ASKING, SEEKING, AND KNOCKING

An Invitation to Prayer

Are you bringing your needs before the Lord in prayer?

Hebrews 4:16 “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

We should always pray and not lose heart.

Luke 18:1 “And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.” (see Luke 18:1-8, Luke 11:5-8, and Luke 18:35-43)

Mention the parable of the persistent widow in Luke 18:1-8, the impudent friend in Luke 11:5-8, and blind Bartimaeus in Luke 18:35-43...

We won’t see an answer to prayer if we aren’t praying in the first place.

James 4:2 “You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask.”

The Promise to Answer

Is this promise a blank check?

Mark 11:24 “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

Psalm 50:15 “and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.””

When we pray according to His will, He will always answer.

John 14:13–14 “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”

John 15:7 “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”

1 John 5:14–15 “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.”

Good Gifts From a Good Heavenly Father

The Lord will not withhold any good gift from His children.

Romans 8:32 “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?”

Sometimes the things we ask for are not good.

James 4:3 “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.”

Sometimes the things that sound good to us would actually bring harm.

See 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 and Deuteronomy 6:10-12...

Love Others Like We Have Been Loved

Since the Lord always does the best thing for His children, we should treat others in the same way.

Luke 6:35–36 “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.”

Galatians 5:13–14 “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.””

See Colossians 3:12-14...