Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour of Saint Louis, Missouri, United States "Asking" for Tuesday, 2 June 2015

Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour of Saint Louis, Missouri, United States "Asking" for Tuesday, 2 June 2015 

... You do not have, because you do not ask.[James 4:2b]
Eighty-one year old Clarence Blackmon is an Army veteran. Blackmon also has cancer.
Recently, upon returning to his North Carolina apartment after a hospital stay, Blackmon found his cupboards were bare, as was his pantry, his refrigerator, and freezer. With his stomach making earthquaky sounds, he contacted local stores, but they refused to deliver until he had made a deposit, something he was physically unable to do.
In desperation, Blackmon called 911. Talking to dispatcher Marilyn Hinson, he said, "I can't get out of my chair. What I need is someone to get to the grocery store and bring me some food because I need to eat something."
Hinson might have given Blackmon a lecture on the proper use of 911. She might have told him that he should contact some local food banks. She might have encouraged Blackmon to hire a taxi, which could stop and pick up the groceries for 115-pound Blackmon.
Hinson did none of those things.
No, what Hinson thought was this: he's hungry and I've been hungry. Remembering her tough times, Hinson went out, bought and delivered the food herself. The story of Blackmon started to make the rounds. Soon more groceries began showing up. There was enough to fill his shelves and be shared with the local food banks. But there's more. A home nurse was scheduled to show up twice a week to make sure Blackmon is okay.
According to the doctor, the nurse won't be calling on Blackmon for too long. He has been given less than six months to live. To that he replies, "... the doctor doesn't know, and I don't know ... only God knows and I thank God I'm still here."
Now this is the point in the devotion where I'm supposed to give you something to think about. The problem is there are so many ways we could go. For example, we could talk about Jesus' words, "Even as you have done good to the least of these, my brethren, you have done good to Me" (see Matthew 25:31-40). Or we could spend some time discussing Paul's statement: "I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:12b-13).
Instead, I would like to point out Blackmon has groceries because he asked for them. In that spirit I call your attention to the text at the top of our devotion. James is quite blunt when he tells his fellow believers, "You don't have because you do not ask." We may sing, "Take it to the Lord in prayer," but all too often we forget to ask the Lord for specific things we need. True, in such matters we most certainly ought to pray, "Not my will, but Your will be done" (Luke 22:42b).
But we also need to remember that the Lord, who sent His Son to do all that was necessary to forgive and save us, is also waiting to hear our prayers, which praise, thank and, yes, make requests of Him.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, it is right and proper for us to come to You in prayer. You are our Creator, Benefactor, Redeemer and Guide. In large matters and small may we make our requests known to You. In the Savior's Name I ask it. Amen.

In Christ I remain His servant and yours,

Pastor Ken Klaus
Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour®
Lutheran Hour Ministries
Through the Bible in a Year
Today Read:
Psalms 53:1 (0) For the leader. On machalat. A maskil of David:

2 (1) A brutish fool tells himself,

“There isn’t any God.”

Such people are depraved, all their deeds are vile,

not one of them does what is good.

3 (2) God looks out from heaven

upon the human race

to see if even one is wise,

if even one seeks God.

4 (3) Every one of them is unclean,

altogether corrupt;

not one of them does what is good,

not a single one.

5 (4) Won’t these evildoers ever learn?

They devour my people

as if they were eating bread,

and they never call on God!

6 (5) They will be gripped with terror,

even though now they are not afraid;

for God will scatter the bones

of him who is besieging you.

You are putting them to shame,

because God has rejected them.

7 (6) If only salvation for Isra’el

would come out of Tziyon!

When God restores his people’s fortunes,

what joy for Ya‘akov! what gladness for Isra’el!

Psalm 55:(0) For the leader. With stringed instruments. A maskil of David:

2 (1) Listen, God, to my prayer!

Don’t hide yourself from my plea!

3 (2) Pay attention to me, and answer me!

I am panic-stricken as I make my complaint,

I shudder 4 (3) at how the enemy shouts,

at how the wicked oppress;

for they keep heaping trouble on me

and angrily tormenting me.

5 (4) My heart within me is pounding in anguish,

the terrors of death press down on me,

6 (5) fear and trembling overwhelm me,

horror covers me.

7 (6) I said, “I wish I had wings like a dove!

Then I could fly away and be at rest.

8 (7) Yes, I would flee to a place far off,

I would stay in the desert. (Selah)

9 (8) I would quickly find me a shelter

from the raging wind and storm.”

10 (9) Confuse, Adonai, confound their speech!

For I see violence and fighting in the city.

11 (10) Day and night they go about its walls;

within are malice and mischief.

12 (11) Ruin is rife within it,

oppression and fraud never leave its streets.

13 (12) For it was not an enemy who insulted me;

if it had been, I could have borne it.

It was not my adversary who treated me with scorn;

if it had been, I could have hidden myself.

14 (13) But it was you, a man of my own kind,

my companion, whom I knew well.

15 (14) We used to share our hearts with each other;

in the house of God we walked with the crowd.

16 (15) May he put death on them;

let them go down alive to Sh’ol;

for evil is in their homes

and also in their hearts.

17 (16) But I will call on God,

and Adonai will save me.

18 (17) Evening, morning and noon I complain

and moan; but he hears my voice.

19 (18) He redeems me and gives me peace,

so that no one can come near me.

For there were many who fought me.

20 (19) God will hear and will humble them,

yes, he who has sat on his throne from the start. (Selah)

For they never change,

and they don’t fear God.

21 (20) [My companion] attacked those

who were at peace with him;

he broke his solemn word.

22 (21) What he said sounded smoother than butter,

but his heart was at war.

His words seemed more soothing than oil,

but in fact they were sharp swords.

23 (22) Unload your burden on Adonai,

and he will sustain you.

He will never permit

the righteous to be moved.

24 (23) But you will bring them down, God,

into the deepest pit.

Those men, so bloodthirsty and treacherous,

will not live out half their days.

But for my part, [Adonai,]

I put my trust in you.

Psalm 58:(0) For the leader. Set to “Do Not Destroy.” By David, a mikhtam:

2 (1) [Rulers,] does your silence really speak justice?

Are you judging people fairly?

3 (2) [No!] In your hearts you devise wrongs,

your hands dispense violence in the land.

4 (3) From the womb, the wicked are estranged,

liars on the wrong path since birth.

5 (4) Their venom is like snake’s venom;

they are like a serpent that stops its ears,

6 (5) so as not to hear the voice of the charmer,

no matter how well he plays.

7 (6) God, break their teeth in their mouth!

Shatter the fangs of these lions, Adonai!

8 (7) May they vanish like water that drains away.

May their arrows be blunted when they aim their bows.

9 (8) May they be like a slug that melts as it moves,

like a stillborn baby that never sees the sun.

10 (9) Before your cook-pots feel the heat of the burning thorns,

may he blow them away, green and blazing alike.

11 (10) The righteous will rejoice to see vengeance done,

they will wash their feet in the blood of the wicked;

12 (11) and people will say, “Yes, the righteous are rewarded;

there is, after all, a God who judges the earth.”

John 12:1 Six days before Pesach, Yeshua came to Beit-Anyah, where El‘azar lived, the man Yeshua had raised from the dead; 2 so they gave a dinner there in his honor. Marta served the meal, and El‘azar was among those at the table with him. 3 Miryam took a whole pint of pure oil of spikenard, which is very expensive, poured it on Yeshua’s feet and wiped his feet with her hair, so that the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But one of the talmidim, Y’hudah from K’riot, the one who was about to betray him, said, 5 “This perfume is worth a year’s wages! Why wasn’t it sold and the money given to the poor?” 6 Now he said this not out of concern for the poor, but because he was a thief — he was in charge of the common purse and used to steal from it. 7 Yeshua said, “Leave her alone! She kept this for the day of my burial. 8 You always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

9 A large crowd of Judeans learned that he was there; and they came not only because of Yeshua, but also so that they could see El‘azar, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 The head cohanim then decided to do away with El‘azar too, 11 since it was because of him that large numbers of the Judeans were leaving their leaders and putting their trust in Yeshua.

12 The next day, the large crowd that had come for the festival heard that Yeshua was on his way into Yerushalayim. 13 They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,

“Deliver us!”[a]

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of Adonai,[b] the King of Isra’el!”

14 After finding a donkey colt, Yeshua mounted it, just as the Tanakh says —

15 “Daughter of Tziyon, don’t be afraid!

Look! your King is coming,

sitting on a donkey’s colt.”[c]

16 His talmidim did not understand this at first; but after Yeshua had been glorified, then they remembered that the Tanakh said this about him, and that they had done this for him. 17 The group that had been with him when he called El‘azar out of the tomb and raised him from the dead had been telling about it. 18 It was because of this too that the crowd came out to meet him — they had heard that he had performed this miracle. 19 The P’rushim said to each other, “Look, you’re getting nowhere! Why, the whole world has gone after him!”

20 Among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greek-speaking Jews.[Footnotes:

John 12:13 Psalm 118:25

John 12:13 Psalm 118:26

John 12:15 Zechariah 9:9]

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