Our text this evening from Joshua chapter 15 are the verses 18 and 19. And it came to pass as she, that is, Axel, came unto him, Caleb, that she moved him to ask of her father a field. And she lighted up her ass, and Caleb said unto her, What wouldst thou? He answered, Give me a blessing, for thou hast given me a south land. gave me also springs of water, and he gave for the upper springs and the nether springs. This afternoon I want to take this text that tells us a story of a daughter coming to her father to ask for a blessing and to encourage you to seek the Lord for the blessings that he is so willing to give to us, his children. We want to use her coming to her father as an example of coming to the Lord in prayer, and look at the way that she came, and the way that her father treated her, and what we can expect when we come to our Heavenly Father also. So I want to hold up AXA as a role model this evening, as the type of a successful prayer and one who's come to the Lord seeking for blessings. So there are a few things about the story that I think will encourage us this afternoon. And I want you to notice, first of all, when it comes to the seeking of a blessing, that she already knows in her mind what it is that she wants to ask for before she even goes to her father. The story is such that Caleb, the great warrior for God, as part of his inheritance, has singled out a piece of land, Perjath Sefer, and has made the announcement that whoever conquers that piece of land, that he will give Axa, his daughter, to wife. And up steps Othniel, the son of Kenaz, to win that land and to win the hand of his bride. Now, we find this young woman newly married and with an estate that goes with her to her husband and she naturally wishes that her husband should find in her and in her estate all that is convenient and all that is profitable and she wants to be a blessing to him. And as she overlooks the land, it is decided that while it is good land, that it is somewhat lacking in natural resources. Her father has given her a parcel of land, and as she surveys it, she recognizes that it is lacking in irrigation. There's no water. And she knows exactly what it is that she should ask and seek her father about. And the first advice that I would give to you from AXA is to know what you're going to be praying for when you come and seek the Lord. It has been well said that the man who blunders down upon his knees with nothing in his mind will blunder up again and have nothing for his pains. Know what you want. When this young woman went to her father to ask for something, she knows exactly what it is that she wants to ask for. She will not come and speak to her father until her heart has already been filled with the knowledge of what it is that she requires. She saw that the land would be of very little use to her and her husband because it lacked the springs of water to irrigate. So she comes to her father with a very specific request. Give me a blessing. Give me springs of water. So I encourage you that when you come to pray, survey the matter before you, examine the need that's there, and know exactly what it is that you wish to ask for. Think about what you're going to ask. She doesn't come to her father and begin to chatter some pretty little phrases and pleases about nothing at all. She knows who she's going to, she knows why she's going, and she knows what it is that she requires. She sees the need and she's going to request it. Now, I do believe that when we get down on our knees to pray before the Lord, that very often He will fill our heart and our mouths with petitions while we are there in the place of prayer. I think that's natural, that as we're praying, the Lord will instruct us as we go and give to us new requests and new petitions, and He will shape our praying. The Spirit helps our infirmities, Paul tells us, and will suggest to us other petitions. But I still advise that before we get before the Lord in prayer, know what you're going to pray for. Come specifically unto the Lord. If it's simply to praise Him, then come with praise. If it's to petition Him, know what you require. And so she comes to her father with her great need. Now there's something else that encourages us here in our praying. She enlisted help. She enlisted help. She came to her husband and we're told there in verse 18 that she moved him to ask of her father a field. She moved him. Good wives will prompt their husbands to pray with them. It has been well said that behind every good man is an even better woman. Now, I don't confess to be a good man, but I can certainly bear testimony to that fact. It's good to ask others to pray with you. We ought not be satisfied with approaching the throne of God alone in prayer. I'm certainly encouraged at times when people will stop with me and say, will you pray for us? This is the need that we have. Will you seek the Lord for us also? Will you remember us in your prayers? And I'm encouraged by that because the scriptures remind us that when two agree upon earth, when we're touching the thing concerning that person, that the Lord was pleased to hear and answer that prayer. And so she enlists the help of her husband. And I think it must be sweet harmony in the ears of the Lord to hear a husband and wife praying together for the things that they have need of, as they pray for their children, as they seek the Lord's blessing upon one another and upon the work of the Lord. She asks her husband to pray with her, to come with her as he makes this request. Enlist help. Come to a brother or sister in the Lord and ask them to pray for you and to pray with you. And as she goes to pray and seek her blessing, she not only knows what she wants and enlists help, but notice whom she goes to. She's going to her father. She's not going to ask a stranger. She's coming to one who knows her, knows her well. And she can encourage herself as she brings her request that she's approaching on to her father. that the blessing that he requires is not from the hand of a stranger who doesn't know me or doesn't love me and has no concerns about me. I'm coming to a father, one in whose care I have been ever since I was born. The one who has tended to me and cared for me and provided for me all of these years. and has demonstrated His great love and provision for me in all of my life, this is the one that I'm coming to. And that's to encourage us when we pray, that we're not coming to ask a blessing from an enemy or to plead from a stranger, we're coming, as the Savior taught us, to our Father which art in heaven. And when we pray like that, do we really mean it? Do we really believe that God is our heavenly Father? Because if we believe it, then that should encourage us to come believing as we pray, that we come to a Father who will give to us those things that we need. As earthly fathers, as earthly parents, when our children come to us with a request, and it is within our power to grant it and we believe it to be for their good, do we not give it? Is it not, I was going to say our duty, is it not our pleasure as parents to meet our children's needs? Prayer is like a little child coming to their father with a request. And best of all, we come to a heavenly father who knows the things that we have need of before we even ask. And so having settled the matter in her mind, what she requires, she enlists the help of her husband, and she makes the journey to go and to meet with her father. And she saddles her donkey and makes the journey, and there old Caleb sees his daughter coming. And he can tell by the very look in her eye that she's coming on business. I don't know what it is, but there's something about fathers and daughters that fathers know when their daughters are looking something. Dad, here's that cup of tea that you didn't ask for. And by the way, daddy, you hear that word, daddy? What is it? What can I do for you? He recognizes the look. He's glad to see her coming. And when she arrives where her father is to be found, you notice that she lighted off her ass. She gets down from off her donkey. She's not coming with a high hand to ask something of her father. She gets down from off her beast of burden to show her great and deep respect. Her reverence to that old man Caleb, that grand warrior in the faith, She considers it to be an honor to be a child of Caleb? Here's a man who has faithfully followed the Lord all of his days and she wants to show her respect to that man of God? And she likes from all for us? It's a shameful thing that there should ever be such a thing as an irreverent prayer. We remember that we are upon earth God is in heaven. We do not speak to him as our equal. We don't speak to the Lord as if we could order him about and have our will done on earth. We're here as God's servants, and we boil low before the Most High, and we recognize that we are unworthy to approach Him, and to come before Him with a request is to come begging and pleading for the Lord's favor. And yet He's glad to receive us. And she receives a great encouragement from her father. Because as soon as he arrives, he asks of her a question. What wouldest thou? What can I do for you? What is it that you require, my daughter? How can I help? That's precisely what our great Father in heaven says to us with all of the generosity of his heart. What can I do for you? What wouldest thou? What's your request? What's your petition? And what is it that we learn from the question on the lips of Caleb? Well, we've already pointed out that we should know what we want. When the Lord says to us, what wouldest thou or what wilt thou? We should know what we're asking for. So let me put it to you this evening, if the Lord were to come to you tonight and say, what can I do for you? What would be your answer? And the Lord Jesus stopped with Bartimaeus and asked him that question, what will thou? What should I do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. He didn't have to think about it. This was the matter that was on his heart. He knew exactly what he wanted. And Caleb said to his daughter, what wouldest thou? Dear child, what do you want from me? What can I do for you? She knows exactly what she's asking. She answered, give me a blessing. The Lord has a wonderful way of giving us his blessings. He says, ask and you shall receive. He even put his own darling son under that same rule. He said to him in Psalm 2, ask of me and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. This is a rule without exception. You are to know what you want from the Lord and you are to ask for it. And when Caleb says, what wilt thou? What can I do for you? She says, give me a blessing. Give me a blessing. What a wonderful prayer. She's found an audience with her father. She's found Him willing to receive her and accept her petition and to ask of her, what can I as your Father give to you this day? And she says, give me a blessing. That's a good place to begin. Give me a blessing. Whatever else you do or do not give to me this day, give me a blessing. Sometimes it's a blessing to withhold the thing that people are asking for. But whatever you give, give me a blessing. Because if you give me a blessing, then I'm truly blessed. And though the devil would seek to defy and to curse us, if the Lord calls us blessed, we are blessed indeed. And though we may be covered with boils like Job, if the Lord blesses us, we are blessed. Or whether we're near death like Lazarus, with the dogs licking our sores, if God blesses us, we are blessed. Or though we be dying like Stephen, under a shore of murderous rocks, if God bless us, what more can we ask for? Lord, put me anywhere where you will, as long as I have your blessing. Deny from me whatever you will, only give me your blessing. whether in richness or in poverty, it matters not if I have the blessing of God. And so with that request, she's asking for the favor of her father, whatever he might determine that to be, give me a blessing. What a transformation there would be to our praying individually and as a church, if we were to come before the Lord together and petition him, Lord, give us a blessing. And we will then be a blessing not only to our own selves, but to our families and our church and our community. Because when the Lord pours out his blessing, He pours out until it's overflowing. So she comes with her request, give me a blessing. Notice there's an acknowledgement in her request. Give me a blessing for thou has given me a south land. You have already blessed me. There's gratitude in her prayer here. Give me a blessing for thou has given me a Southland. There's nothing that infuriates us more than when we do a good deed for someone and they never thank us for it. Or they never acknowledge it. And yet they come again asking for something more without ever acknowledging the good thing done previously. We get to thinking to ourselves, well, I helped them the last time, but they never said a word about it. Not even a word of thanks. Well, she comes filled with gratitude. Thou hast already given me a southland. Give me springs of water also. She uses the former gifts that her father has given to her as a reason to ask for more. Now that seems like a strange logic. If you come to someone and say, you gave me $100 last week, give me $200 this week, that may not fly very well with human logic. But when we bring it to the Lord, Lord, you've given me so many blessings, and because of that, I'm asking for more blessings. You have given much to me, therefore give more. As I said, that's not an argument that works with men. They're more likely to say, well, in that case, I'll give my blessing to someone else, but it works with God. Make every gift that God has given to you a plea for more of his blessing. Make it the reason for your petition. You've given me a Southland, give me springs of water also. What she is in effect saying is, you've given me a Southland, and I thank you for it, but unless you give me the springs of water also, then your previous blessing is not as great as what it could have been. It's a dry piece of ground, that Southland. It's arid. And it needs irrigation. And my husband and I, that you're seeking to bless with this land, will never get a living from it for us and for our family, unless you give us the springs of water also. Let me show you some examples, perhaps, of how that might work out in our praying. Lord, you've given to us so much. And yet it will all be for nothing unless you give us more. If you do not finish what you started, then it's a pity that you ever started at all. You've given me many mercies. But Lord, we need your blessing again, or else all that generosity will have been for nothing. That has given me a Southland. but as dry and lacking, give us springs of water also so that the previous gift will be of real value to us. That's a prayer for a preacher even. Lord, you've given me a Southland. You've given me a congregation that meet here Sunday after Sunday, all these people. Lord, I can preach to them and bring a message to them, but unless you give the springs of water also, why give the previous blessing at all? All of the springs of blessing that we need are found in thee, O God. What's the point of having a church and a building and a people together and a worship service and a sermon to hear unless you give the springs of water also? Unless your Holy Spirit comes and gives life to the world and makes the land to flourish, give me springs of water also. It's a prayer for a preacher. It's a prayer for a Sunday school teacher. Lord, I thank you for the class that you've given me. The little ones that gather around my knee. And I thank you for the attention that they give to the lessons of the scripture. But Lord, to what end all of these blessings unless you give the springs of water also and save those little ones and bring them into your kingdom. There's not a Christian parent here that can't pray the same way. Lord, I thank you for my husband, for my wife, for my children. I thank you for the gifts and blessings that you've poured out upon us and upon our home. But Lord, what's the point of all of these things unless you pour out the springs of your grace in their life also? Why the blessings of this household, unless they grow up in the fear and the admonition of the Lord, give me springs and water also. Lord, what you've given is good. But unless you give more, then the blessing will be lacking. I know those, some who've been blessed of God, with riches and great fortunes, that my pray, Lord, you've given me such great gifts already. Help me to know, in your grace, how to use that money aright. In the service of God, give me springs of water. Maybe you've been blessed and gifted with talents. that God has graciously bestowed upon you, and you can thank the Lord for those talents and those abilities and those skills that he's given to you. And you can praise him for that south land of blessing, but you should be praying, Lord, give me springs of water or else those talents that you've given to me will be a dry and thirsty land that bring forth no fruit for your glory. And you'll notice that this is not simply a prayer for water, it's a prayer for springs of water. Give me also springs of water. Give me that perpetual, eternal, ever-flowing fountain. Give me that grace that shall never fail, but continue to flow and flow and flow forever. Grant me that constant supply of your grace and favor, the springs of water. You can see why I'm commending this woman and her prayer to you this evening. To pray that the Lord might water that land, that prospect that he has given to you, that it might be fruitful and bountiful and filled with his praise. And I want you to notice finally her success in her praying. Her father asked her, what wouldest thou? And she answered, give me a blessing, for thou hast given me a south land. Give me also springs of water. And notice at the end of verse 19 that he gave her the upper springs and the nether springs, the upper and the lower springs. She asked for springs and he gave her springs, the upper and the nether springs. The Lord Jesus asked the question, if a son shall ask bread of any of you that has a father, will he give him a stone? Or if we ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? The Lord will give to us what we ask for when it is good and wise to do so. Now, we acknowledge that sometimes we make mistakes. and we ask for the wrong things. And the Lord is kind and gracious to take his pen and put a stroke through our petition and write in another prayer instead. And he's pleased to answer that amended prayer because it would be foolish to answer the first one. And so he gives her the springs of water and he gives to her in large measure She asked for springs and she received the upper and the nether springs. You know what that reminds me of? That the Lord is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we could ask or think. Our asking and our thinking often fall short, but the Lord's giving never does. He doesn't say to his daughter, I've given you plenty already. He gives her the upper and the nether springs. He's pleased to bless her. He's pleased to grant this request. He's pleased to pour out another blessing upon his daughter, that her inheritance might be a fruitful one. May we as children of God in recognition of the needs that we see go to our Father, enlisting help along the way, praying reverently for his blessing and seeking the grace of God in our lives and in our work and our families. In all that we would seek to do, may we pray for the Lord to grant us springs of water also. And may we, like Axa, as he comes to Caleb her father, may we go on our way rejoicing that the Lord has given to us much more than what we ever asked for to begin with. That he's given us springs of water, upper and nether springs. May we be encouraged this evening to seek the blessing of the Lord. having surveyed the land and our needs, to pray for the springs of blessing. And to wait upon the Lord to grant and to answer those prayers as he sees fit and to the furtherance of his kingdom and for the glory of his name. So may we all pray, Lord, give me your blessing, the springs of water. And may we see in these days those upper and nether springs bubbling away, springing forth in life and producing fruit in the south lands that God has given us and blessed us with. May the Lord grant us his blessing for Jesus' sake. Amen.