Live Dependant

Bible Passage: Matthew 7:7-12

I. Intro

Illustr: Have you ever noticed how kids ask their parents for everything? Like literally everything. Kids tend to think their parents are superheros, and can give them anything. Which is so sweet, but how often do we do that with God? Well thats exactly what Jesus talks to us about in this passage tonight

Recap

Live Different

Built Different

Live Defeated

Live Genuine

Live Focused

Live Generous

This is a lot of requirement, and can seem impossible on our own. I know I cant live all these things. So Jesus prescribes us exactly what to do in this passage. He will show us that in order for us to live like Kings, in order for us to be able to do all of these things, we have to LIVE DEPENDENT.

Prayer

Context before

audience

what they thought about prayer

What we sometimes think about prayer

1. Misconceptions about Prayer

Before we look at this passage I think there are some misconceptions we can have about prayer

its inappropriate

we think prayer means we tell God what to do or have to bully Him to do it

this is how other religions tend to pray, remember those vain repetitions from a few weeks ago?

Here’s the thing tho, prayer is not about if God is ready to give us things, it’s about if we are ready to receive.

Prayer is not meant for us to try to persuade God to do what we want, but rather to mold ourselves to want what He wants, it aligns ourselves with God

So prayer is not inappropriate, it’s how we express our consciousness and humilty to God, knowing He is the one who gives all things

its unnecessary

we see so many people around us getting along fine without prayer, and they receive the without praying the things we ask for through prayer

theres an important difference tho in the things they receive and what you can through prayer

Creation gifts - Birth, the harvest, life, success, food. Matthew 5:45 “so that you may be children of your Father in heaven. For he causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”

Redemption gifts, only received through prayer - salvation, daily forgiveness, deliverance from evil, peace, strengthened faith, the work of the Holy Spirit. Luke 11:13 “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?””

So we should pray for redemption gifts because they only come by asking, and for creation gifts because those things still come from God. James 4:2 says you dont have becuase you dont ask, the reason we sometimes dont have these redemption gifts is because we simply dont ask.

its unproductive

because God “fails” to give even when we ask

prayed for a good grade and didnt get it, healing didnt get it etc.

God is NOT some genie in a bottle who we can ask for anythign and get it. James 4:3 “You ask and don’t receive because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.”

if this were the case, then I would probably not pray too much because usually the things I ask for in the specific way I ask for them are not inherently good. this doesn’t mean that God will never answer your prayers exactly how you ask, sometimes the Spirit may lead you to ask for a specific thing and sometimes even though what we ask for isn’t necessarily good, God allows it to show us how wrong we were and point us back to Him.

God knows exactly what is good and what you need, Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“plans for your well-being, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” He knows whats best for us. He’s not evil, He won’t give you a rock when you ask for bread, but He is discerning and won’t always give you a snake when you ask for it, but maybe if it’ll teach you a lesson. Romans 8:28 “We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.”

So no, prayer is not unproductive, it is a necessity for the Christian life, If we want to live like THE king, we have to be dependant on Him to transform us, and one way we can show that is through prayer

1. Ask knowing it will be answered

Matthew 7:7–8 ““Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”

1. What I think is so interesting in this passage and how Jesus shows us to interact with God, is that Jesus has already taught us how to pray, He taught us to pray genuinely and to your Father

Jesus plays a lot on this idea of God as our Father, the word He used in Hebrew is called Abba, the closest thing we would have to that today is Dad, or Papa. He shows this deep personal connection we have with God, not just Him.

The Jews had a very correct fear of God, but what they lacked was a humble, personal love of God and Jesus demonstrates that to us in teaching us how we should pray.

When it comes to God, a common problem the Jews, and sometimes we have, is we approach God too timid, or scared. We sometimes think we are so small and God is so big that He doesn’t want to hear our needs. You don’t ask seek and knock from a king? Unless the King was also your Father. Peter tells us in 1 Peter 5:7 “casting all your cares on him, because he cares about you.” even though Jesus said earlier in Matthew 6:8 “your Father knows the things you need before you ask him.”

This imagery he gives shows the Fatherliness of God. It can almost be thought of like a child going to their parents. At first, when the child needs something he asks, but if he cant seem to find them, he seeks, and if they seem inaccessible he knocks on their door. Jesus is showing us this childlike attitude and persistence we should have with God. Jesus emphasizes that we should be dependant on God to grow how we need to, like a child is dependant on its parents to survive. Another of way of looking at it is that we ask what we wish, we seek what we miss, and knock when we feel shutout.

Jesus is showing us how we can achieve all these things He’s taught us. Cause this description seems a little impossible, and He simply tells us ask!

If you need something from your parents what do you do? ask! In the same way when you need or want something from God, if you want to be able to live like the King, Jesus tells us to ask and it will be answered! James 1:5 “Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God—who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly—and it will be given to him.” Mark 11:24 “Therefore I tell you, everything you pray and ask for—believe that you have received it and it will be yours.” If everything you asked God for this week was answered in full, what would be different about the world?

and maybe you ask and it’s not answered, or you don’t exactly know what to ask for? well Jesus tells us to seek God. Maybe you don’t exactly know what things in your life need to change, but what Jesus tells us is that we can seek God and when we truly do that, we will find what we need.

If you need something from your parents, or cant find them what do you do? you look for them! Jesus says look for the answer to the things you need and you WILL find. Not maybe, but will

And maybe you ask and seek, but you still feel lost. Jesus says to knock. That greek word for knock can almost mean to knock on a gate. Jews would knock on a gate similarly to how we knock on a door, to be let into a kingdom. If you want these qualities of the kingdom, and want to be in the kingdom, knock! Maybe you want these things in your life, but you feel like they’re closed off to you, Jesus says knock and it will be opened

The word there for open is interesting because it almost be translated as uncovered or unhidden. Without the knowledge of God in us, we can never hope to correctly understand the things of God, they can almost be covered. Jesus says as you ask and seek, knock and it will be opened.

God is always available to us, He never moves, sometimes we can feel so distant from God almost like He shut us out, but really it’s us who’s drifted far from Him. Illustration about God not moving

God is always ready to open the door for us, all we have to do sometimes is knock. Like the prodigal son

These words for ask seek and knock are continual, as we continually ask seek and knock, its not a one time thing, but also if you notice tho, these things aren’t for specific people, Jesus doesnt say if Jackson asks it will be given to him, He’s saying if ANYONE asks it will be given, if ANYONE seeks they will find, if ANYONE knocks it will be opened

this reminds me of this story, there was a man who was conflicted about his beliefs, he decided to pray that whatever the true religion was, that that God would reveal himself to Him within 40 days or he would end it all. on day 40, he’s given up, about to end it, and a Christian knocks on the door to share the gospel with him. this guy asked sought, he knocked and it was answered. We can do the same! When we want to grow in our faith, Jesus says to just ask, its not impossible Luke 1:37 “For nothing will be impossible with God.” Philippians 4:13 “I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me.”

2. Seek the Father's Gifts

Matthew 7:9–11 “Who among you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him.”

To further this idea of God being our Father, Jesus illustrates this point with a parable. If a son asks his father for bread, would he give him a stone? now the stone he was probably referring to was this type of stone in israel that was smooth and round, and brown, kinda looked like bread but is nothing like bread. Would a father do that?

Would a father give his son a snake if he asked for a fish? Again there is this type of catfish in the sea of galilee that vaguely ressembles a snake, but is a good tasting fish. A father wouldnt give his kid a snake instead of that fish to eat?

notice tho how these things are not just flagrant desires, because as we know in James 4:3 “You ask and don’t receive because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.” but are needs. When we ask God for our needs He gives them.

Then Jesus uses an argument He uses much throughout the Bible, he gives an illustration, and then says how much more. If us humans are evil at heart, and still give our children good gifts, how much more does a perfect Father give good gifts to His children when they ask?

Its important to note tho that sometimes we can ask for a rock or snake and not realize it, adn when God gives us bread or fish we may be hurt at first, but as we grow we can look back and see what we thought was good was harmful. Our Father knew that, and He gave us waht we really needed.

We see a parallel to this parable in a sermon Jesus gave later in ministry in Luke 11 and this sermon happens later in His ministry, and He’s talking to Hus disciples and uses an illustration of a neighbor persistentkynasking seeking and knocking on his neighbors door in the middle of the night, and the neighbor eventually gives what he needs. Then he uses the same illustration about a Father giving good gifts and says this in Luke 11:13 “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?””

Just like a good neighbor would give help to his persistant neighbor because of his persistance in asking, seeking and knocking, how much more will God give us good things when we persistantly ask seek and knock. Another thing to point out, as Jesus is further along in His ministry, instead of God giving us gifts, he says the Holy Spirit. All of these good gifts that God will give us are through and from the Spirit. Now remember God isn’t a genie, and the spirit doesn’t just give us everything we want, but The Spirit always gives good things. The Spirit guides us in prayer, strengthens us to live like Kings, when we live dependant on Him.

God knows the best way to take care of His children, He does it through the Holy Spirit, by giving the Holy Spirit, by letting the Spirit transform us, and all we have to do is ask, seek and knock.

3. Live Like Kings in Dependence on the King

Matthew 7:12 “Therefore, whatever you want others to do for you, do also the same for them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”

Here’s the thing about dependance on God. It has an end goal. That end is to live in love. When we live dependent on the Spirit’s transformation in our lives to help us to live like Kings, we grow in love, we should allow this Fatherly, infinte love that God shows us to push us to show a similar love to those around us.

Now this verse may seem out of place, but Jesus says “therefore” meaning because of our asking seeking and knocking, because of our dependence on God, what that can and will ultimately lead us to is to do this. The golden rule. This rule that has been sprinkled throughout Jesus’ ministry. We saw it last week in judge how you want to be judged. We heard it from Jesus in Matthew 22:39 “The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you take all the commands of the Bible, they can all be fulfilled in this phrase.

Now we see this phrase in other cultures, Confucious, some rabbis and in other cultures there are phrases like “don’t do to others what you don’t want done to you” but Jesus goes a step further. He says DO to others what you want DONE to you. He calls us to action

This is the very thing that sets us apart as salt and light in the world like he talked about in chapter 5. This is our end goal as a citizen in God’s kingdom. It aswers all of our questions about how to deal with others and how to live like a King. Any time you dont know how to react to someone ask yourself this. It ALWAYS works

As we ask seek and knock for the things of the kingdom, as we live totally dependant on God, we will be transformed to not just not do to others what we dont want done to us, but to treat them how we want to be treated. This is the Bible, this is the goal of a Christian!

Application

So how do we apply this? This whole Christian life can seem so impossible sometimes, but remember

Ask God for help, He is your perfect Father who is always ready to help you

Seek Him and His word for the answers to your questions and for His presence, He will guide you to what you need to find

Knock when you feel shut out and alone or confused, and He will always open the door for you

Be dependent on God for your life, and let that transform you to live like a King, to treat others how you want to be treated, imagine a world like that…