The Favor of God
March 9, 2025
The book of Hebrews ended with this verse:
Grace be with all of you.1
This short verse is Paul’s prayer for his readers. We should all know that grace is God’s favor. That is, it is his disposition and desire to bless, to give an advantage toward, to give good things, even to love those love the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, Paul prayed that God’s favor would be upon us.
If we belong to Christ, his grace or his favor is already upon us. But, just like any of the benefits of God, and even of the Holy Spirit himself, it can be upon us in greater or lesser measure. To prove that God’s favor upon you can increase, consider this verse:
And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.2
This verse refers to Jesus when he was 12 years old. He not only was increasing in wisdom and stature, but he was increasing in the favor of God! If even Jesus can increase in God’s favor, then surely you can too! The reason you can too is that Jesus at 12 already had more favor than you have ever had. You have less. Therefore, the favor of God upon you can become greater.
Another proof that grace can grow:
But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.3
We all know that we can increase in our knowledge of the Lord Jesus. But we can increase in his grace as well!
In this same letter, the apostle Peter begins it in this way:
May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.4
So, clearly, we can receive additional grace. We can receive more of the favor of God in our lives. Today’s message is about receiving more of God’s favor. King David sought after God’s favor:
Let us look together at some prayers of King David in the Psalms.
I sought your favor with all my heart; Be gracious to me according to your word.5
First, notice that favor and grace are parallel to each other in this verse, indicating that they have the same meaning. Second, because David sought the Lord’s favor, he expected to receive it and even thought that God would honor his request “according to” his word! God wishes for us to seek after his favor! David is reminding the Lord that he has sought his favor. Why? It is because God likes it when we seek his favor! It pleases him.
Let your work be shown to your servants,
and your glorious power to their children.
Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,6
Again, King David is praying; only in this prayer he includes all of God’s people, not just himself. He is asking for the favor of God upon all of God’s servants.
When should we seek God’s grace or his favor? We can seek his grace when we are weak and troubled:
Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am languishing;
heal me, O LORD, for my bones are troubled.
My soul also is greatly troubled.7
Like David, isn’t this when we sense a need for God’s grace? When we become aware of our own frailty and failures we yearn for God’s grace.
But David sought God’s grace when he was glad too!
Hear, O LORD, and be gracious to me; O LORD, be my helper. You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness.8
David was full of gladness. The Lord had brought him through a difficult time but then delivered him and he was happy. Yet he still sought the Lord’s grace. Like David, we ought to seek God’s favor and grace at all times, whether sad or happy. When we do, God is pleased.
How do we acquire more of God’s favor? We cannot merit it. There is no work that we can do to obligate God to bless us. Yet, because we cannot merit God’s favor doesn’t mean that there is nothing we can do. The Scriptures reveal at least three things we can do in order to receive a greater supply of God’s favor. Would you like to experience the favor of God?
Daniel and many of his countrymen were in Exile in Babylon and Daniel says this:
As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us; yet we have not entreated the favor of the LORD our God, turning from our iniquities and gaining insight by your truth.9
See what Daniel says. He says that the way his fellow Israelites should have entreated the Lord’s favor was by first turning from their iniquities. That is, by forsaking sin. This idea of turning is expressed in the New Testament by the word repentance. Is there sin in your life? The way to experience God’s favor is by renouncing sin. From the heart, we turn away from whatever sin is burdening us and we commit to obey the Lord. When we do this, the Lord begins to deal with us with abundant grace. If we hold onto our sin then we will not experience his grace. This is the testimony of both Testaments of the Bible. God always deals with his people in this way.
In the same verse, Daniel adds, “and gaining insight by your truth.” The NASB has “giving attention to your truth.” This is the second way we procure a more abundant supply of God’s favor.
We already know where God’s truth can be found. Jesus prayed, “Sanctify them (his disciples) in the truth. Your word is truth.” (John 17:17) Therefore, we give attention to the truth by being exposed to the Scriptures. We get this exposure in the church. But one or two hours per week is not adequate. We need our own time in God’s word. Reading and studying God’s word cannot be overemphasized. It is not only transformative, but it engenders the favor of God. God is pleased when you read and meditate upon his words. And he will reveal his pleasure by favoring you!
The last way that we acquire God’s favor is the easiest. But, although it is easy, few do it. It is this: ask for it. Hear the teaching of our Lord Jesus:
And I tell 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 the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”10
This teaching is in the context of receiving the Holy Spirit. But it is certainly not limited to only him. For Jesus taught this same thing in the Sermon on the Mount:
“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 the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!11
See that he says this asking is not just for the Holy Spirit, but for “good things.” Surely, the favor of God is a good thing!
The reason why some may lack God’s favor is because they don’t ask. The apostle James writes, “You do not have because you do not ask.” (James 4:2)
Do you recall when King Hezekiah became severely ill and the prophet Isaiah came to him and prophetically told him that he would die (2 Kings 20:1-6)? Other than old age, when a prominent figure in the OT dies, or is about to die, it is almost always because of some violation of God’s law. What was Hezekiah’s disobedience? The Bible does not tell us why he was going to die. Interestingly, the Talmud says it was because he refused to have children. Whether this insight was from tradition or drawn from the biblical text we are not sure either (Hezekiah’s first child appears to be Manasseh, who was conceived after the Lord had granted him a fifteen year reprieve [2 Kings 20:21; 21;1]). Regardless of the reason for his impending death, Jeremiah tells us that the king was given fifteen extra years because he entreated the favor of the Lord:
Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him to death? Did he not fear the LORD and entreat the favor of the LORD, and did not the LORD relent of the disaster that he had pronounced against them? But we are about to bring great disaster upon ourselves.”12
So, we see that Hexekiah gained the favor of the Lord by asking.
In contrast, King Saul did not ask for the favor of God; rather, he was disobedient in more than one way. He tells Samuel:
I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of the LORD.’ So I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering.”13
Not only did he not seek God’s favor but he had to force himself to do so because he was fearful of losing a battle to the Philistines. When he did seek God’s favor he did it through works and those were bad, as Samuel told him. Therefore, we see that asking for God’s favor results in receiving it. Neglecting to ask results in not receiving it. Under the new covenant, where grace abounds, not asking will at least result in receiving less than we could possess.
How should we ask? I say that we can ask in the same way that King David asked. We can take some of his prayers in the Psalms and personalize them to ourselves.
Let me give you just one example and then I will list many more passages that you can use to pray.
For you bless the righteous, O LORD;
you cover him with favor as with a shield.14
Using this verse as a guide, you might pray in this fashion:
“You are the one who blesses the righteous, Lord. I am not righteous in myself, but I am righteous because you have placed me in the Lord Jesus. Therefore, bless me Lord. Open the windows of heaven. I ask that you cover me with favor as with a shield. May you favor surround me!”
I would suggest that you not only say this prayer one time, but five or six times. And, that you use several passages to pray. Many passages have the words favor or grace or gracious within them.. Others may speak of the Lord’s “steadfast love,” which is the source of his favor. You may choose from these passages
Psalm 30:5,7, 10-12. Proverbs 8:35 Micah 7:18
Psalm 21:1-7 Proverbs 18:22 Psalm 119:41
Psalm 20:1-6 Psalm 36:7-8 Psalm 90:17
Psalm 25:16-18 Psalm 6:2 Psalm 27:7-9
Psalm 31:9-10, 15-17a Psalm 111:4 Romans 5:1-2
Psalm 35:27-28 Psalm 25 Romans 16:20b
Psalm 89:17, 20-26 Isaiah 25:9 2 Cor. 9:8
Psalm 119:58 Isaiah 60:10 Psalm 86:15
There are at least three ways to experience a greater supply of God’s favor: turn from a persistent sin in your life, seek his truth in the word, and ask for it.
Ask, and it shall be given!
1 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Heb 13:25). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
2 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Luke 2:52). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
3 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (2 Peter 3:18). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles
4 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (2 Peter 1:2). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles
5 New American Standard Bible (1995), (Psalm 119:58) Lockman Foundation.
6 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Psalm 90:16,17a). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles
7 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Psalm 6:2.3a). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles
8 New American Standard Bible (1995). (Psalm 30:10-11) . Lockman Foundation.
9 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Daniel 9:13). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles
10 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Luke 11:9-13). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles
11 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Matt. 7:7-11). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles
12 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (jer. 26:19). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles
13 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (1 Samuel 13:12). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles
14 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Psalm 5:12). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles
