Yes, you can *name it and claim it*, however, there are limitations:
- you must ask *believing* you will receive
- you must ask it of the Father, in Jesus' name
- your motive for asking must be from a pure heart and not of greed or other worldly reasons
- you must keep His commandments and do what's pleasing in His sight ... in other words you can't live like the devil and profess to be a Christian
Mat 7:8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
Mat 18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
Mat 21:22 And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.
Luk 11:10 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
Jhn 14:13-14 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.
Jhn 16:23 And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.
Jhn 15:16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
Jhn 16:24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.
1Jo 3:22 And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.
I believe many of today's *name it and claim it* preachers, now very rich at the expense of the innocent, will not make it to heaven because they're misapplying these truths. I don't believe they're gaining their wealth from the Lord but rather from satan. They mislead their congregations by quoting scriptures in order to benefit themselves, not those they bilk into giving to them or their causes. God is surely watching, and retribution is coming!
Jas 4:3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
And yes, by all means we should give to the needy, the widows, orphans, homeless, as we are able. Do random acts of kindness whenever safely possible, but don't be fooled by those living high on the hog by their own selfishness. If pastors are driving around in high priced vehicles with suits made by high dollar designers, I'd say you should steer clear of them! I'm reminded of the -Lazarus and the rich man- parable in Luke 16 when I see this sort of thing going on. I think it's better to be among the poor, Jesus was drawn to such people. I am far from rich though I can testify from my own life that the Lord has been true to provide for my every need, not necessarily my wants, but ALWAYS for my needs.
God is a good and gracious Father. If you don't know Him, now would be a good time to give Him your heart by asking Jesus to come in to your heart & life to be your Lord & Savior. Know this, you cannot just have head knowledge of God, you must seek Him earnestly and then allow Him to clean out your life where ever He needs to. Trust Him, it may hurt (cleaning out those old dirty chambers within your heart) but it's the only way to heal properly from any *soul wounds* you may have encountered. You cannot do it alone, you need the Lord Jesus in your heart & life. Trust Him, He will make you a new creation if you allow Him to work in you to expel the old things that are not of Him. Here's His promise to you ...
Deu 4:29 But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.
Jer 29:13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
A halfhearted effort won't do it, you need to be committed to searching for Him with ALL your heart & soul, then you will find Him. God's not into half-baked fake relationships, for Him it's all or nothing, as it should be. No relationship works when you both don't give it your all ... God will do His part but, being a perfect gentleman, He won't intrude in your life without an invitation. Do that today, won't you!?
Here's the link to the article (not the Facebook post but to the actual article) ...
http://www.gotquestions.org/name-it-claim-it.html
Thanks for reading ;o}
{Blue text is God in the OT; Red text is Jesus speaking in the NT.}
