From Leech to Light: Asking For The Right Things

We live in a society that loves to acquire things. And when I say “things” I’m talking about physical possessions. Our economy is fueled by greed, the love of money, and people not being satisfied with what they already have. Many people are always seeking to take, consume, and leech off others with no desire to give back.

I want you to think about a leech for a second. A leech is a parasitic worm that attaches itself to humans or other animals and feeds on their blood. It sucks the blood of the host that it’s attached to.
The word leech is also used to describe someone who acts like a parasite. They live off others and offer nothing in return. They just take take take take. The bible actually talks about leeches in the book of proverbs…

Proverbs 30:15 The horseleach hath two daughters, crying, Give, give. There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, four things say not, It is enough: 16 The grave; and the barren womb; the earth that is not filled with water; and the fire that saith not, It is enough.

So we see how the leech is used to describe these four things. That continually cry “give, give”.

The grave – Death is never done; people keep dying, and it never says, “That’s enough.”

The barren womb – Represents the deep, ongoing longing for children.

The parched earth – Dry ground always thirsts for more rain.

Fire – Continues to consume as long as there is fuel; it never says, “I’m full.”

The same way that the Bible describes these 4 things as always taking and never being full, there are also people that act this way and are never satisfied crying “give, give”.

Some people treat God as their personal genie in a bottle. They want God to give them physical and material things in their life. “God if I could just have that brand new $70,000 dollar car”, God please allow me to get this $1000 dollar iphone, God, I just have to have those $300 dollar pair of shoes.
Take a look at Matthew 7…

Matthew 7:7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

Many people read verses like Matthew 7:7-8 and say “See, God wants me to ask for things. He says if you ask you will receive.” I want to show you some other verses that when people when they read these, they think that God will give them anything and everything they desire.

Matthew 21:22 And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

Mark 11:24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

There are people that like to use the phrase “name it and claim it”. They think that if they ask God for things and believe that they already have them, then they will get those things.

For example, there are people that will say, “I’m a millionaire in Jesus name” I’m claiming that million dollars and I’m believing that I will receive that million dollars.

News flash. God is not going to give you a million dollars when you are greedy and all you care about is money. You can claim the million dollars all you want. But you’re not going to get it.

1 Timothy 6:10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

Ecclesiastes 5:10 He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity.

Luke 12:15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.

So we see many places in the bible that talk against greed, against riches, and against physical abundance.

Proverbs 30:8-9 Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: 9 Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.

This is the mindset that we should have when it comes to money. We need to ask for food convenient for us so we are neither poor nor rich.

So let’s go back to Matthew 7…

Matthew 7:7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. 9 Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?
10 Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

Jesus is giving us an example. If a son asks a father for bread, is a good father going to give him a stone?
Or if he asks for a fish is he going to give him a serpent?

So if we being evil…and we are evil apart from Jesus Christ.

Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

If we know how to give good gifts, how much more shall our Father in heaven give good things to them that ask Him?

So the question is, what are these good things that Jesus is talking about? As children of God, He wants us to ask Him for things…

Matthew 7:7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:

Is this talking about asking for anything that we want no matter what it is? That new car, new phone, large screen tv, physical and material things. Are these the good things that God gives us, or is it talking about something else?

Let’s take a look at a parallel passage…

Luke 11:10-13 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. 11 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? 12 Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

In this passage, we have a clearer picture of what those good gifts are that our Father in Heaven will give us. He is specifically talking about Spiritual things, not physical.

” how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?”

The question that I have for you this morning—What are you asking God for in your life?
Are you asking him for the physical things, cars, boats, phones, houses, tvs, the things of the world. Are you trying to leech off God and other people? Or are you asking Him for spiritual things?

John 14:13-14 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.

Why does God give us things when we ask in Jesus name? So that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
If you ask God to win the lottery, is that going to bring Glory to God? If you ask God to win the gambling machine in the convenience store is that going to bring Glory to God? When you win that lottery you know what’s going to happen?, you’re going to consume it upon your own lusts.

James 4:3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

God wants us to ask Him for things that are going to bring Him glory.
For example, asking God for wisdom gives honor and Glory to God. How is that? Because you’re humbling yourself and saying, “God I need YOUR wisdom.” I’m nothing without you.

Proverbs 23:4-5 Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom. 5 Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.

Daniel 2:20-22 Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his: 21 And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding: 22 He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.

Romans 11:33-36 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! 34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counseller? 35 Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? 36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

Which would you rather have, 1 million dollars, or God’s Wisdom? Some people will say, “I’ll take the 1 million.”—Without God’s wisdom, that 1 million is gone, like that (snap). You can have your 1 million, I’ll take God’s wisdom all day long! O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!

The wisdom of God is as great riches. Last week we talked about how King Solomon asked God for spiritual wisdom to be able to judge righteously. And because he asked for spiritual things, Not only did God give him that wisdom, He also gave him physical blessings as well.

James 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

God will not hold back wisdom from you if you ask Him for it. What are you asking God for in your life?
Are you only asking Him for physical things? Or are you asking God for Spiritual things? Those things that please Him and bring Him honor and Glory.

Maybe you’re asking yourself what are some Spiritual things that I can ask God for? We know wisdom is one, but I want to give you a list of 7 spiritual things that you can ask God for in your life. These are good gifts that God will give you when you ask him.  

1. Ask for a heart that hates sin.

Psalm 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

When we sin against God, we should have a broken heart and great sorrow for sinning against our Creator and Savior. We should ask God to renew a right spirit within us to hate sin and walk in His ways.

If you really want a heart that hates sin, you have to read God’s word so you can understand how God feels about the things you are doing in your life. I want you to think about some superficial things in your life that you hate. For example, maybe there is a particular song that you hate or a certain food that you hate. For me, I hate mayonnaise. It’s an abomination to me. It’s disgusting and I don’t understand how anyone can eat it. Now that you know that, if you go and eat mayonnaise in front of me all the time, I’m going to get mad. Because it’s nasty. But you all are not going to eat mayonnaise in front of me, because you love me.

Now apply that same principal to God. When you read His word. You find out what He hates. And once you know what He hates. You don’t want to do those things anymore because you know how much he despises those things.

Psalm 119:104 Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.

2. Ask To Walk in the Spirit

Going hand in hand with hating sin is walking in the Spirit of God. Because if we don’t want to sin, we must walk in the spirit.  

Galatians 5:16-17 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

Colossians 1:9-10 For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;

When we walk in the spirit, we will also have the fruit of the Spirit in our lives.

Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

If you are having a hard time loving people in your life. It’s time to ask God to help you love others.  
If you are lacking joy, if you are lacking peace, longsuffering or patience, gentleness, all these things…
If you are lacking these things in your life, and you want them. Then it’s time to ask God. He will give them to you.

3. Ask for a Godly spouse

When I was about 21 years old, I decided that I wanted to find a wife and get married. I prayed that God would send me a Godly wife that feared the Lord, and whose main focus in life was serving God. Not long after I prayed that, God sent Milana to me.

Proverbs 18:22 Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD.

I’m so thankful that God has shown favour towards me by giving me a Godly wife, that loves the Lord with all her heart, soul, mind, and strength. I would not be here without Milana. I love my wife greatly. If you want to know what strength looks like…

Proverbs 31:10 Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.

Men, it’s time to step up and get married to a good wife that loves Lord. If there is not a lady in your life that believes in Jesus Christ and loves God, then you need to ask for God to send you someone.

Ladies if you want to be married, then it’s time to ask God to send you a Godly husband that works hard and wants to serve the Lord with everything he’s got. A godly spouse is a gift from God and He will give you one if you ask Him.

4. Ask for strength in adversity.

God doesn’t promise an easy life.

Acts 14:22 Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

1 Thessalonians 3:3-4 That no man should be moved by these afflictions: for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto. 4 For verily, when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation; even as it came to pass, and ye know.

Even though we will face these challenges, we have a God that we can lean on in those times.

Isaiah 40:29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.

Isaiah 41:10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

Ask God to prepare you those hard times. If you’re not having trouble right now, you will have trouble in the future.

Isaiah 43:2 When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

5. Ask for understanding when reading the Bible.

Psalm 119:18 Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.

Psalm 119:27 Make me to understand the way of thy precepts: so shall I talk of thy wondrous works.

Psalm 119:34 Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart.

1 Corinthians 2:12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

God has given us His spirit to be able to understand the mysteries of God. Do you want to have a better understanding of things in the Bible? Then just ask and He will give you more understanding. Seek and you will find.

Colossians 1:26-27 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: 27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

6. Ask for the salvation of others.

We should be praying for others and asking God to save the people that we love in our lives. We all have family and friends that are unsaved. We need to make intercession for those people. And pray on their behalf.

1 Timothy 2:1-3   I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;  2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.  3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;

Numbers 14:19-20 Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now. 20 And the LORD said, I have pardoned according to thy word:

Prayer makes a difference. The prayer that you make for someone could bring healing and salvation to their life. What’s better? asking God for material things for yourself, or asking God to give spiritual blessings in the lives of others.

7. Ask for boldness to preach the gospel.

Acts 4:29-31 And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, 30 By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus. 31 And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.

We need to ask God for boldness to open our mouths and preach the gospel. I promise you, if you ask Him. He will give you that boldness. I’m a living testament to that. Everyone that has known me throughout my life knows that I don’t talk that much. I’m more of a quiet person. I never wanted to speak in front of people. But here I’m today speaking in front of you all. I love preaching the gospel and going right up to people and asking them are they 100% sure they are going to heaven.
It’s the most satisfying thing you can do in your life. Leading another person to salvation in Jesus Christ.

If you want to be bold, just ask and God will give you that boldness.

Ephesians 6:18-19 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; 19 And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,

2 Timothy 1:7-8 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 8 Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord…

Those are 7 spiritual things that you can ask God for.

1.Ask for a heart that hates sin.
2.Ask to Walk in the Spirit.
3.Ask for a Godly Spouse
4.Ask for Strength in Adversity.
5.Ask for Understanding when reading the Bible
6.Ask for salvation for others.
7.Ask for boldness to preach the gospel.

We started this message talking about leeches—creatures that cling to others and cry, “Give, give,” never satisfied, always taking. That same spirit of never being satisfied lives in people today. Many live as leeches—only coming to God when they want something from Him. They treat God like a personal genie, asking for cars, cash, comfort, and convenience, never stopping to ask: “What kind of things does God want me to ask for?”

We saw in Luke 11 that God isn’t promising to give you the latest iPhone, a mansion, or a million dollars. He’s promising something much better—the Holy Spirit. He’s ready to give you good gifts, but those “good gifts” are spiritual gifts—gifts that make you more like Jesus and bring glory to the Father.

Matthew 7:11-12 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? 12 Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.

Because God has given us so many great blessings and spiritual gifts, we ought to give to others and treat them the same way that we want to be treated.

When you stop living like a leech—taking, consuming, demanding—and you start living like Christ—giving, serving, praying, and seeking the good of others—you become a vessel for God’s blessings.

Psalm 37:4 Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

When you delight yourself in the things of God. When you ask for things that bring glory to him. He will give you those desires.

God says Ask, Seek, Knock—but not for a Lexus. Not for lottery numbers. Ask for His Spirit, seek His kingdom, knock on the doors of heavenly wisdom and understanding, and he will give you those things freely. Let’s Pray.