Don't Give Me What I Want O God — Esther Ibanga

This message is one of the Times Square Church pulpit series. It was recorded in the sanctuary of Times Square Church in Manhattan, New York City. You're welcome to make additional cassettes of this message for free distribution to friends.

However, for all other forms of reproduction or electronic transmission, existing copyright laws apply.

We thank you for your presence. We thank you because your word is infallible. What you have said you are able to bring to pass. Thank you for faith to believe in your word. We thank you for your word that you will release tonight to your people.

Lord, it shall be a word in due season. Father, I thank you because there's nothing I have that I have not received from you. And so I ask that you manifest yourself to your people. That no man will see me, but they will see Jesus Christ.

Lord, I thank you because we will not forget to give you all the glory and all the praise for what you will do tonight. For the hearts you will touch, for the situations you will change, for directions that will come, for light that will come.

Lord, I thank you. You said if you be lifted up, you will draw all men unto yourself. Lord, tonight we lift you up. Above us, we lift you up. Above our plans, we lift you up. And we ask that you be glorified in the midst of your people.

Thank you, Lord, for hearing us. For we pray in Jesus' name. Hallelujah. Amen. Once again, it's an awesome opportunity to be here. And I just want to thank the leadership of this church, Pastor Carter and my friend, Sister Teresa, for having us.

Thank you so much. Before I came here, we were praying with the church and with the intercessors about Times Square Church and about what God will have me tell them. And God began to speak to us about what he's doing in this church.

And he gave us two pictures. And one picture is like grown big fishes that are seasoned and prepared, just ready. That's the first picture we had. And then the second one was the fruit of the Word that will come.

God said to us that the fruit will be immediate, the harvest will be plenty, and the harvest will spread. Now, if you look at these two ministrations, so to speak, I believe that God is saying that Times Square Church, the way we interpreted it, is that this ministry has come to a time and a season of maturity and perfection.

And that's why God is giving to you the kind of Word that he's giving to you. You are a seasoned people. He has prepared you for this hour. And he has prepared you for the walk ahead. And I truly believe that you need not fear, but you need to step out in faith and do what God is asking you to do for this time, for this hour, for this generation.

I also believe that the Word of God, which you have consistently received and which you are still receiving, will have, it's almost like God is going to do a quick walk in the hearts of the people and in Times Square Church as a ministry.

And the fruit and the harvest of his Word will be so fast and it will spread to the corners of this world. And I truly believe that God is doing that. He just wants you to hook up with what he's doing.

And he will be glorified in this place.

Hallelujah. Amen.

What We Want Versus What We Need

It's interesting because Pastor Carter sort of set the tune for my message. And the choir too sang a song on whatever you want, God's got it. Whatever you need, God's got it. And basically the message I want to share with us this evening will just highlight a difference between what we want and what we need.

Now the title of my message is, Don't Give Me What I Want, Oh God. We'll start our reading tonight from the book of James chapter 4. James chapter 4 and I will read from verse 1. Verse 1 to 3. And the Word of the Lord says, Where do wars and fights come from among you?

Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lost and do not have. You murder and convert and cannot obtain. You fight and war, yet you do not have because you do not ask.

You ask and do not receive. Because you ask and miss that you may spend it on your pleasures. The Word of the Lord says we have, we do not have because we do not ask. And then again there are times that we ask and we do not receive because our motives for asking are wrong.

We want it to satisfy the lust of our flesh. And that tells me that there are certain prayers we pray and God does not answer. And we need to begin to thank Him for not answering those prayers. Amen. He says in verse 3 that you ask and do not receive because you ask and miss.

You do not ask rightly. You do not ask according to my will and my purpose. You are asking and your prayer is from the flesh. It is from the lust of your flesh to satisfy what you want, not what I want.

So when He does not answer us or when God refuses to answer that prayer, we need to come to a place where we can thank Him for not answering that prayer. And the fearful thing about this particular verse is that there are some times we will ask for a particular thing and we are asking and miss, we are asking out of the lust of our flesh and God will still grant it to us.

And that is the most dangerous place to be at. Because as believers we think we are men and women of faith if we will come to God in prayer and ask Him for something and see Him answer according to our request.

But from James chapter 4 verse 1 to 3 which we have just read, we know that there are prayers that God does not answer and it is His mercy that causes Him not to answer us because we are asking and miss, we are asking from our flesh, we are asking to satisfy the lust of our flesh.

And the most dangerous thing that will happen to us as believers is asking God and miss and receiving it. Because then we think that because we have an answer to what we have asked for that God is in it.

And He might not be. But He will grant us what we want because He sees our heart and He sees how insistent we are to have in our way rather than His way. And that has happened all through scriptures. It happened in the life of Abraham, it happened to Israel as a nation, it happened to King Hezekiah and it also happened to Esther.

Abraham, Ishmael, and the Consequences of an Answered Desire

And we will start our study this evening by studying the life of Abraham. And you must be ready with me today because we are going to go through a lot of scriptures. Amen. Is this a reading church? Hallelujah.

Amen. Genesis 17 from verse 15. Genesis chapter 17 from verse 15. Then God said to Abraham, As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. And I will bless her and also give you a son by her.

Then I will bless her and she shall be a mother of nations and kings of people shall be from her. Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said in his heart, Shall a child be born to a man who is 100 years old?

And shall Sarah who is 90 years old bear a child? And Abraham said to God, Oh that Ishmael might live before you. Oh that Ishmael might live before you. We know that Abraham is the father of faith. And we know that God refers to Abraham as his friend.

Abraham was a friend of God. He had a unique relationship with God. He talked to God face to face. And at this instance, Abraham was 99 years old. And he still had not seen the fulfillment of the promise he had received from God since he was 75 years old.

And time was running out. And God appeared to him to reconfirm what he had spoken he would do in his life. And God said to him, listen, I'm changing your wife's name, I'm changing your own name because of what I'm about to do in your life.

You may be childless right now, but you will become the father of nations and Sarah, your wife, will become the mother of nations. And Abraham just sort of, you know, brushed aside what God was saying to him.

And it seemed as though Abraham was telling God, he said, Look God, you know, even if you do, I mean, I'm 100 years old. Let's be practical. I believed you. It was credited to me for righteousness. But let's talk with reality now.

I'm 100 years old. I'm almost 100 years old. My wife is 90 years old. How do you expect her to have a child? Lord, you know, I love you. I believe you. And, you know, somehow you'll do it. But just forget about this thing for now.

Let's talk about Ishmael. Because God spoke to Abraham. Abraham did not respond to what God said. But his prayer was, Oh, that Ishmael might live before you. It's like, okay, Ishmael will do. He's still from my lawn.

But you see, Ishmael was not from Sarah. He said, Let Ishmael live. And that was the cry of his heart. And God heard that cry. And God answered his heart in verse 19. God said, No. Sarah, your wife, shall bear you a son.

And you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant. And which is descendants after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. God was not going to say anything about Ishmael.

But because of the prayer of Abraham. Because of the burden in his heart for Ishmael. Because of the hunger and the longing in his heart. Because of what he wanted for Ishmael. God heard him. And God said to him, As for Ishmael, I have heard you.

And behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful. And will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes. And I will make him a great nation. And God granted Abraham the desire of his heart concerning Ishmael.

Now what is the result of that answer? You will find the result in Genesis 21. Genesis 21 from verse 9. God fulfilled his word. Isaac was born. And in verse 8. Talking about Isaac. The child grew and was weaned.

And Abraham made a great feast on the same day that Isaac was weaned. And Sarah saw the son of Hagar, the Egyptian. Whom she had born to Abraham's cousin. Therefore she said to Abraham, Cast out this born woman and her son.

For the son of this born woman shall not be here with my son. Namely, with Isaac. Now what happened? It came to a time that Ishmael began to laugh at Isaac. Began to mock at Isaac. Not just at Isaac, but at Sarah, his mother.

It's almost like looking at her and saying, Oh, this old mother. How is she going to take care of this child? She's so old. And he was laughing at them. He was mocking at them. And that's what Ishmael has consistently done.

And because God has blessed him already. Ishmael today has the resources to scoff at the children of Ptolemy. We are living today with the consequences of that one singular prayer. That Abraham offered to God.

Oh, that Ishmael might live before him. And God answered him. Was that the will of God? His will was going to be established. His covenant was going to be established through Isaac. And God was going to bless Abraham with Isaac.

According to his word. But it got to a point where Abraham felt in his heart that Ishmael will do. And therefore he offered a prayer to God. Oh, that Ishmael might live before him. And God answered that prayer.

And he blessed him tremendously. Amen. He blessed him. And in Genesis chapter 16 verse 12. We are also told about Ishmael that he shall be a wild man. His hand shall be against every man. And every man's hand against him.

And he shall dwell in the presence of his brethren. Are we seeing that today? Where does terrorism come from? Where do they have the resources for terrorism? The descendants of Ishmael still have the spirit of Ishmael.

Wild man. Their hand will be against every man. Every man's hand will be against them. And they have the resources to do what they are doing. And we have to live with that. Because God is the God of covenant.

Israel’s Demand for a King

And he promised Abraham, I will bless him. Since you are so concerned about Ishmael. We will study another example in the scriptures. And that is in 1 Samuel chapter 8. Talking about Israel as a nation.

We must be careful. What we ask God for. Because we just might get it. And he might not be in it. Hallelujah. Amen. Before this evening we will learn how we should ask God. Amen. Now 1 Samuel chapter 8 from verse 1.

Tells us the story of Israel as a nation. Demanding for a king. Because they wanted to be like other nations. And you can read the whole of that chapter. But anyway let me read a few verses. From verse 1.

It came to pass when Samuel was old. That he made his sons judges over Israel. The name of his first born was Joel. And the name of his second Abijah. They were judges in Bathsheba. But his sons did not walk in his ways.

They turned aside after dishonest gain. Took bribes and perverted justice. Then all the elders of Israel gathered together. And came to Samuel at Ramah. And said to him look you are old. And your sons do not walk in your ways.

Now make us a king to judge us. Like all the nations. But the saints displeased Samuel. When they said give us a king to judge us. So Samuel prayed to the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel. Heed the voice of the people.

In all that they say to you. For they have not rejected you. But they have rejected me. That I should not reign over them. According to the works which they have done. Since the day that I brought them out of Egypt.

Even to this day. With which they have forsaken me. And served other gods. So they are doing to you also. Now therefore hear it again. Heed their voice. However you shall solemnly forewarn them. And show them the behavior of the king.

Who will reign over them. Now what was God telling Samuel? He was telling him. Give them what they want. They want a king. Give them a king. They are not rejecting you. They are rejecting me. They want to be like other nations.

But God did not form the nation of Israel. To be like other nations. He formed them to be a peculiar people. A separate people. A people through which he will show the world. What it means to have a relationship with God.

What it means to call him as God Almighty. And to call a nation my people. That's what God intended for the nation of Israel. But the nation of Israel said no. We want to be like others. You see when you ask for what you want.

God would have already shown you what he wants. He would have already told you what he wants. For your life, for your circumstance, for your situation. And it's up to you to line up with what God wants for your life.

Or you can insist on what you want. And when you insist on what you want. God will give you what you want. And you will receive it thinking that God is with you. But he is not there. So God told Samuel.

He said to Samuel heed to their voice. He said it twice. Heed to their voice. There are times that God will heed to your voice. And that does not mean it's his voice. There are things you will ask God for and he will heed to your voice.

Because he sees your heart. He sees that you are not interested in what he wants for you. He sees that you are not interested in him making you a special people. A peculiar people. A chosen generation.

Call forth to show his praises. But you want to be like other nations. And so he said to Samuel heed to their voice. They have not rejected you they have rejected me. Listen to me people of God. Most times when we insist that Lord this is what we want.

We are rejecting him. We are just rejecting him. We are telling him he does not know what is good enough for us. We don't trust in his goodness. We don't trust his love. We don't trust that he is an omnipotent God.

Who knows all things. Who knows the end from the beginning. We are telling him we are smarter than him. We are wiser than him. We know what is good for us. And God will give us over to the loss of our flesh and the desires of our heart.

God said to Samuel heed to their voice. They have not rejected you they have rejected me. And listen to me. Samuel categorically explained to them the manner of the king that will rule over them. Because God wanted to be their king.

And he told them all the sins. He said the king will bring you into bondage. The king will enslave your daughters and your sons. The king will make you slave for him. The king will do this. The king will just make you suffer.

They said yes we want it. That's what happened. Let's read the scriptures from verse 11. The word of God is very capable of preaching itself. In verse 11 Samuel said this will be the behavior of the king who will reign over you.

He will take your sons and appoint them for his own chariot. And to be his horsemen. And some will run before his chariot. He will appoint captains over his thousands. And captains over his fifties. Will set some to plow his ground and reap his harvest.

And some to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariot. He will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks and bakers. And he will take the best of your fields, your vineyards and your olive groves.

And give them to his servants. He will take a tenth of your grain and your vintage. That is you will tie it to him. And that literally means he will become your God. Because who do we tie it to? We tie it to God.

So God was literally telling them that this king that you want will become a God to you. And look at what he said again. He said and you will be his servants. And you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourself.

And the Lord will not hear you in that day. Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said no. But we will have a king over us. That we also may be like all the nations. And that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battle.

And Samuel heard all the words of the people. And he repeated them in the hearing of the Lord. So the Lord said to Samuel, heed their voice and make them a king. Heed their voice and make them a king.

God knew that a day would come when the children of Israel would demand for a king. And God was ready to choose a king for them. But they were not interested in God's choice. They wanted their choice.

They wanted to be like all the nations. They didn't want to be a peculiar people. They didn't want to be a special people. They didn't want to be God's chosen people. They rejected God. Because they wanted to be like all the nations.

God’s Provision in Deuteronomy and the Fleshly Choice of Saul

Now if you go back to Deuteronomy 17 you will see that God knew a day would come when they would make that demand. And He had made a provision for it before. But they would not listen and they would not heed.

So Deuteronomy chapter 17 from verse 14. Deuteronomy 17 from verse 14. It says, When you come to the land which the Lord your God is giving you and possess it and dwell in it and say, I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me.

You shall surely set a king over you whom the Lord your God chooses. One from among your brethren you shall set a king over you. You may not set a foreigner over you who is not your brother. For he shall not multiply horses for himself.

Nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses. For the Lord has said to you, you shall not return that way again. Neither shall he multiply wives for himself. Lest his heart turn away. Nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself.

Also it shall be when he sits on the throne of his kingdom. That he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book. From the one before the priest the Levite. And it shall be with him and he shall read it all the days of his life.

That he may learn to fear the Lord his God. And be careful to observe all the words of this law and this statute. That his heart may not be lifted above his brethren. That he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right or to the left.

And that he may prolong his days in the kingdom. He and his children in the midst of Israel. Now this is the king that God wanted to give to the nation of Israel. But they said no. This is the manner of the king.

He was not going to oppress them. He was not going to take from them. He was not going to just multiply wives. And this was the character and the pattern of king. That God wanted to give to the nation of Israel.

But they would not heed. They would not heed. So God gave them a man after their heart. And he gave them Saul. And everything about Saul represents the flesh. The flesh is the man of the flesh. God gave them a man of the flesh to satisfy the lust of their flesh.

They were not interested in the will of God. Or the purpose of God. They were not interested in God's kingdom. They were not interested in God's choice. They wanted to be like other nations. It's what they wanted.

Be careful what you want. Because God might just give it to you. And you will end up the worse for it. The children of Israel went into bondage. Their children went into bondage. It was almost as though they were back to the days of Egypt.

But they wanted it that way. And in Hosea 13 verse 9, you don't have to turn there. I will just read it. The prophet was lamenting Israel maid in insisting for a king for themselves. In rejecting God to be king over them.

In rejecting the choice of God. And he said, O Israel, you are destroyed. But your help is from me. I will be your king. Where there is no other that he may save you in all your cities. And your judges to whom you said, Give me a king and princes.

I gave you a king in my anger. And took him away in my wrath. We know what happened to the nation of Israel. And how they suffered under the reign of this king. It wasn't just Saul. But Saul was not interested in the kingdom.

Saul was disobedient to God. And he was rejected as king. And then David came. And then Solomon came. And it was divided to Jeroboam and Rehoboam. And then the nation of Israel ended up being divided into two.

And if you look at the history of all the kings of Israel. One testimony consistently stands out. Except for a few of them. And that testimony is that. And they did evil in the sight of the Lord. And caused Israel to sin against God.

That has been the consistent testimony of the kings of Israel. There were only a few. That would turn the nation back to God. That would turn the nation to worship God. But the next king that will come.

Will first of all kill the existing king and his household. Become king. And then introduce the whole nation into idolatry. God gave them what they wanted. Hallelujah. May God deliver us from the loss of our heart.

From the desires of self. From insisting on having what we want. Not what we need. God knows what we need. And he is very able to give to us. That which we need. Not what we want. And a lot of times when we insist.

And say Lord we must have what we want. We are rejecting him as God over our life. You are bought with a price. You are not your own. And if Jesus Christ paid the price. With his precious blood. Then he has the right to be Lord over our lives.

And he has the right to give to us. What he thinks is best for us. It's time we grow up. From I want this God. I want this Lord. I want that Lord. Oh my friend she has a car. I want that car too. Oh my other classmate.

She is married. I want to be married too. Oh I want this. This is the man I want to marry. It's either him or nobody else. And God will give you that which you want. And you will find out that's not what you need.

Hallelujah. God has not called us to be like others. God has called us to be a peculiar people. A chosen people. Separated. And seek for his use. Now we are in the church and we want to be like the world.

But friendship with the world is enmity with God. We can't be friends with the world and friends with God. We cannot want the things of the world and still want the things of God. We have to either serve God or serve mammon.

And a lot of times we want to serve mammon and we want to serve God. May God deliver us from the desires of our flesh. And my prayer this evening is oh God. Don't give me what I want. Give me what I need.

And that should be the prayer of every heart. Let my will line up with your will. Let my desire line up with your desire. Let the purpose for my life line up with your purpose. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done.

That's what it's all about. It's about kingdom. There's a difference between kingdom and church. We can be in church and play church. But when we talk about the kingdom then he is king. In the kingdom Jesus Christ is king.

And we are submitted to his will and to his purpose. Hallelujah. It's thy kingdom come. Not thy church come. It's thy kingdom come. And thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And we need him to unveil to us what is being done in heaven.

And what he wants done on earth here. Hallelujah. He has the blueprint. And if we will seek his face he will give it to us. Hallelujah. Praise the name of the Lord. Hallelujah. Thank you Jesus. Amen. I will mention briefly in passing the life of Hezekiah.

Hezekiah’s Extended Life and Unintended Consequences

We know the story of Hezekiah. The word of the Lord came to him. He says, put your house in order for you will soon die. And he turned his face to the wall and began to cry. And God sent a prophet. He said, okay, I have heard your cry.

I will give you what you want. I'm giving you 15 more years. And within those, you know he was just so excited. And within those 15 years Manasseh was born. And Manasseh was one of the kings that did the most atrocities in Israel.

He killed innocent children. He made them pass through fire as a sacrifice to an idol. He introduced the whole nation of Israel to idolatry that has never been heard before. Manasseh was a product of what Hezekiah wanted.

Not what God wanted for him. God felt that his assignment was accomplished. His time was up. It was time for him to come home. He began to cry and weep. I don't want to come home. And God says, okay, you love the world so much you can stay there.

He gave him 15 more years. And in that 15 years what happened was the Babylonians came. Hezekiah took them all through the palace and showed them all the treasures of the temple. And you know they came back and took everything from a heart that wanted what He wanted.

Not what God wanted. It was time for him to go. And God foresaw that if he lived anymore this was going to happen. You need to read the atrocities that Manasseh committed. It was worse than anything that has ever been mentioned in Israel.

Esther’s Submission to the Holy Spirit

Hallelujah. Hallelujah. How should we ask? Esther chapter 2 and we'll end there. The book of Esther chapter 2. And we have to be careful how we pray and what we ask God for. Because God might just give us what we want.

And what we want might not be what He wants. I just pray that from tonight our will will begin to line up with His will. Because He has a plan for our lives. His thoughts towards us are thoughts of good and not evil.

To give us a future and a hope. Hallelujah. Now you know about the beauty competition. A time came when Vashti the queen was rejected. And a replacement was sought for. And then there were these virgins that were brought.

And they were prepared for one whole year to appear before the king. And we are told in the book of Esther chapter 2 from verse 15. That when it came for the turn of Esther to appear before the king. She asked for nothing except that which the eunuch had recommended for her.

She asked for nothing. Now the other brides and the other beauty contestants. They had all kinds of things to appear attractive before the king. And they used all manner of things. But Esther did not take anything except what the eunuch gave to her.

Now the eunuch is a type of the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit knows the heart of the father. He knows the mind of the father. Now this eunuch was able to give to Esther exactly what he knew would turn the king on.

He knew the exact perfume that the king loves. He knew the exact clothes that the king loves to see on a woman. And so he gave it to her. And because she asked for nothing. She did not use her senses.

She did not depend on her beauty. She did not depend on her preparation for one year. Because there were so many other contestants. She depends solely on the eunuch who is a type of the Holy Spirit. And only he that knows the heart and the mind of the father can reveal to us.

And so of course he gives her exactly what would turn the king on. And of course when she appeared the king stretched out his scepter to her and Esther became queen. That's how God wants us to ask. He does not want us to come with our made up minds.

With our made up motives. With our made up intentions. But he wants us to come and ask for nothing except what our eunuch will give to us. The Holy Ghost, the Bible says, will lead us into all truth. And he knows the mind of the father.

He knows the will of the father. He will reveal all truth to us. Without the Holy Ghost we cannot ask right. We need the Holy Ghost to ask exactly what is in the mind and the heart of the father. So that the father can say, oh these people are asking according to my will and my purpose.

And when we walk with the Holy Spirit. When we ask him to lead us. When we allow him to help us. When we give him room to teach us. Then he will take us to the throne room. Hallelujah. That's the safest place to be.

In fact that's the safest place to be. Because you can't miss it with the Holy Spirit. He knows the father. He's the spirit of Jesus Christ. He's part of the Trinity. He's the power of God. He is able to bring to pass the purposes of God.

And as we yield with him. As we yield to him. And we walk with him. He is able to take us to the very heart of him. And you will find that your prayer life will change. It's no more gimme gimme gimme God.

It's always what is your will. What is your purpose. What will you have me do oh God. What do you want to do in this nation. What do you want to do amongst the people. I want your will for this nation.

Seek ye first the kingdom of God. And his righteousness. And then you don't have to ask for anything. Because the Bible says that all things. Every other thing shall be added unto you. It's time to grow up.

Hallelujah. It's time to grow up. And stop asking for things for ourselves. I've learnt recently to stop asking for things. I just ask for his purpose. I ask for his will. I ask what would you have me say.

I ask him what would you have me do. I just let him know that his will is important to me. I just let him know that his purpose is my purpose. And that's a safe place to be. Hallelujah. I say that's a safe place to be.

Because when you pray the mind of the Father. You will get results. And it will be results that will glorify him. And it will be results that will establish his kingdom on the face of the earth. It's time to grow up church.

We have to rise above self. We have to rise above the lust of our flesh. Our selfish desires and motives. Why do you want the things that you want. If you check your heart. Ask yourself this question.

Why do you want the things that you want. In what way will it glorify God. In what way will it bring people into the kingdom. In what ways will it show forth his light. And cause the world to see him.

And if you cannot answer those questions. Maybe you have to think again. About the things you want. We need to pray a prayer tonight. And we need to say oh God. Save us from the things we want. Don't give in to our foolish desires.

Because he could. He could give in to our foolish desires. And we think oh we have an answer from God. But he is not part of it. And that which he has given to us. From the lust of our flesh will end up destroying us.