A.S.K. (2)

Intro

A.S.K.

Effective prayer consists of asking, seeking, and knocking . . . A.S.K.

Our scripture contains the very words of Jesus, and he says this about prayer:

Matthew 7:7 KJV 1900

7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:

A.S.K = ask, seek, knock

at most churches, if you have attended enough Bible Studies, then you remember the Bible teacher revealing that the tense of the Greek verbs used in this verse for ask, seek, and knock indicated that we are to keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking

and it is natural to wonder, “how long must I keep asking, seeking, and knocking?”

and it’s also natural to wonder, “Have I missed out on some things because I gave up too soon?”

and often, when we see this scripture verse, we resolve to stay faithful in prayer, and not give up on God so easily . . . and there is definitely a blessing in that understanding, but there is another aspect in this verse, that we will look at today

So, let’s go back to the text . . .

Jesus did not say that prayer is like asking, seeking, and knocking . . . No, it is a command, these are imperative verbs

Just like last week, Psalm 150 commanded us to praise the Lord, this week Jesus commands us to ask, seek, and knock

your prayers should have three components: asking, seeking, and knocking

and since these verbs mean to keep on asking, keep on seeking, and keep on asking . . . we are talking about a lifestyle

not a one time thing, not a special event, not for a period of time, but a lifestyle

so for your whole life . . . for your whole Christian journey . . . . for your daily walk, your prayers are supposed to include asking, seeking, and knocking

Today we will look at seeking

seek - it takes sincerity to seek; prayer involves sincerity

serious people seek . . . because it requires effort to seek

ex. tell a child to grab my keys off my dresser, and you know it’s there, but they come back and say, “I don’t see it”. So you get up, go to the dresser, and there are you keys, just like you said.

problem was that the keys were behind a book, and with quick glance, you would indeed miss them

if they had done some seeking, they would have seen them

problem was they were not sincere about finding the keys

they didn’t put in much effort at all, just a quick look

they were irritated you interrupted their game, movie

I want God to help me, but i am not serious about knowing him or his ways . . . I just pray and with a quick glance I will check to see if he answered my prayer . . . if I don’t see the answer, I just move on

I want God to help me, but I am not seeking the solution to the problem, I just want my solution . . .

don’t want the answer, I just want a quick fix

the real answer might involve having to change something in my life

we don’t want healthy choices, we want a magic pill

we don’t want hard work over time, we want the lottery

knock - it takes faith to knock, prayer involves believing

you knock when you believe that there is someone on the other side to answer

there have been times when my wife drops me off at church

one cool thing is that I can work and pray uninteruppted because no one knocks on the door . . . people just pass on by, because there are no vehicles outside, and it looks like no one is here

I have had appointments with people, told them I would be there at a certain time, and they just sit in the car and won’t knock because they don’t believe I am inside (I have to call them)

but when I drive, and park my car outside, people come to the church and knock

homeless people

people from other churches seeking to pass out flyer

people seeking service times

because when they see the vehicle parked outside, even though they don’t see a person, they BELIEVE that someone is inside.

when you pray, even though you don’t see God . . . when you see his creation (birds, trees, sun, sky), you should believe that there is someone sitting on heaven’s throne

sometimes we don’t pray, because we simply don’t believe that God answers prayer

or answers that of prayer

or answers prayers that big

prayer takes humility, sincerity, and faith, and our prayer life is usually lacking in one or all three

some of you will try ten things before finally praying

some of your will pray, but you don’t want God’s answer because they would involve effort, changing,

some of you pray, more out of habit, you really don’t believe

what if every time you fasted for a day, you got 1,000 the next day?

some of you would be about to kill yourself

it would be hard, but you WOULD do it! . . . because you would believe that it is worth it

but we don’t fast because we don’t believe it’s worth it

or we fast one time, don’t see earth shaking results and we quit

see, you were not sincere

Greek form of the verb used means to keep on asking, keep on seeking, and keep on knocking

God showed me that it doesn’t mean, I want a car, so I keep on begging and begging God

it means I want a car so I ask, sincerely seek the answer, and believe God will do something about my transportation

the answer might be a rich uncle buys me a car

or God my speak to my spirit and say, “wait . . . keep riding with your friend, it’s not time”

we should have a lifestyle of asking, seeking, and knocking

part of seeking is what should I be praying for

1 John 5 14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.

Matthew 6:10 = your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.