Here’s a questions for those of you who have children. Do you love your children? Do you want what is best for them? Godly parents love their children. They always want the best for them. God our heavenly Father loves us as His children, as Jesus mentions in Matthew 7:7-12. He always gives us good gifts. He offers eternity to us free of charge. He loves us so much that He sent His Son to die for our sins on the cross.
The walk with God is a walk of prayer, a life in fellowship. As we pray we need to understand the kind of God to whom we are praying. It is this knowledge which undergirds our faith, for faith is not a blind wish; it is a response to evidence. The more we understand God the more our faith is developed.
Jesus commands His followers to pray using three imperatives: ask, seek, and knock. All three words are in the continuous present tense, so they mean keep on asking, seeking, and knocking. All three commands are also accompanied by a response from God: His people receive, find, and have the door opened to them.
God answers prayer. We are not bothering God when we give Him our requests. He wants to give us the desires of our hearts and pour out His favour and blessing on us. He has unlimited resources. He will never have to dip into a reserve fund or summon a new measure of strength.
The threefold command to ask, seek, and knock is both a command and an invitation. These words are present imperatives in the Greek which mean continuous action to ask and keep asking. This may suggest persistent effort, but more likely it is the recognition that we need to continually come to God. God loves to shower us with good things, but we have to present Him with our requests.
If we want to be treated kindly, we must treat others with kindness. If we want to be given the benefit of the doubt, we must give others the benefit of the doubt. If we want good things, we must want good things for others.
Verse 12 is also known as “The Golden Rule.” This verse is best understood as an extension of Jesus’ teaching on prayer-and a lesson in the second commandment to love others. It is easy for Christians to say that they love others, but do they prove that love by their prayers and their sincere care? Jesus is saying that what God wants to see in our lives He initiates by the things He is already doing for us! He is doing for us what He wants us to do. Jesus placed the ethical principle of the Golden Rule in the positive form. He made it a model for action, a marching order for the disciple: Whatever you want men to do to you, you also do to them. This is the fulfillment of the will of God as revealed in the Old Testament Scriptures.
Jesus said that the true way which leads to life is based on an internal transformation, not on external deeds. When a person’s ways and words are the same, the fusion is explosive. When a person says one thing and lives another, the result is destructive. People will know we are Christians, not because we bear the name, but because we live the life.
What do you need from God today? Hope? Provision? Freedom? Love? If you find it hard to ask for what you need, look to children for inspiration. They’re not afraid to say what’s going on in their heads.
Although an attitude of autonomy is not bad, it encounters difficulties when we translate it into faith. God wants us to share our whole being with Him, the good times and the bad, the joys and the struggles. God expects us to invite Him to share in our pain, rather than hide it from Him. Our next step in healthily processing suffering is to learn to ask Jesus for what we need with confidence, just as a small child does. Instead of relying on our own strength, we should actively turn to God when we don’t understand and trust that He will help us.
It’s our faith that activates God’s power. We have to press through our thoughts, press through our circumstances, press through the crowd and obstacles until we touch Him. With every step we take, God is drawing closer to us. When we ask Jesus into our hearts, we are re-born into God’s family. From that point forward, there is no question that we are His children. We don’t have to prove that He is our Father or that we are entitled to receive support from Him.
Jesus exhorts us to a truly revolutionary way of living. His standard for life doesn’t consist of merely telling people what not to do. Instead, He exhorts God’s people to offer loving service to others. He calls people back to the heart of the Old Testament message with one comprehensive command: “In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you.”
God knows the desires of our hearts and He answers our prayers according to His wisdom, goodness, and grace. Do you believe this? If not, the prayers we pray may miss the mark. We may expect too little of God or insist on our preconceived solutions. We may spend time asking for what He has already given instead of thankfully receiving God’s promise, provision, and power. If we trust that God knows our needs-spoken and unspoken-we can trust His answers. We can humbly entrust Him with what concerns us and confidently move into each day, trusting that He is at work in us and in the world around us.
As I just mentioned, God answers our prayers according to His wisdom. He might say “Yes.” He might say “No.” He might say, “Not now,” or He might say “No, because I have something even better in mind for you.” We must be prepared to accept His answer.
Would you like to have a key to the vault of God Himself that provides access to all the valuable things of time and eternity? That key is prayer. How do you receive the key? Ask, seek, and knock. This promise is for the children of God, those who know Christ and are obedient to Him and living in His will. When God’s children surrender to Him, and pray persistently, God will open the vault of Heaven to them. Everything in the vault of God is good; no stock is outdated, and the supply is limitless.
Do you want to have all that God has for you? Do you want to develop as a follower of Jesus? Do you want to follow hard after Christ? Do you want God’s rich spiritual blessings? If you do, then follow the instructions Jesus gives you:
- Ask God to give you not what you want, but what you need.
- Seek the things that elevate God, not you. Seek eternal things that will impact the kingdom.
- Knock on the door that opens to God’s path for you. Allow Him to open up the opportunities for career and training.
The challenge for us is that when we ask Jesus for something, we must be prepared to work with Him and care for others. It is exciting to be aware of everyday miracles that can happen when we ask Jesus to walk with us on the road of life.
Bibliography
- Jeremiah, David: The Jeremiah Study Bible: New King James Version (Nashville, TN: Worthy Publishing; 2013, p. 1293)
- Augsburger, M.S., & Ogilvie, L.J.: The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Vol. 24: Matthew (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.; 1982; p. 18)
- Stanley, C.F.: The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible: New King James Version (Nashville, TN: Nelson Bibles; 2005)
- MacArthur, J.F. Jr.: The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers; 2006)
- Lucado, M: The Lucado Life Lessons Study Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson; 2010; pp. 1305-1307)
- Dr. Ed Young, “Vault of God.” Retrieved from ministry@winningwalk.org.
- Rosina N., “Ask, and It Will Be Given to You.” Retrieved from acts@actsweb.org
- Joel Osteen, “Press Through.” Retrieved from devotional@goto.joelosteen.com
- Steve Arterburn, “You’re a Child of God.” Retrieved from Crosswalk@crosswalkmail.com
- “Do This.” Retrieved from support@leadlikejesus.com
- “Do You Believe This?” Retrieved from support@leadlikeJesus.com
- Ron Moore, “Good Gifts.” Retrieved from www.ronmoore.org
- Ron Moore, “Ask. Seek. Knock.” Retrieved from www.ronmoore.org
- Beth Fellinger, “Boots and Feet.” Retrieved from today@thisistoday.net
- Rick Warren, “God Proves His Goodness Through Your Prayers.” Retrieved from Crosswalk@crosswalkmail.com
- Joel Osteen, “Just Ask.” Retrieved from devotional@goto.joelosteen.com
- Dr. Paul Chappell, “Why You Should Pray in Faith.” Retrieved from daily@dailyintheword.org
(An audio version of this sermon can be found at https://www.spreaker.com/episode/matthew-7-verses-7-12-ask-seek-and-knock–58776564)
Sermons From My Heart 