Ask, Seek, Knock
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Believing the Lord is Good
Believing the Lord is Good
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
whose trust is the Lord.
8 He is like a tree planted by water,
that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
for it does not cease to bear fruit.”
Tonights text looks back to the subject of prayer.
Jesus spent time on prayer in the early part of Chapter 6 and he even ended chapter 6 with a look at how we don’t need to worry about our basic needs because God knows what they are and will provide them when we seek first His Kingdom and righteousness. So why now does Jesus seemingly go back to prayer again telling us to ask, seek and knock. I believe that he is attempting to drive home the importance of Prayer and inviting us to trust Him.
Many struggle to pray for many reasons, most of which have to do with our own issues that end up distorting the real purpose for prayer.
Some of those reasons are:
We feel our prayers are ineffective.
We don’t feel close to God.
We are distracted by other things.
We rely on our own strength.
God will not hear our prayers or nothing will happen.
We don’t know how to talk.
We worry that we will just be disappointed.
Prayer isn’t about getting God to do what we want! Prayer isn’t about changing God’s mind. The change that comes from prayer is first for our own sake.
It turns our hearts to His.
It moves toward Him in relationship
It opens our hearts to His purpose and plan
It Helps us remind ourselves who’s in charge
It teaches us reliance.
It opens our hearts to trusting God
That last point I think is what Jesus is getting at in this passage.
Jesus has just finished challenging the disciple to seek to rid himself or herself of the logs in our own eyes, why? So we can better come along side other believers in their spiritual growth journey. He’s also cautioning us to discern where we spend our time and with whom we spend our time as we walk out the truth of the gospel in to the world as his disciples.
Remember, if we go into reading the bible only for the purpose of getting what we want out of God, then we are missing the point. We should look into the bible to discover what God wants from us. In the process we will also discover a God that loves us and can be trusted.
If I’ve said it once I’ve said it 1000 times, its all about relationship, not religion.
Let’s look at Jesus invitation to trust him in tonight’s passage.
7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
This description of prayer is three-fold; asking, seeking, and knocking, and we see different aspects of prayer and different aspects of its reward.
Prayer is like asking in that we simply make our requests known to God, and everyone who asks receives. Receiving is the reward of asking.
Prayer is like seeking in that we search after God, His word, and His will; and he who seeks finds. Finding is the reward of seeking.
Prayer is like knocking until the door is opened, and we seek entrance into the great heavenly palace of our Great King. Entering through the opened door into His palace is the reward of knocking, and the best reward of all.
In all of this Jesus is instructing us to pursue God in relationship.
Just like we want our children or grandchildren to crawl up in your lap to ask us for even the simplest of things, our heavenly ABBA Father wants us to crawl up in his spiritual lap as we pray and ask him for most simple things all the way to the most complex. I believe it is a way of telling him that we realize where all good things come from.
1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
James 1:17 (ESV)
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
The image of knocking implies that there is a door that can be opened. “His doors are meant to open: they were made on purpose for entrance; and so the blessed gospel of God is made on purpose for you to enter into life and peace. It would be of no use to knock at a wall, but you may wisely knock at a door, for it is arranged for opening.” (Spurgeon)
It’s amazing to me that the only other place in the bible where it clearly talks about knocking on a door is in Revelation 3.
20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.
This is a mystery! God calls us but also wants us to seek him and find him and knock on his door, all the while he’s been knocking on our door.
44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.
That doesn’t speak of an impersonal God that can’t be trusted. That speaks of a faithful loving God who desires relationship with us and pursues us all the while desiring, even commanding us to pursue him!
Ask Seek and Knock for God’s purpose
Ask Seek and Knock for God’s purpose
For our every day walk as a believer:
Asking him to supply what your need as a witness for him.
Seeking his kingdom and righteousness instead of the worlds distractions.
Knocking on the door of people’s hearts as you are a witness to them of Christ’s love in hopes that they will find salvation through Jesus.
Whether you’re asking for basic needs or a spiritual empowerment to carry out your calling as a disciple of Jesus Christ, Jesus is commanding us to Ask, Seek, and Knock!
This command comes in the imperative tense of the verbs in the greek. An imperative means just that. It’s imperative that you ask! It’s imperative that you seek. It’s imperative that we knock. IT’s not just talking about once and done either. “Okay, I got what I wanted so I’m good”. No, the second verse gives the message of Keep on Asking, Keep on Seeking, and Keep on knocking! It’s a continuous pursuit of God and His will for your life. And it all starts with believing that He is good and that He can be trusted. He even rewards those who seek him!
6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
Good and Faithful Father
Good and Faithful Father
The last part of our passage to night points to this very thing.
9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 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!
Stewart Weber on Matthew 7:9-11
Matthew B. The Kingdom Servant Sees the Father as His Provider (7:7–11)
In my experience as a pastor, I have come across several people who have a deeply rooted impression of God as a trickster. They view him as a kind of cosmic killjoy with a warped sense of humor. These individuals often come from an abusive background, so their ability to trust a father figure has been severely damaged. To them, God lives only to bring them some kind of grief, usually after stringing them along and lulling them into a sense of security. As a result, they withhold intimate trust from him. Ironically, these people also tend to have a firm conviction about the moral superiority of God, so they do not see his trickery as evil on his part, but as something they have come to deserve.
God desires to have a relationship with us, not just save us from our sins. His command for us to Ask, Seek and Knock is one of relationship. It’s an on going process that will have no end until we are with him face to face.
9 The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble.
10 And those who know your name put their trust in you,
for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.
11 Sing praises to the Lord, who sits enthroned in Zion!
Tell among the peoples his deeds!
If you’re sitting here tonight and you are:
lost
hurting
scared
depressed
addicted
angry
hopeful
fearful
Overwhelmed
Realize that no matter where you find yourself today, the God of this universe is beckoning us to Himself!
Ask so you will receive what you need, what your Heavenly Father wants to give you!
Seek so you will find God, find the truth of His Word and even His will!
Knock so you will have the door opened to the God who will meet your right where you are at!
Lets Pray