Word of Salvation – Vol.47 No.25 – July 2002
Ask, Seek, Knock
Sermon by Rev. J. Haverland on Matthew 7:7-12
Scripture Readings: James 4, Matthew 5:17-20, Psalm 55
Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The theme and purpose of this sermon is as follows: To urge you to be persistent in prayer asking your Father in heaven for all you need to live as citizens of Christ’s kingdom.
Many of us here today – maybe even most of us – would have to confess that we are not satisfied with our prayers. If we are honest we have to admit that our prayers are hindered by all sorts of problems: we don’t pray nearly enough; we don’t know what to pray for.
We start praying and then after a minute of two we run out of ideas; or we fall into the same patterns of prayer, the same phrases, sometimes without even thinking about what we are praying about! Our prayers are often selfish and self-centred. And when we pray, our mind often wanders off onto all sorts of other matters.
All of us, I’m sure, have encountered some, if not all of these problems in our prayers. In these words here in Matthew’s gospel, our Lord Jesus encourages us to pray, and He tells us how we should go about this great work. Here Jesus urges us to be persistent in prayer, asking our Father in heaven for all we need to live as citizens of Christ’s kingdom. As we look at this we will see
– that prayer is Commanded,
– that it must be Constant, and
– that it should be Confident and Comprehensive.
- First then, prayer is COMMANDED
Ask, seek, knock – these are commands, imperatives. Three times the same thought is repeated to emphasise that we must pray. The repetition intensifies the command. God commands us to ask Him for things. He orders us to seek Him. He wants us to knock on heaven’s door.
This is a command for all of us. Jesus addresses this to all believers. Prayer is not something just for ministers and elders, or for those who have the time for it, or for a spiritual elite, or for those who are especially holy. No, prayer is for every Christian, for every believer, no matter how young or old you are in years, how new or mature you are in the faith.
We must pray because prayer reminds us of our dependence on God. We don’t pray to God to inform him of what we need. God is all-knowing. He already knows what we need even before we ask Him! Rather, we pray to remind ourselves that we need God’s help. The entire Sermon on the Mount reminds us of our complete dependence on God. Left to ourselves we cannot do what Jesus commands us to do. Living up to God’s law is utterly beyond us and our resources. We need the Lord Jesus and we need God’s help. That’s why you must pray.
This is emphasised in the opening words of the beatitudes: “Blessed are the poor in Spirit.” To be poor in spirit is to realise your sin and your need for forgiveness. To realise that you live each day dependant on God’s grace. So pray for grace, help and mercy.
You must also pray for the sake of your relationship with God. Prayer is talking to God; conversing with Him. He speaks to us through the Bible; we speak to Him in prayer. This conversation is essential to a good relationship with God.
We could compare this to a marriage or a friendship. To keep your marriage alive you need to communicate. To get to know your friends you need to talk together. Not just about the weather and how things are at work or with the kids, but about important things, deep things – what’s on your heart and mind.
So, too, with God. God wants you to talk to Him, to communicate, to express what is on your mind and in your heart. He wants an open and honest communication.
So, prayer is commanded.
- Secondly, our prayers should be CONSTANT
The three verbs Jesus uses here ask, seek, knock – are in the present continuous tense. If we were to translate them literally, they would read: “Keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking.” Jesus is urging us to be persistent in prayer.
Children, if one of you wants something from your mum you will ask her. If you can’t find her you’ll go looking for her – seeking her. If you find her door closed and you need her urgently you will knock. Jesus urges us to do this in prayer: keep on asking, seeking, knocking.
If you want something from God and you ask for it a few times and then you forget about it, that shows that it wasn’t all that important to you. But when you are persistent in prayer that shows that you really want it. So you need to keep on praying. That is the lesson of the parable of the persistent widow. James teaches us that when he writes, “You do not have because you do not ask God” (4:2).
Matthew 7 verse 7 is a very well-known verse, probably one of the most well known in the Bible: “Ask, seek, knock.” But knowing this and doing it are two different things. J C Ryle asks, “What is the good of knowing it if we do not use it?” We must get down and pray. We will not make any spiritual progress without God’s grace, and His grace must be sought through prayer.
Prayer is a weak point for Christians in the western world. We are good at being busy and organising and church growth principles and activity and programmes, but we are not strong on prayer. So let’s resolve to apply these words of Jesus: ask, seek, knock.
Here are some practical suggestions to help you:
– Set aside the time to pray. Plan to pray. If you don’t plan for it, then you won’t do it. Make a specific time when you will pray.
– Be realistic. Don’t say you are going to pray for an hour when you know you won’t be able to keep it up. Better to aim for a quarter of an hour, or even five minutes, and stick with it.
– Write up a list of things you need to pray for. Get a notebook or exercise book and keep it as a prayer diary and write down lists of points for praise and thanksgiving, of people, of concerns.
– Use the psalms as a basis for prayer. Use hymns to help you praise God and pray. And copy the prayers of people in the Bible like Daniel and Ezra and Paul.
We are commanded to pray and we must pray persistently, urgently, constantly.
- Thirdly, your prayers must be CONFIDENT
Jesus tells a story – a parable – to encourage confidence in prayer. “Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?” (vss.9-10). A rounded stone looked like a small loaf. The snake probably refers to an eel which the people of Israel were not allowed to eat because it did not have scales and so was regarded as unclean (Lev.11:12). Would a father mock his son by giving him something he could not eat? Of course not.
Jesus uses the parable to argue from the lesser to the greater. “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him!” (vs.11). This teaches us that how we approach God in prayer depends a lot on our understanding of the character of God. How do you see God? And how do you see God as your Father?
Some people have fathers who are extravagant and unwise. These men give their children whatever they ask for without any thought for the long-term effect. They don’t consider that what they give their children might be harmful to them.
Others have fathers who are ill tempered and abusive and unpredictable. Children of such fathers don’t know how they will react to their requests – maybe they will give them what they ask, or they may beat them. Others of us have loving fathers who are kind and thoughtful and want the best for us. This is what God is like as a Father.
God is a loving and wise Father who will give us what is best for us. This does away with the idea that you can ask for absolutely anything and God will give it to you. Unfortunately some Christians teach that idea. “Name it and claim it!”, they say. This is what lies behind the “prosperity doctrine” that preaches a health and wealth gospel and that urges people to demand healing and riches from God.
But Jesus said He will give “good gifts” to those who ask Him. So if you ask for something that is going to cause you great harm, then God will not grant your request because He loves you and will give what is good.
One of the Greek legends tells the story of Aurora, the goddess of dawn, who fell in love with Tithonus, a young man on earth. Zeus, the king of the gods, offered her any gift that she might choose to give to her young lover. Aurora chose that Tithonus might live forever; but she forgot to ask that he might also stay young forever. So Tithonus grew older and older and older and could not die, and the gift became a curse.
Our father in Heaven is not like Zeus. Our Father is a wise and loving God who looks ahead and gives us good gifts that will help us.
Now you may be going through much trial and you wonder about this. Is God giving you good gifts? Is He really a loving Father? Maybe you think that God is against you. But God is never against His people. Sometimes He disciplines us, and He does allow us to go through suffering and temptation – but in all this He is seeking our ultimate good and eternal well-being. So when you pray, you should be confident that God will give you “good gifts”.
We’ll explore these gifts a little more now as we look at this final point.
- Your prayers should be COMPREHENSIVE
Verse 12 has come to be known as ‘The Golden Rule’. “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets”. Other religions and cultures had expressed it in its negative form. Confucius said, “What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others.” Jesus, however, was the first person to express this in its positive form.
The command is more easily fulfilled in its negative form – you can satisfy that law by doing nothing. Most of us can manage that more easily. The positive expression of the command is far more difficult. It is another way of expressing the summary of the law regarding our neighbour: “Love your neighbour as yourself.”
This calls you to treat others as you would like to be treated. Look for ways in which you can be kind, thoughtful, merciful and encouraging to those you meet. Think of ways you would like others to respond to you and then you treat them in the same way.
It is a broad and flexible rule that is comprehensive in its scope and demanding in its application. This is why He says, “For this sums up the law and the prophets.”
This phrase takes us back to chapter 5:17-20 where Jesus said that He had not come to abolish the law and the prophets, but to fulfil them. By repeating this phrase at this point, Matthew wants us to look back over everything that Jesus has covered. This phrase sums up what Jesus has said on prayer and on judging others and everything else as well. It takes in the entire Sermon on the Mount. It tells us how we should live.
It is significant that this Golden Rule comes directly after Jesus has talked about prayer. The only way we can keep this Golden Rule is by praying for God’s help. And the only way you can begin to fulfil the righteousness described in these chapters is through God’s work in you by His Spirit, based on the saving work of the Lord Jesus.
This brings us back to the “good gifts” mentioned in verse 11. These are all the things Jesus has described as characteristics of His kingdom. You need to keep on asking for these good gifts and you need to keep on seeking them.
Are you doing that? Are you asking God to help you be poor in spirit, to mourn over sin, to be meek and humble, to be merciful, and pure in head, and a peacemaker? Are you hungering and thirsting for righteousness? Are you praying that God will help you be the salt of the earth and a brighter light in the world? Are you pleading with God that the Holy Spirit might work in you to help you avoid adultery? Are you seeking to be honest in all you say and do, to love your enemies, to be generous in your giving, to be faithful in prayer, to have a forgiving spirit, to focus on treasures in heaven rather than treasures on earth, and to trust in God?
These are the good gifts God wants to give you. This sums up the law and the prophets. These are the matters that should dominate your prayers. This is how Christians, believers and followers of the Lord Jesus, are called to live.
Prayer is simple, but difficult. Jesus commands you to be persistent in prayer asking your Father in heaven for all you need to live as a citizen of Christ’s kingdom.
“Ask and it will be given to you,
Seek and you will find,
Knock and the door will be opened to you.”
Amen.