Teach Us to Pray (Part 4): Ask and Seek

Introduction

Our worlds are designed to operate in cycles. We can often feel like we are constantly on the go and just moving from one thing to the next. In the midst of it all, we recognize that we have needs in our lives. We recognize that we need God’s help with all kinds of things we encounter each an every day.

I remember not too long ago coming across a t-shirt that said, “Some of ya’ll just need Jesus!” What made it stand out to me even more was later the same day I came across something that said, “Please girl, I need Jesus just to go to Walmart!”

Things like that are funny, but in reality we really do need Jesus in our lives every moment of every day.

I think though that sometime we are so on the go that we shoot up our “Oh Lord, help me today Jesus,” prayers but we can neglect to really pause and take the time to truly seek the Lord like a child seeks their Father.

As we continue to our series “Teach Us to Pray” we’ve looked at how to PRAY with Praise and Repentance.

Today I want to focus some time on Asking and Seeking God.

Matthew 6:9–13 ESV

9 Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread, 12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory forever. Amen

Luke 11:1–13 ESV

1 Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” 2 And he said to them, “When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread, 4 and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.” 5 And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, 6 for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? 8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. 9 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. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 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!”

1 John 5:13–15 ESV

13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. 14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15 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.

1) Ask with Persistence (Luke 11:5-8)

Luke 11:5–8 ESV

5 And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, 6 for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? 8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs.

In this parable Jesus is giving us picture of a man who is seeking to be hospitable to an unexpected guest.

In the Ancient Eastern world, hospitality is viewed as a sacred duty.

In this parable, the man is not expecting a guest, therefore isn’t prepared, yet this does not negate his desire nor duty to be a gracious host.

Therefore, he goes to a close friend and neighbor for help, even at such a late hour when the man and his family are already settled in for the evening.

It is because of the man’s asking with shameless persistence that his friend answers the door.

The Lord desires that we pray with a shameless persistence.

We do not need to motivate nor manipulate God to answer us.

Rather, the Lord sees the motivations and heart behind our prayers.

In the parable, the man seeking help was shameless in his persistence because he was genuine of heart to be a gracious host in an unanticipated circumstance.

It wasn’t out of selfish motivation or embarrassment that the man was seeking help.

It was out of selflessness that he didn’t mind embarrassing himself in seeking help.

Shameless persistence displays concern for the things for which we are praying.

We are to be persistent in our prayers because persistence reveals what our hearts truly desire.

As Jesus is teaching his disciples how to pray, He is wanting us to pray with a heart of shameless persistence that reveals a genuineness in what we are seeking.

2) Ask with Confidence (Luke 11:9-13)

Luke 11:9–13 ESV

9 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. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 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!”

As we are praying with a genuine heart that is reflected in a shameless persistence, we do so praying with confidence.

Our Heavenly Father is the greatest conceivable example of a good and loving father.

This means that when we ask God for something, whether it is for others or for ourselves, God is going to provide what will be absolutely best from the greatest and most complete perspective.

The ultimate greatest good is the very presence of God Himself (The Holy Spirit).

When we pray, know with confidence that God hears our prayers and answers our prayers for our absolute greatest good!

What we most definitely need to be aware of is that there are times when our greatest good is to not receive what it is we are asking for.

We must remember that a “No” answer from God is just as solid and assuring as a “Yes” answer is from God. This is also true for the answer we perhaps hate to hear the most: “Just wait”.

Likewise, being told to just wait and continue to pray is just as solid and assuring as a “Yes” answer is from God.

Regardless of what we are praying for, we must ask the Lord persistently with a genuineness of heart, and ask with confidence.

We can be assured that He knows, in far greater understanding than we do, what we are seeking, and that He wants to and will provide for us the greatest overall good.

This is especially true when we seek the Lord and ask for His presence!

3) Seek with Anticipation (1 John 5:13-15)

1 John 5:13–15 ESV

13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. 14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15 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.

Praying with confidence, knowing that God is going to answer our prayers, can help us to have a healthy approach towards what we ask for.

As Jesus modeled for us in the Lord’s Prayer as well as in the garden of Gethsemane, the core of our request should always be, “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done….”

As our hearts align with the heart of God, we should have a healthy anticipation that God is going to work according to His will for His glory.

As such, it is necessary for our prayers to be active and to move us into action.

As we seek for the will of God to be done in our lives and in the lives of others, we should be excited and eager to be a part of God’s will and His work.

There is a saying that goes something like this, “When you pray for rain, be sure to pack an umbrella.”

This kind of anticipation is what we should have when we pray with a genuineness of heart, seeking the will of the Lord to be done.

We do not manifest something into being simply with the faith we have.

The work of God is not about the size of our faith, rather it is about draw close to the object of our faith.

We should seek to draw close to God and let our faith be active because we rely on God to do His work and to accomplish His will knowing that He wants to work in our lives and involve us in His work.

As we pray, we should seek Him as we anticipate God moving in us and through us!

Closing

I want to challenge us this morning in our prayer lives. When we pray and ask the Lord, let us ask with persistence and confidence, and let us seek Him with anticipation.

Don’t just shoot up prayers on the go, but let’s take time pause and truly seek Him as our Heavenly Father who is all-perfect, all-wise, and all-caring. Let us make sure that aim of our hearts is to draw near to Him genuinely and purposefully as we ask for His goodness and grace to be in and upon our lives.