Queen of the South

For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation. The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the people of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom; and now something greater than Solomon is here. (Luke 11:30-31 NIV)

When the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon and his relationship to the Lord, she came to test Solomon with hard questions. Arriving at Jerusalem with a very great caravan—with camels carrying spices, large quantities of gold, and precious stones—she came to Solomon and talked with him about all that she had on her mind. Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too hard for the king to explain to her.

But I did not believe these things until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half was told me; in wisdom and wealth you have far exceeded the report I heard. (1 Kings 10:1-3, 7 NIV)

The Queen of Sheba (also called the Queen of the South) was from what is now Yemen. She had heard about the wisdom of Solomon and his relationship to God, as well as his wealth, but did not believe what she had heard. No one could be that wise in every area, she probably thought, and decided to see for herself. The Queen loaded up a large supply of gold and spices (very similar to what the magi carried to Jesus) and headed out to see King Solomon. 

When she arrived, he was gracious and entertained her lavishly. While there, the Queen tested Solomon with as many hard questions as she could formulate. He answered every one. There was no question that was too hard for him. No situation was too difficult for him to find a solution. The Queen was incredulous. "I did not believe it until I saw it with my own eyes," she said. "You have far exceeded the report I heard." 

At the judgment, Jesus said, the Queen of Sheba will rise up and condemn those who refused to believe in Him. She will say something like this, "I heard all the hype about Solomon and didn't believe it, but I didn't just dismiss it and refuse to believe. I did what it took to find out the truth. I took all my questions to him, and found that he had the answers to every question I ever had. You should have done the same with Jesus. He has the answers to all the questions you have... if you'd only bothered to ask. He is all that was said of Him and more. If you'd only bothered to seek, you'd have found."

The Queen of Sheba will be right. If what we've heard about Jesus is true, and it is, it behooves us to find out for ourselves. If we have questions, He will answer them. All we have to do is ask. What a tragedy it will be at judgment day to find that the One we discounted as nothing more than a good man is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. What a tragedy it will be to find that questions with eternal significance, left unasked, could have made an eternal difference.

There is something more that needs to be considered. Jesus was very specific about discipleship. The first step, He said, was to deny ourselves. Only then can we follow. If we never deny ourselves, you can be sure we are not disciples of Christ. This is so important that it bears repeating. Discipleship begins with denying ourselves. 

There will be a time of judgment. We will answer for our response to Christ. What a tragedy it will be if our response was limited to two hours in a pew on Sunday morning. If we don't understand, if we aren't sure, let us do what the Queen of Sheba did. Ask all our questions, for, when we do, we will find that Christ has every answer we need. We, too, will say what the Queen of Sheba said. "Jesus has far exceeded all the reports I have heard." He is more than we expect, but we will never know if we never ask.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done. (Matthew 16:24-27 NIV)

Teach us to pray, part 49: Asking

Then He said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him'; and from inside he answers and says, 'Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything. ' I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs. "So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened. (Luke 11:5-10 NASB)

When I read "ask and it will be given to you," I want to believe that God will give me exactly what I have asked Him to give me. When I read this phrase in English, it appears to mean exactly that. 

When I look at it in the original language, however, I find something surprising. The word translated as "ask" is aiteō and indicates a person of lesser position making a request of someone of higher position, someone in authority. Understanding that God is a higher authority than I is not really a problem for me, unless there is something I am determined to have. In that case, it is easy to slide into the "I want what I want and I better get it" attitude. It's a very American mindset to think that we can work hard and get whatever we want, and it sometimes translates into thinking that, if we pray hard enough, we can get God to give us whatever we want. 

The word translated as "will be given" is didōmi. This is the same word used to indicate a seed "giving" fruit. The fruit, of course, looks nothing at all like the seed that was planted. That is often the way of the answers to my prayers. They look nothing at all like I expected (nor like what I thought I wanted!). I have learned to be grateful that God gives us what we need and not what we think we want. 

Some years ago, I was betrayed and deeply wounded by someone very close to me. I stormed heaven non-stop and many of my friends prayed right along with me. I expected the situation to unfold a certain way. I expected that the situation would end up with the kind of glorious results that would point people to Christ and give them hope. (And, of  course, I expected that it would vindicate me and make me look good. Let's not forget there is sometimes a good bit of pride in our prayers.)

Instead, God moved. He answered my prayers. His answer, however, looked nothing at all like I expected. Years later, there is peace between me and the person who betrayed me. We are friends and comfortable in each other's company. The malice and anger are gone. The hurt feelings are gone. The relationship was not repaired; it was remade completely. 

I am still astounded by what God did. As it turns out, His answer was more than I ever expected, and in some ways, it was better than I dreamed. The seed of prayer gave forth fruit, and the fruit looked nothing like the seed. 

Could God have done what I wanted? Of course He could, but He was working with two flawed and sinful people and, if the truth be told, He didn't have as much to work with as I thought at the time. (I am speaking of myself when I say that.) The healing took years, but it came, and one of the reasons it came is persistence in prayer. What began as praying for my enemy became praying for my friend. 

This business of praying in the way Jesus told us is a glorious, wonderful thing, and brings the most exciting life possible. I never know what God will do and I love that! He takes a seed of prayer and brings forth fruit, and I have no way of knowing in advance what that fruit will be. The amazing part of this fruit-bearing is that the fruit is always bigger, more complex, more beautiful, more satisfying, more delicious than the seed. 

Today, then, let us ask for whatever is on our heart, but let us also ask with expectation that God's will be done, and that His will can do more than we ever asked or imagined. Every single time. Let us ask, knowing that the seed will bear fruit. 

κἀγὼ ὑμῖν λέγω αἰτεῖτε καὶ δοθήσεται ὑμῖν ζητεῖτε καὶ εὑρήσετεκρούετε καὶ ἀνοιγήσεται ὑμῖν. (Luke 11:9)