LORD: And you shall love YHVH your God with all your heart, and with all your soul [being], and with all your might - strength.
In Mark 12:29-30 - Jesus adds the word mind... interesting.
Jesus is my Sabbath rest!
Matthew 11:28: ‘Come unto me, all you labouring and burdened ones, and I will give you rest,Indeed, I have found my rest in the lord Jesus, who will bring me into his soon coming kingdom when he come to Jerusalem to sit on the throne of David and rule over Israel as King and over the nations as King of kings and Lord of lords during the thousand year rule where we will kings and priests ruling with him.
Revelation 1:6: and did make us kings and priests to his God and Father, to him is the glory and the power to the ages of the ages! Amen.
Revelation 5:10: You made them a kingdom and priests for our God.
They will rule as kings on the earth.”

May that day soon come!

WHAT SAYS THE SCRIPTUE ABOUT GOOD WORKS?

Matthew 5:6: so let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and may glorify your Father who is in the heavens.

Our good works are the result of our being in the Messiah loving our neighbor as ourselves as his creed gives us to do. (Mark 12:29-31)

John 10:32: Jesus answered them, ‘Many good works did I show you from my Father; because of which work of them do you stone me?

Notice Jesus says his good works come through him from his Father, and ours come through us as we are united in union with him.

Acts 9:36: And in Joppa, there was a certain female disciple, by name Tabitha, (which interpreted, is called Dorcas,) this woman was full of good works and kind acts that she was doing;

What a great example of a converted believer in the Lord Jesus showing forth love to her neighbors. May we do likewise!

Romans 13:3: For those ruling are not a terror to the good works, but to the evil, and dost thou wish not to be afraid of the authority? That which is good be doing, and thou shalt have praise from it,

If we do good works toward others those who are in authority have nothing to fear from us or we from them.

Ephesians 2:10: for we are His workmanship, created in the Messiah Jesus to good works, which God did before prepare, that in them we may walk.

Indeed, as new creations in the Lord Jesus the Messiah we are enabled to do good works empowered by the spirit of Jesus in us.

1 Titus 2:10: which becomes women professing godly piety — through good works.

The character of a believing woman is shown by her good work toward others, which indeed is true beauty.

1 Timothy 5:10: People should tell about the good things she has done: raising children, being hospitable, taking care of believers’ needs, helping the suffering, or always doing good things.;

These are the good works that should follow our steps along the narrow path that leads to life in the coming new age.

1 Timothy 6:18: Tell them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be ready to impart, willing to communicate,

Again, an example of loving our neighbor as ourselves!

Titus 2:7: Always set an example by doing good things. When you teach, be an example of moral purity and dignity.

This advice given by Paul to Titus as a way a minister of the lord Jesus should act applies to all those who are in the Lord Jesus.

Titus 2:14: who did give himself for us, that he might ransom us from all lawlessness, and might purify to himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works;

We need to ask ourselves: are we zealous to do good works?

Titus 3:8: Stedfast is the word; and concerning these things I counsel thee to affirm fully, that they may be thoughtful, to be leading in good works — who have believed God; these are the good and profitable things to men,

Titus 3:14: and let them learn — ours also — to be leading in good works to the necessary uses, that they may not be unfruitful.

By doing good works we will not be seen as unfruitful before the One with whom we have to do, our God and our Father!

Hebrews 10:24: and may we consider one another to provoke to love and to good works,

We should do all we can to help each other to love others and do good works for them.

1 Peter 2:12: Having your behavior among the nations right, that in that which they speak against you as evil-doers, of the good works having beheld, they may glorify God in a day of inspection.

This advice of Peter is excellent, for he says our good works glorify our God and provide a witness and example to those who do not yet believe in the Lord Jesus.

In all of these examples of good works, there is no mention of good works leading to success, unless success can be defined as doing what we have been created to do in the Messiah Jesus.

These words of Jesus say it all:

Luke 17:10: So likewise ye, when you shall have done all those things which are commanded you - good works, say, we are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.

DOES HEBREWS 6:4-6: MEAN WE CAN LOSE OUR SALVATION?

Hebrews was written to a Jewish audience. More specifically, it was written to a Messianic Jewish audience. And even more specifically, it was written to Messianic Jews who were being persecuted for their faith. Many of these Jews had lost their land, their jobs, or even their families. Their persecution was great. The land was very important to Jews, it was their inheritance from God. So the loss of land was a real blow to these Jews. In the midst of their persecution, a false theology began to work its way in. The thought came up that because these Jews would have been saved under the old law before the Messiah came, maybe they could abandon their faith in the Messiah and go back to the old law. The thought was that since they were saved under the old law and they were not persecuted that they could go back to the old sacrificial system and the old ways and still be saved. The author of Hebrews writes against this false teaching. He explains to these persecuted Messianic Jews that the old law does not save any longer. Now that the Messiah has come, salvation is found through him. This is why Hebrews was written.

Here, it is important to realize that when the author says "fall away" he means go back to the old way. These Jews have already accepted Jesus as the Messiah. The forgiveness for their sins is found through the Messiah's work on the cross. If they fall away and turn back to the old law they cannot be brought back to repentance. There is no forgiveness of sins under the old law now that the Messiah has been crucified. The Messiah paid the ultimate price, and suggesting that they don't need the Messiah, and thinking that they can reject what the Messiah did and go back to the old way would be like crucifying him all over again. This is why the Messiah came to give us forgiveness by his sin-offering sacrifice. Forgiveness now comes through the Messiah, not the old law.

In Hebrews 6:4-6: the Greek verbs photisthentas, geusamenous, and genethentas, being aorist, are rightly rendered in the past tense: "who were enlightened," "have tasted," and "were made partakers." Wherefore parapesontas, being aorist, ought to have also been rendered in the past tense, "have fallen away." Some translators followed Beza, [similarly Calvin, Owen, Tait], who, with no authority from ancient manuscripts, inserted his version of the word "si" (if), to give his [Beza] rendering as "if they shall away," so as to appear to not contradict the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. He changed it, to make it become hypothetical. That was his agenda.

A correct rendering of this passage may be found in the New American Standard Bible, thusly: "For in the case of those who have been once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the son of God, and put him to open shame."

People may have been once enlightened (by the light of the Messiah) and have "tasted of the heavenly gift" (the disciple's life) and be said, "to have eternal life." This is by metonymy. 1 John 5:12:.. he who does not have the son of God does not have the life." When one let's go of the son, he is then cast off as a branch, and withers. John 15:1-5, that eternal life "is in His son." 1 John 5:11, when one leaves the son, he leaves the life. How? Often it is by just a little bit at a time. The conscience becomes increasingly less sensitive, more hardened, like the fingertips of one who plays violin, or guitar: they become calloused. The list of incompleted things in the disciple's life gets longer and longer. At what point has a disciple let go of the son? The son can answer that; I can not. The break-point for that is somewhere I do not wish to learn first-hand.

A follower of the Messiah who has "tasted the good word of God" has experienced it sustained; it is the food of the soul. One who has tasted "the powers of the world to come" has seen that the Spirit reveals and supports the truth, and carries forth the work of redemption to its full and perfect consummation. So this covers from the first elements of piety through its highest; it describes the successive steps by which a true disciple of the Messiah advances to the highest stage of the Christian experience.

One who has fallen away from such a level has hardened his own heart. He has known first and later rejected all that God offered. God already gave His very best, to create an opportunity of salvation, available to every human who submits to His plan. That was and is the only solution possible for mankind to be saved from sins. Whether we obey and receive that reward is left up to us - we must participate. The life of a disciple is not a "spectator sport."

Be like the Bereans: when you are told something religiously, check it by the scriptures as to whether it is true - 100 percent! Be very cautious about your translation/version.

Remember, Jesus said, "Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life." That continues to be a conditional statement. "A few" will be faithful until death or until they are resurrected; the many will not. One must become faithful before one can possibly remain so. Matthew 7:13-14: "Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it. For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it."

Notice:

Hebrews 6:4-8: For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. For the earth which drinks in the rain that comes often upon it, and brings forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receives a blessing from God: But that which bears thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.

What do we understand from these verses:

1. If someone falls away from believing in God's message given through the Lord Jesus, in other words, has been enlightened, and has tasted the heavenly gift of the Holy Spirit, and given the good revelation of God and tasted the powers of the coming new age that it is impossible to renew them again to repentance.

2. In falling away that person has crucified to themselves the son of God again, and put him to an open shame.

3. The end result is to be burned up in the lake of fire, destroyed.

This is a dire warning for those who might contemplate going back to this world and rejecting the one whom God has sent. Such a one would obviously have no meaningful contact with anyone who was sincerely following the Lord Jesus. That being said, this does not exclude what the Lord Jesus can do!

Luke 15:4: What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he finds it?

We see here that there were 100 sheep in the flock, but one wanders away in the wilderness and is lost, so the shepherd goes after the one who has become lost until he finds it. Notice the lost sheep is lost in the wilderness, which if we look at the parable and apply it to the present time, the wilderness that we walk through is this sin-sick world. If one sheep who is of the flock, cared for by the Lord Jesus, our shepherd; wanders off into the wilderness and becomes lost, i.e. has fallen way, gone back out into the world and become a part of it, which believers are not a part of, will not the Lord Jesus as shepherd seek to find such a one and bring him/her back to be a part of the flock.

Ask yourselves this question: how many times has Jesus brought you back to walk on the narrow path that leads to life in the coming new age when you have wandered away from it? How many times? I know for myself I can't count the many times he has done so!

Again: Luke 15:6: And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.

Luke 15:10: Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repents. Does this not include a sinning sheep who has wandered off and the lord Jesus has brought back carrying him on his shoulder, because it is too weak to walk on its own?
The parable of the prodigal son is a prime example of one who has rejected his father, taken his inheritance - his taste of the things to come - and even rejected the country he grew up in, was a part of and gone into the wilderness so to speak.
Notice what the father does when he sees him returning, he runs to him with open arms. He was looking for him to return, he didn't give up hope that his son would return. Our God will never give up hope as far as we are concerned, even if we come to the point of rejecting his beloved son, because he gave His son Jesus to save those who are lost. It is all between the Lord Jesus and the one who has fallen away. In other words it is not possible for any follower of Jesus to renew such a one to repent and come back, only the Lord Jesus can bring that one back.
Luke 15:24: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. God is love!

IS IT TRUE THAT ONE MUST FIRST BE CALLED BY GOD IN ORDER TO BE SAVED?

John 6:65: And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it was given unto him of my Father.

How does this happen? When the gospel message that God the Father gave to Jesus to give to us is preached, the good news message about the coming Kingdom of God, that message carries with it the power of God's Holy Spirit that enables those who hear to come to believe in Him and in His beloved son Jesus, and in that way, it is given to them by God the Father Yehovah.

Those who reject the message and reject the drawing power of God's Spirit will not come to believe in the Lord Jesus.

John 6:44: No man can come to me, except the Father who has sent me - commissioned me to draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

God draws men/women by the foolishness of the preaching of the good news about the coming Kingdom of God which they need to believe in order to be saved!

Luke 8:10-12: And he said, Unto you, it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand. Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God - the word about the kingdom (Mat:13:19). Those by the way side are they that hear; then comes the devil, and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.

So we see that Satan - the devil does his best to see that those who hear the word about the Kingdom are deceived by false religion and thus takes the word out of their hearts lest they should believe. That deception has been taking place since Jesus' resurrection and continues to this day. The one message Satan does not want proclaimed and published is the gospel - the good news message about the coming Kingdom of God. It should make one wonder why we don't hear any preaching about that coming Kingdom when that is all that Jesus talked about.

Notice:

The work of the Son in calling - John 5:24-26

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hearsm my word and believes in Him who sent me has ege upon age lasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death [the second death] into life. Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear [act upon it] will live. For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the son to have life in himself...

Jesus is still speaking today not audibly but effectually:

Ephesians 2:17: And he came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near.
The he here is Jesus who during his earthly ministry was never in Ephesus but when faithful preachers of the word preach Jesus is calling those who are the called according to his purpose.
Ephesians 4:20-21: But you have not so learned  the Messiah, if indeed you have heard him and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:
Romans 8:28: speaks of the called in this way: And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
In the following verses Paul shows how calling fits in with all of the other glorious benefits of salvation.

WHAT DID JESUS MEAN WHEN HE SAID 'ASK AND YOU SHALL RECEIVE'?

Jesus said we are to ask and we will receive, knock and the door shall be opened for you, seek and you will find... all these are an outline of how we are to approach our God and our Father through the Lord Jesus requesting those things that we have need of according to His will. God knows the end result as to what is best for us and we need to understand that when we don't get what we ask for, or a door isn't opened or what we are seeking isn't immediately forthcoming, it is because God knows what is best for us and the best time for us to receive them.

That being said, if we ask Him for forgiveness, or to help us increase in faith or to have more of His Spirit to overcome our natural inclinations and to combat the influences of this world, those are always given immediately if ask for in faith. Our God and Father Yehovah truly deals with us as His sons and daughters and is always looking out for our best interest, leading us as new creations in the Messiah to the coming new age life in His coming Kingdom when we will co-inherit and co-rule with His beloved son Jesus.

From personal experience, my God and Father Yehovah has always given me what I need spiritually, physically, and emotionally. All that I have has come from His loving hand. The peace of mind I have knowing that He has my back and no harm can come to me unless He allows is a great blessing. As our physical fathers strove to keep us safe and secure and lead us to go the right way; our God and Father does so much more for us.

What amazing grace to know that our God and Father has given to us His beloved son's spirit to guide us along the difficult narrow path that leads to life in the coming new age and now acts as our High Priest and our advocate before the throne of his God and ours, his Father and ours. If God is for us, who can stand against us?

Notice:

Jesus said, "Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete" in John 16:24. Similar statements are found in Matthew 7:7; 21:22; Mark 11:24; Luke 11:9; and John 15:7. Is this a blanket promise with no conditions? We need to consider this: are Jesus' words to be understood in light of other revelations?
If we assume that "ask and you will receive" means "ask for anything you want and I'll give it to you," then we have turned the Lord into a cosmic genie who serves our every whim. This is the problem of prosperity gospel and word of faith teachings.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says that whoever asks receives, whoever seeks finds, and whoever knocks will find an open door (Matthew 7:7-8). But with this and all other verses we must always examine the context. Jesus goes on to say that God will not fail to give His children good things (verse 11). So, this is one condition to the promise of "ask and receive": what we ask for must be good according to God's estimation. God will give advantageous gifts to His children; He will not give us bad or injurious things. The best example of a good gift is the Holy Spirit, according to Luke 11:13. We begin to see a two-fold purpose of prayer; to increase our understanding of what God calls "good" and to cultivate a desire in us for what He considers to be good.
Our prayers to God are not unlike our requests of men. Our prayers are based in a relationship, as Jesus points out in Matthew 7:8. If a child asks his father for something the father knows to be hurtful, the request is denied. Conversely, when the child asks for something that the father knows is beneficial, the father will provide it eagerly because he loves his child.
We have another condition to the promise of "ask and receive" in John 14:14, "You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it."
Here, Jesus does not promise his disciples anything and everything they want; rather, he instructs them to ask "in my name." To pray in Jesus' name is to pray on the basis of Jesus' authority, but it also involves praying according to the will of God, for the will of God is what Jesus always did and does (John 6:38). This truth is stated explicitly in 1 John 5:14, "If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us." Our requests must be congruent - in accordance with the will of God.
The promise of "ask and receive," even with its conditions, can never disappoint. There is no chance of things we need not being according to God's will. He promises to supply what we need when we "seek first his kingdom and his righteousness" (Matthew 6:33).
Now consider that what we want is not always what we need.
If what we want is not according to God's will, then we really don't need to receive it. God knows what is good for us and in His love will say "no" to selfish and foolish prayers, no matter how much we want what we're asking for. He will also so "no" to prayers will not be good for us at the time we are asking, but may answer them when the time is right for us to recieve what we have asked for. He know the end from the beginning in everything about us and acts according to what He knows is good for us at all times.
God will always give us good things. Our job is to understand what is good, so that we know what to ask for. The natural mind cannot understand this, but the man whose mind is led and influenced by the holy spirit does. When we offer ourselves as "a living sacrifice" and are transformed by the renewing of our minds and hearts it is at that time we "will be able to test and approve what God's will is; His good, pleasing and perfect will" (Romans 12:1-2). Then, asking for what we need in faith, we will have all we need to live a life of godliness with fullness of joy (John 16:24).
The biblical instruction concerning prayer is that we pray for the good things that we truly need, according to the will of God, in the authority of Jesus the Messiah, persistently (see Luke 18:1), unselfishly (see James 4:3), and in faith (see James 1:6). In Matthew 21:22 Jesus again emphasizes faith: "If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."
Those who truly obey according to God will witness the amazing, infinite power of God. However, comparing Scripture with Scripture, we know that the asking must be done according to the will of God. Having the faith of Jesus we know that God's plan for us is best. If we ask for healing, and that is the best thing for us, we should not doubt that God will heal us. If He does not heal, then not being healed is a necessary part of His plan that is ultimately for our good. Ultimately we will all be completely healed when we are resurrected to me the Lord Jesus in the air!
Consider Psalm 37:4: "Delight yourself in Yehovah and He will give you the desires of your heart." This verse means that, if we walk in faithful obedience before Him, He will reward us with whatever need we have. It means that, when we delight ourselves in God, then we will find everything we want and need in Him. The key here is that the heart of the seeker is renewed. When we delight in the Lord God Yehovah, His desires begin to become our own. When our desires are in line with God's, then our prayers are automatically aligned with His will.
Among the most important prayers in the life of a Christian are "Teach me to love you with all my heart, mind and all my being and strenth" and "Place in my heart to want what you want for me." When we truly desire to do the will of God, when we are passionate to see His will accomplished our lives and in this world, and when we ask for what brings Him glory, He is eager to give us anything we ask for. Sometimes the things that glorify God are pleasant - a marriage or a child. Sometimes they are difficult for us - a failure that humbles us or a physical weakness that makes us more dependent upon Him (see 2 Corinthians 12:7). But, when we pray within His will, in the authority of Jesus, persistently, unselfishly, and in faith, we will receive what we need.