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TOPIC: Gordon, Samuel Dickey - Quiet Talks About the Tempter (Other Topics in this Collection)
SUBJECT: 101. A New Spelling
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A New Spelling
The defeat of the enemy gives a new power to prayer. The victory of our Lord Jesus gives a new meaning to prayer. That newness of power and meaning can best be told by a new spelling of the word "ask." "Ask" is one of the great Scripture keywords for prayer.
Six times over on that night in which He was so basely betrayed, our Lord used that word "ask" in talking with the inner circle. "Whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do." "If ye shall ask anything in My name, that will I do." "If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask." "Ye did not choose Me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that ye should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should abide; that whatsoever ye shall ask." "If ye shall ask anything." "Ye shall ask in My name." (Joh_14:13-14; Joh_15:7; Joh_15:16; Joh_16:23; Joh_16:26.)
Now, there is a new spelling of that little word. It is given to us by our Lord Jesus. It is not spoken by His lips, but spelled out for us by what He did in defeating the tempter. It is of immense importance to us that we get this new spelling clearly in our minds and hearts. For if we do it will mean new praying, and greater results in our praying.
The new spelling is t-a-k-e. That is the Master's spelling. It is the spelling of His life, and of His Calvary death, and of that great Third Morning after. That new spelling puts the whole matter of prayer in a new light, the bright light of our Lord's victory. The old spelling is a-s-k. The difference between the two is sharply marked. We usually think of "ask" in connection with a favour which we desire. It may be granted. We hope it will be. But with it, whether rightly or wrongly, goes the impression of pleading, and persistent repetition. Coupled with that is earnest desire and longing, and also an element of uncertainty, which we attempt, more or less, to get rid of.
The word "take" suggests at once that the thing in question belongs to you by right, rather than as a favour you are desiring. It supposes that we have a real right to this thing we are wanting to get possession of. It is ours in fact, though not ours in actual possession; so we reach out a hand to grasp it, and so to know by the feel that we have it. "Take" suggests a check presented at the teller's counter of a bank where you have deposited funds. The check becomes a demand. You call for what is your own.
If it be true that we may properly get something of this sort into our praying it will surely make a great difference in our prayers, and in the spirit of confidence with which we will pray. May we indeed use this word "take" where we have been using "ask"?