Ask! - Matthew 7:7-11
Ask! - Matthew 7:7-11
By Pastor Lee Hemen
May 19, 2019
Most parents want their children to have the best there is in life even if it means they sacrifice for themselves. Good parents do that, however, some parents can focus so much on getting their children everything that they fail their kids and make them into self-absorbed and selfish individuals. We live in a nation of abundance and even the poorest among us, including the homeless, live better than many in other nations. We have become a nation of receivers rather than givers. The problem is we have taught our children and society to ask for the wrong things in life.
We ask so much that we have become so self-absorbed that even our faith has morphed into a “what’s in it for me” attitude instead of one of humility and service. Jesus addresses the notion of asking. There is nothing wrong with asking as long as we know what we are supposed to ask for and how we are supposed to ask. Let’s discover what Jesus taught his listeners about asking…
READ: Matthew 7:7-11
When I go hiking there are several things I do that I never forget to do no matter what; this is because I have hiked in the woods and wilderness since I was a child and know if you are not prepared before you go you are preparing yourself for disaster. Jesus gives us the same kind of advice when we go to God in prayer. Jesus teaches us that…
I. We need to prepare when we go to him in prayer! (Vv. 7-8)
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; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
1. Jesus gives his listeners a list of things to consider when they pray to the Lord. It isn’t a set of guidelines or rules that have to be followed; instead they are good truisms from the Lord. Jesus tells them three constant things to do: ask, seek, and knock. For Jesus it is a continual action of asking, seeking, and knocking – and not a onetime thing! Some have suggested that these three words represent want, loss, and earnestness. Perhaps they do but whatever they represent we know exactly what each of them mean for our lives when we come before the Lord in prayer. Jesus matter-of-factly told them “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” A lot of things have been taught about this simple statement of Jesus. One false premise is that one can ask in faith for whatever they want or desire and if they are truly faithful or sinless they will receive it. It’s part of the name-it-and-claim-it or word of faith movement. If you speak positively in faith you will receive what your faith has conceived in heaven. It has more in common with new age metaphysics than with biblical Christianity. Some have even suggested that “Whatever the mind can conceive and believe -- the mind can achieve.” This is patently false simply on its face value. I do not know about you but my mind can conceive a lot of things that one could not humanly achieve ever! What Jesus meant was the simple truth that if you come before the Lord as his child you ask for his guidance, you seek his truth, and if you keep on knocking on his door instead of the world’s then you will receive wisdom from him! Jesus was referring to one’s preparation in this life for the next! How do I know this to be true? Look at how he answers his own advice: “For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” Our lives are a spiritual process that keeps maturing. We need to prepare when we go to him in prayer!
EXAMPLE: Preparation for our faith walk with God means that we keep going to him for what we need. It is like when I was younger I learned from my Dad that there were simple questions one could ask in order to discover any truth in life: Be willing to ask who, what, when, where and why. It has held me in good stay but sadly too many folks think with their emotions rather than logic of asking, seeking, and knocking for the truth. We need to prepare when we go to him in prayer!
Until one becomes a parent one often does not realize just how much a good parent sacrifices for their children. Most parents desire that their children have a better life than they did but they can fail in this if they think it is all about giving their children everything they never had. Rather we need to help our children to be able to stand on their own in life. This is exactly what Jesus wanted for his listeners. Jesus teaches us that…
II. God desires to give us what we need in order to succeed! (Vv. 9-11)
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? 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!
1. After Jesus cursed a fig tree because he did not find any fruit on it and it withered his disciples were perplexed and asked him how it could have withered so quickly. Jesus replied simply, “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer. (Matthew 21:22 NIV)” Now Jesus did not mean this in the context that we should consider God as our own personal Genie, but rather God desired to meet our needs. James, Jesus’ brother would write that the reason we do not often see God working in our lives is that “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. (James 4:3 NIV)” Jesus here reminded his listeners of the simple truth that God loved them and did indeed desire to meet their needs. Religion in his day often taught that one had to appease God in order to get him or any god to listen. We find this in our day when folks try to bargain with God thinking that they can convince him to hear their request because they all of a sudden are asking him to solve their personal problem: “I promise to do this if you answer my prayer, if you exist at all.” Kind of shallow and pathetic isn’t it? Yet even Christians are guilty of this convoluted thinking. Jesus asked them to think first before asking God for something and reminds them, “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?” Of course no loving parent would do such a nasty thing to their child and neither does God to his children. The problem is we often do not commit ourselves to the first part we just discussed of asking, seeking, and knocking. We just immediately go to what we selfishly desire never even considering what God may desire for us in the first place! So Jesus bluntly reminds them that “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!” Asking is about seeking which has followed a lot of knocking on our part. God welcomes our prayer and urges us to consistently and continually keep on asking, keep on seeking, and to keep on knocking! After all our Father in heaven loves to give good gifts to those who ask him! God desires to give us what we need in order to succeed!
EXAMPLE: There’s an old joke where a hurried tourist anxiously asks a New York policeman, “How do I get to Carnegie Hall?” and he smiles and responds, “Practice! Practice! Practice!” His answer of course in real life isn’t much help but does contain some truth. How do we get what we need in life to succeed as God desires? In a sense we practice by continually asking God, seeking his face, and knocking to find the answers he has for us! God desires to give us what we need in order to succeed!
Conclusion:
We need to prepare when we go to him in prayer! God desires to give us what we need in order to succeed!
---
This article is copyrighted © 2019 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen, and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission.
By Pastor Lee Hemen
May 19, 2019
Most parents want their children to have the best there is in life even if it means they sacrifice for themselves. Good parents do that, however, some parents can focus so much on getting their children everything that they fail their kids and make them into self-absorbed and selfish individuals. We live in a nation of abundance and even the poorest among us, including the homeless, live better than many in other nations. We have become a nation of receivers rather than givers. The problem is we have taught our children and society to ask for the wrong things in life.
We ask so much that we have become so self-absorbed that even our faith has morphed into a “what’s in it for me” attitude instead of one of humility and service. Jesus addresses the notion of asking. There is nothing wrong with asking as long as we know what we are supposed to ask for and how we are supposed to ask. Let’s discover what Jesus taught his listeners about asking…
READ: Matthew 7:7-11
When I go hiking there are several things I do that I never forget to do no matter what; this is because I have hiked in the woods and wilderness since I was a child and know if you are not prepared before you go you are preparing yourself for disaster. Jesus gives us the same kind of advice when we go to God in prayer. Jesus teaches us that…
I. We need to prepare when we go to him in prayer! (Vv. 7-8)
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; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
1. Jesus gives his listeners a list of things to consider when they pray to the Lord. It isn’t a set of guidelines or rules that have to be followed; instead they are good truisms from the Lord. Jesus tells them three constant things to do: ask, seek, and knock. For Jesus it is a continual action of asking, seeking, and knocking – and not a onetime thing! Some have suggested that these three words represent want, loss, and earnestness. Perhaps they do but whatever they represent we know exactly what each of them mean for our lives when we come before the Lord in prayer. Jesus matter-of-factly told them “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” A lot of things have been taught about this simple statement of Jesus. One false premise is that one can ask in faith for whatever they want or desire and if they are truly faithful or sinless they will receive it. It’s part of the name-it-and-claim-it or word of faith movement. If you speak positively in faith you will receive what your faith has conceived in heaven. It has more in common with new age metaphysics than with biblical Christianity. Some have even suggested that “Whatever the mind can conceive and believe -- the mind can achieve.” This is patently false simply on its face value. I do not know about you but my mind can conceive a lot of things that one could not humanly achieve ever! What Jesus meant was the simple truth that if you come before the Lord as his child you ask for his guidance, you seek his truth, and if you keep on knocking on his door instead of the world’s then you will receive wisdom from him! Jesus was referring to one’s preparation in this life for the next! How do I know this to be true? Look at how he answers his own advice: “For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” Our lives are a spiritual process that keeps maturing. We need to prepare when we go to him in prayer!
EXAMPLE: Preparation for our faith walk with God means that we keep going to him for what we need. It is like when I was younger I learned from my Dad that there were simple questions one could ask in order to discover any truth in life: Be willing to ask who, what, when, where and why. It has held me in good stay but sadly too many folks think with their emotions rather than logic of asking, seeking, and knocking for the truth. We need to prepare when we go to him in prayer!
Until one becomes a parent one often does not realize just how much a good parent sacrifices for their children. Most parents desire that their children have a better life than they did but they can fail in this if they think it is all about giving their children everything they never had. Rather we need to help our children to be able to stand on their own in life. This is exactly what Jesus wanted for his listeners. Jesus teaches us that…
II. God desires to give us what we need in order to succeed! (Vv. 9-11)
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? 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!
1. After Jesus cursed a fig tree because he did not find any fruit on it and it withered his disciples were perplexed and asked him how it could have withered so quickly. Jesus replied simply, “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer. (Matthew 21:22 NIV)” Now Jesus did not mean this in the context that we should consider God as our own personal Genie, but rather God desired to meet our needs. James, Jesus’ brother would write that the reason we do not often see God working in our lives is that “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. (James 4:3 NIV)” Jesus here reminded his listeners of the simple truth that God loved them and did indeed desire to meet their needs. Religion in his day often taught that one had to appease God in order to get him or any god to listen. We find this in our day when folks try to bargain with God thinking that they can convince him to hear their request because they all of a sudden are asking him to solve their personal problem: “I promise to do this if you answer my prayer, if you exist at all.” Kind of shallow and pathetic isn’t it? Yet even Christians are guilty of this convoluted thinking. Jesus asked them to think first before asking God for something and reminds them, “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?” Of course no loving parent would do such a nasty thing to their child and neither does God to his children. The problem is we often do not commit ourselves to the first part we just discussed of asking, seeking, and knocking. We just immediately go to what we selfishly desire never even considering what God may desire for us in the first place! So Jesus bluntly reminds them that “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!” Asking is about seeking which has followed a lot of knocking on our part. God welcomes our prayer and urges us to consistently and continually keep on asking, keep on seeking, and to keep on knocking! After all our Father in heaven loves to give good gifts to those who ask him! God desires to give us what we need in order to succeed!
EXAMPLE: There’s an old joke where a hurried tourist anxiously asks a New York policeman, “How do I get to Carnegie Hall?” and he smiles and responds, “Practice! Practice! Practice!” His answer of course in real life isn’t much help but does contain some truth. How do we get what we need in life to succeed as God desires? In a sense we practice by continually asking God, seeking his face, and knocking to find the answers he has for us! God desires to give us what we need in order to succeed!
Conclusion:
We need to prepare when we go to him in prayer! God desires to give us what we need in order to succeed!
---
This article is copyrighted © 2019 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen, and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission.
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