The Answered Prayer

The word A.S.K. is actually an acronym that means:

A - ASK

S - SEEK

K - Knock

It is the winning formula in prayer according to the Greatest Teacher of all, the Lord Jesus Christ. All praise and honor and glory belong to Him and Him alone.

Matthew 7:7–11 ESV

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. 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!

Matthew 7:

Big Idea: God has given us an invitation we cannot refuse to pray prayers that lead to answers.

Talk about the Outline here..

Introduction:

One day, to try to find a solution to the drought, the village priest called the villagers to gather at the village square to pray together for rain. He told them to bring along a token of their faith, so the prayer would be done in sincere faith.

And so, the villagers gathered at the square bringing with them tokens of their faith. Some brought the Holy Bible while others carried small crosses as tokens of faith. They all prayed aloud with great faith and hope.

These verses on prayer seem to be an interruption, but they’re not. The Lord wants us to exercise our right to prayer to live the Christian life. So we can exercise discernment even in our relationships with others.

Sure enough, within a few moments it began to rain. The whole crowd was overjoyed and danced happily. The priest noticed that among the joyous crowd was a nine-year-old boy, clutching an umbrella as a token of faith. The priest admired this little boy, who had brought an umbrella in total faith that the God would surely hear his prayers and send rain.

Are you going through a drought in your life and you’ve been praying for rain and it has never happened? It’s time to bring your umbrella!

James 1:5 ESV

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

This passage stands out above the rest, still it talks of God’s faithfulness in our prayers.

I. The Invitation to Prayer (v. 7)

God has given an open invitation to prayer. Our great God is extending this privilege to us.

You need something from God? “Ask”, “Seek”, “Knock”.

A. Ask.

Demands Humility. Sometimes the reason why we do not get what we pray for is we do not ask.

James 4:2–3 ESV

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. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.

αιτεω = to ask for, with a claim on receipt of an answer, ask, ask for, even to demand.

This is the kind of asking that a child does to a parent.

There is something in a parent that likes it when our kids ask for something instead of just seizing what they want by themselves. We love it when our kids ask, “Dad, I like this new toy. Can I have it?”

There is a joy for a parent to :

see that their children exercise their privileges as sons and daughters when they ask.

see the opportunity to provide and give happiness to their children.

It brings joy to a heart of a parent when their children ask.

Then we look at the request itself and a lot of times as parents we decide what our children ask for is something we can afford or it is something that is not good for our child at that moment.

So what do we do, we give the answer “no”.

There is power in saying “NO” to the requests of our children. They may insist at the start, but if we remain firm in the answer of NO, eventually our kids will learn to stop asking any further.

By saying no, we teach our kids about our mind and our heart. They will learn more about us, and that when they ask for something that is aligned to what their parents want for them, eventually they will receive.

Same is true with our relationship to God. We learn more of Him when we ask. We don’t perceive His mind and His heart when we never ask.

James 4:2–3 ESV

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. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.

We have not because we ask not. Jesus is inviting us to simply ASK.

But ASK with the right motives.

This is why it is important to seek the will of God when we pray.

B. Seek.

One of the most frustrating quests in life is finding the will of God. How we wish the will of God is very obvious to us.

That is why Jesus invites us to “seek”.

In He told his disciples to seek first the Kingdom of God. He did not say how and where to find the Kingdom of God. He just invites us to “seek”.

Are you making a big decision soon and there is no clarity on it yet? DO we seek God’s will or we decide to follow our heart?

Is there a problem where you do not know the solution. Do we seek God’s solution to the problem or do we just tackle the problem our way?

Is there a lingering question in your heart asking God: Lord, why did you allow that to happen in my life?

I would submit to you this morning that you seek God first.

Jeremiah 29:13 ESV

13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.

There is nothing more needful than seeking God’s will than seeking God Himself.

Finding something that is not readily obvious. Sometimes it is an answer that we do not have.

Would we look for the solution? Or look for the One WHo offers all the solutions in your life.

We come up with our own solution.

Seek the Lord first, and you will find Him.

Psalm 34:10 ESV

10 The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

Jeremiah 29:13 ESV

13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.

Jeremiah 29:1

C. Knock.

Knocking here denotes a door that is closed.

Is there a door in your life that you’ve been asking the Lord to open?

Oh yes pastor! Actually I have been banging on that door and it won’t open.

This command to knock is in present tense imperative, and therefore stress continued, persistent action.

Keep knocking,

This is different from what I preached last Sunday about casting your cares to God. When you cast that care or need to God, don’t go back to it anymore trust God. Some people cast like they are fishing, they cast their cares to God and then, they reel it back in. Leave your care in the hand of God.

However, a door talks about an opportunity in your life that are presently closed. But the good news is that God has the power to open that door.

It takes boldness and persistence.

Our Persistence.

The problem is there is a door that God has prepared before you to enter in. It is presently closed. Jesus said keep knocking, But some of us get impatient, either we stop knocking, or we find other doors that we can easily open.

It is better to enter through the narrow door that God himself opened that leads to Him, than entering through a big door that I am able to open but leads away from Him.

II. The Certainty of Answered Prayer (v. 8)

Then in verse 8 Jesus repeats what He said. It is like to say, “I mean this!” When people ask is this true, is it really this simple? Jesus reinforces the truth of what He is saying:

Matthew 7:8 ESV

8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

A. The Beneficiaries of Prayer.

Jesus said everyone who seeks finds.

This is important, he wants to overcome our timidity and hesitancy that somehow it will work for others but not for us.

Christians ask to be prayed for and miss out on the privilege to pray directly to the Father.

Martin Luther, the great reformer said this:

He knows that we are timid and shy, that we feel unworthy and unfit to present our needs to God. . . . We think that God is so great and we are so tiny that we do not dare to pray. . . . That is why Christ wants to lure us away from such timid thoughts, to remove our doubts, and to have us go ahead confidently and boldly.”

Everyone: Who is included in “Everyone”?

Someone who has a relationship with God. Jesus is really talking to those who will receive Him.

You have to have a relationship to your heavenly daddy before you ask. Like Gabe cannot come to me and ask for a car? Or Josiah cannot go to Mark to ask for a Macbook.

Christians ask to be prayed for and miss out on the privilege to pray directly to the Father.

John 1:12 ESV

12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,

B. The Benefits of Answered Prayer.

From the vantage point of the one praying.

1. You will Receive.

2. You will Find.

3. You will Enter.

These are the steps to grace.

First you receive Jesus

You find the answer to all your needs and life questions. The satisfaction to your soul.

Faith always works that way. Before you find..

Here is another picture of our benefits in prayer:

Ask. Seek. Knock.

If a child’s father is present right in front of him, all he has to do is ask him for what he needs.

Do you sense that you are right now in a spiritual mountaintop that you can touch the face of God? Seize the opportunity to ask of Him.

If a child’s father is somewhere in the house but not seen, he seeks his father for what he needs.

Are you in that time in your spiritual journey that the Lord seems to be distant? Seek Him and you will find Him.

If the child seeks and finds the father behind the closed door of his study, he knocks to get what he needs.

Do you feel that you are on the verge of a spiritual breakthrough? Keep storming the gates of heaven in prayer and you will break through every barrier of your spiritual journey!

The point seems to be that it doesn’t matter whether you find God immediately close at hand, almost touchable with his nearness, or hard to see and even with barriers between, he will hear, and he will give good things to you because you looked to him and not another.

III. The Case for Answered Prayer (vv. 9-11)

A. The Case in Our Similarity to God. vv. 9-10

Jesus used our own nature as Fathers to illustrate why our Heavenly Father will answer.

He made a case for us to see the rationale to answered prayer.

It is God who implanted His image of love, goodness, generosity in us so we can have a sense of what He is as a Father.

B. The Case in Our Contrast to God. V. 11

Matthew 7:11 ESV

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!

God is infinitely better than human fathers. He does not have the sins, the limitations, and the weaknesses of our earthly fathers. And so Jesus said:

Matthew 7:11 ESV

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!

Matthew 7:

IV. Conclusion.

The King of Kings and Lord of Lords is giving us an invitation to pray. Ask, seek and knock.

It is a tragedy and a travesty not to pray.

What about unanswered prayer?

The key is still in Jesus’ words in the last part of verse 11:

“… how much more will your Father Who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!”

“Good” - valuable

What you will receive in prayer to God is always going to be good.

It is good in its “value”

It is good in its timing.

But I didn’t receive anything!

God’s answer to prayer even if it’s a NO is always better than the alternative.

What is our response, when you ask, trust the Lord!

A journalist said this:

“Let your life reflect the faith you have in God. Fear nothing and pray about everything. Be strong, trust God's word, and trust the process.”

Mark 11:24 ESV

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

Pick up your phones...

Mark 11:24 ESV

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

1 John 5:14 ESV

14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.

John 14:13–14 ESV

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

John 15:7 ESV

7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

Final Story:

There was once a small village, which was suffering from a severe drought. The crops were dying, and the villagers and their animals had very little water to drink.

One day, to try to find a solution to the drought, the village priest called the villagers to gather at the village square to pray together for rain. He told them to bring along a token of their faith, so the prayer would be done in sincere faith.

And so, the villagers gathered at the square bringing with them tokens of their faith. Some brought the Holy Bible while others carried small crosses as tokens of faith. They all prayed aloud with great faith and hope.

Sure enough, within a few moments it began to rain. The whole crowd was overjoyed and danced happily. The priest noticed that among the joyous crowd was a nine-year-old boy, clutching an umbrella as a token of faith. The priest admired this little boy, who had brought an umbrella in total faith that the God would surely hear his prayers and send rain.

Are you going through a drought in your life and you’ve been praying for rain and it has never happened? It’s time to bring your umbrella!

Here’s the icing on the cake.. In Luke’s gospel, he talked about the greatest gift:

Luke 11:13 ESV

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!”

:!3

Jesus even makes it much easier for us when we pray, we have the Holy Spirit’s indwelling presence to guide us in our prayer, and we have His power to break through every barrier in front of us today.

The Answered Prayer

The Winning Formula to Answered Prayer