Seeking God in Prayer

Introduction

As we continue our series on prayer, we want to look at another type of prayer that Jesus taught His disciples about. Last week, we looked at the type of prayer known as “asking.” We talked about how that type of prayer is what is commonly thought of when one thinks about prayer. It is when we bring our requests to God and get an immediate or almost immediate answer.

The type of prayer that we want to look at this morning is the second type of prayer that Jesus mentioned in .

Luke 11:9–10 CSB

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

Seeking

When Jesus speaks about seeking in relation to prayer, He is speaking about those times when some searching is involved in the prayers. It is not a time where the answer is just immediately there. The answer that God has to these types of prayers comes with a journey involved.

Some have thought that this might be God playing games with us, but that is not the case. God wants us to know Him and His purposes well. There are some things about God and His ways that take some effort to learn and understand though. It will not all be spoon-fed to us.

Jeremiah 29:13 CSB

You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart.

Jer

Proverbs 8:17 CSB

I love those who love me, and those who search for me find me.

While God wants us to know Him as fully as we possibly can, not everyone wants to know God… at least not who and how He truly is. You can ask 10 people to describe God, and you might get 15 different answers. Some would say that He is a loving Heavenly Father. Others would say that He is a harsh dictator. Still others might say that He is distant and out-of-touch.

How can God be so misunderstood? The answer to that question is that people come to Him with differing motives of heart. This is shown clearly in an instance found in the gospel of .

Luke 5:

Luke 5:17–26 CSB

On one of those days while he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea, and also from Jerusalem. And the Lord’s power to heal was in him. Just then some men came, carrying on a stretcher a man who was paralyzed. They tried to bring him in and set him down before him. Since they could not find a way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on the stretcher through the roof tiles into the middle of the crowd before Jesus. Seeing their faith he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.” Then the scribes and the Pharisees began to think to themselves: “Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” But perceiving their thoughts, Jesus replied to them, “Why are you thinking this in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he told the paralyzed man, “I tell you: Get up, take your stretcher, and go home.” Immediately he got up before them, picked up what he had been lying on, and went home glorifying God. Then everyone was astounded, and they were giving glory to God. And they were filled with awe and said, “We have seen incredible things today.”

In this passage, we can see three types of people that approach Jesus for different reasons and come away from this experience with very different views of who He is.

The Skeptics

In verse 17, we see that the Pharisees and teachers of the law were there at this event. They had come to hear this Jesus guy who was growing in fame in the area. This group was not so much concerned with having their lives changed by Jesus, but rather they were looking to pick Jesus apart. They were seeing if Jesus would get in line with their agenda and back what they were already doing. If not, they would curse Him as someone to be shunned. If you know much about the New Testament, you know that Jesus and the Pharisees and teachers of the law did not see eye to eye very often.

This group is still present today. There are those who will come to God with no other intentions than to pick Him apart and try to make God something of their own creation. When we approach God and try to make Him fit into our little box, it will not work. We will walk away from Him frustrated, hardened, and miss what He is all about.

This is what happened in this instance. Instead of rejoicing at the fact that this man was healed, they grumbled (v 21). They questioned Jesus… They doubted Jesus… this did not fit into their box and so they would not go along with it. They completely missed the miracle that was before them.

The Socials

There was another group that was present at this event. They are seen in verse 19 when Luke shares about the crowd. The crowd was so large that the friends of the paralyzed man had trouble getting their friend to Jesus. This crowd represents the second group known as the socials. They were there to see what the deal was. They saw the Pharisees and teachers of the Law gathered, they saw Jesus… they didn’t want to be left out. They weren’t really concerned with being changed by this experience, but rather to be able to say that they were there.

We see this group around today, don’t we? They want the social aspect of what Jesus can bring to them, but as for being changed by Him is another story. This group will come near to a point but will still hold God at arm’s length. They might let God come into certain areas of their lives, but to let Him have full control over everything is just not something that this group is willing to do.

We see that this group experienced what Jesus did for the paralyzed man and were astounded and even glorified God. It would go something like this, “Man, that was awesome! Can you believe what happened to that guy? God is good!” They got a “warm fuzzy feeling” from their experience with Jesus.

This sounds all well and good, but because it was kept at arm’s length, the experience would fade into the sea of forgetfulness along with other “awesome moments” as time went on. There was no personal change from this experience because these people wanted to keep God at a distance.

The Seekers

There was one final group there though, and this group came away experiencing Jesus in a way like no other had before. These “seekers” were the four guys that brought their paralyzed friend to Jesus. As they came to where Jesus was, they were met with an obstacle. The crowds were preventing them from getting their friend to Jesus. Instead of just giving up, they pushed on and found a way to get closer to Jesus.

In verses 20-25, we see that because these guys were willing to push further, they experienced Jesus doing something amazing. They didn’t just walk away from it with a “warm fuzzy feeling.” They walked away from the experience forever changed.

Application

When you see these three groups, which one would you find yourself in?

Would you be found in the group of skeptics that are here to see what this Jesus stuff is all about but not sure that you’re buying it?

Would you be in the group of the socials that are there to see what Jesus does but not be impacted by it?

Would you be one of those that are truly seeking God’s face and heart in things? This is where God wants us to be in prayer, and some prayers will only be answered by seeking His face.