Ask, Seek, Knock
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We are continuing our series of messages from the Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew 5-7. This section of scripture has proven to be quite instructive and challenging. As we continue in Matthew 7 today, our passage is going to require a bit of context in order to properly understand what Jesus saying. In a way, this passage is going to be somewhat of a conclusion to what he has already said.
Let’s take a look…if you have your Bible or Bible app open on your phone, let’s go back to Matthew 5. Not every Bible has this, but I wanted to show you a quick screenshot of the Bible app...
This is what my phone looks like. I have the dark mode on, and this is the NIV version. What they’ve done is divide scripture up into sections and gave them subtitles. Here is you see starting in verse 3, it says The Beatitudes. Beatitude just means blessedness. We talked through this passage in January of this year.
So, each of the sections are labeled with a subtitle. Sometimes in order to get an idea of the context of the passage, I’ll go back a bit and just quickly review these subtitles. As we do this, I want to give you the four different sections of this large passage. The first is the Introduction:
Introduction: Matthew 5:3-16
Beatitudes
Salt and Light
Law and heart of it Matthew 5:17-48
Murder/Anger
Adultery/Lust
Divorce
Oaths/Promises
Retaliation
Love For Enemies
Right Religious Practice Matthew 6:1-18
Giving to the Needy
Prayer
Fasting
Challenge to our worldview Matthew 6:19-7:12
Treasures in Heaven
Do Not Worry
Judging Others
Ask, Seek, Knock
The Implications/Conclusion Matthew 7:13-27
The Narrow and Wide Gates
True and False Prophets
True and False Disciples
Wise and Foolish Builders
Going through these subtitles gives us an idea of the structure of what Jesus is saying and informs how we should read and interpret our passage for today.
This passage is really the prescription on how we do all of the things that came before.
He do we walk in the character traits that Jesus is advocating?
How can we view the heart of the Law and not justify ourselves?
How can we act out our religious practices of giving, prayer and fasting?
How can we see the world through a heavenly kingdom worldview, setting our treasure in heaven, not worrying or being judgmental?
Jesus gives us that prescription next.
Let’s read our passage with that as a backdrop...
7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! 12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
Ask and it will be given…what is it? It is all that we need to fulfill what he has commanded up to this point. It is the power to walk in the fullness of his will for us. It is the power to persist in the face of adversity. It is the heart’s desire to lay up heavenly treasures. It is the peace that passes understanding.
Seek and you will find…what will we find? We’ll find the love for not just our friends, but also our enemies. We’ll find all the ways in which we can give thanks. I believe that we will always find what we are looking for. If we are looking for the bad the wrong…we’ll find that, but if we chose to look for the true, the noble, the right, the pure, the lovely, the admirable…we’ll find those things.
Knock and the door will be opened…what door? The door that lead to God’s provision for you. The door that shows you God’s grace and mercy for you in it’s fullest. It’s the door to the banquet room where Jesus has prepared the feast for us.
I want to read another account of this teaching in Luke 11. Luke 11 starts with the Lord’s prayer followed by this additional teaching about prayer:
5 Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; 6 a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ 7 And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.
9 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
Verses 9 and 10 is an exact copy of our passage in Matthew. The difference is the story before. This idea that what we need is behind a locked door…like some provisions at a friend’s house. Jesus said that if we’ll knock on his door, that door of provision will be opened.
But let’s not miss what he said in verse 8...
8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.
The asking, seeking and knocking is not a one and done thing. If we don’t get it the first time, too bad…no. The verb tense indicates a continual active action. It is a continual asking, continual seeking, continual knocking. The kind that audacious and shameless. The story ends will the person knocking getting as much as is needed.
That is what is meant in..
8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
An active asking of the Lord, an active seeking of the Lord, an active knocking on the door of God’s provision will receive, will find and that door will be opened.
Jesus then gives and analogy from life...
9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
This is ultimately a promise. A promise that we can have faith in. Our asking, seeking and knocking has to be done in faith, believing that we will receive, find and that door opened. We, as people who do not always have good intentions, bless our children with what they need…how much more is our good Father in heaven going to bless us with good gifts.
Let me read another passage that says this in another way...
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.
Believe that God wants to give you what you are asking for, what you are seeking from him, believe that he wants to open that door for you.
One other observation from our passage in Matthew...
9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?
A couple of things to note about this…notice Jesus compares bread to stone and fish with a snake. This was intentional. Jesus is referencing the greatest tactic of the enemy. He puts in front of us gifts that look like the real thing, but they are not.
The enemy started this in the garden…promising wisdom and knowledge when the cost was death. At some point you’ll be confronted with something that seems like it will offer you what you are looking for. Make sure you look real close. Choosing a counterfeit gift will require a cost that the enemy will try to convince you is not there.
Oh…it no big deal…I’m not hurting anyone.
Oh…it’s just this one time. I just need this to settle down and get my mind off of things.
For the two in the garden, they believed the pursuit of knowledge and wisdom would not result in death…so where it got them.
The last verse seems to not fit well in what we are talking about...
12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
This verse is famously known as the golden rule. I want to read the ESV translation…
12 “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
Remember, this is a summary section to all that Jesus had already said up to this point. He is giving them a prescription for fulfilling all that he had just commanded.
How we relate to others is central to all that he just taught. When we ask, seek and knock, including the desire and the power to live out this verse is key.
I think if we’re honest, we probably wish this verse said something a little different…Maybe we wish it said:
In everything, do to other what they do to you.
Or, In everything, do good to others only when they’ve done good to you first.
Can I give you an example from real life that will probably hit close to home for those of us who are married?
It does not matter if your spouse takes care of you first. If you would like to be cared for, show care for your spouse regardless if they show the same care in return. That’s really hard to do.
There is something I’ve seen in my own life…in particular as it relates to my marriage…when I am personally better connected in my relationship with the Lord, I am better able to live out the golden rule with those closest to me.
Let me say that another way. When I am unashamed and audacious in my asking of the Lord, when I am unashamed and audacious in seeking the Lord in my life…when I am unashamed and audacious in my knocking on God’s door for blessing, for peace, for joy, for all that God wants for me, I am better able to give to other what I hope to receive.
Perhaps if we all spent time improving our asking, seeking and knocking in faith, many of the other relationships would improve as well.
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Invitation