03.26.07

Ask, Seek, Knock

Posted in Preaching, Prayer at 10:23 am by Anthony

In yesterday’s sermon we applied Matthew 7:1-12 to the idea of accountability in Christian community.  How do we hold one another accountable without being judgmental?  As we mentioned, many of the teachings in this context also have a much wider application.

 Among the more difficult, is Jesus’ teaching in verses 7-8, where he says,

“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; those who seek find; and to those who knock, the door will be opened.”

If we only look at the sweeping claim of Jesus’ teaching here, we find that it often does not match up with real life experience.  Who of us has been granted everything we asked for in prayer?

In the context of the Sermon on the Mount, however, there are several assumptions made about this kind of effective prayer.  (Some of these I borrowed from Michael Green’s Matthew for Today.)

• It assumes that I am seeking the kingdom first (6:33).  What I ask for will be in alignment with God’s greater kingdom purposes to the extent that I understand them.
• It assumes that I am a disciple.
• It assumes that I pray, seriously and persistently (The present imperative of “ask, seek, knock” could well be translated “keepin on asking, keeping on seeking, keep on knocking.”)
• It is assumed that God may answer in a way I did not want or expect: He is soveriegn and he knows what is best.
• It is assumed that I ask in child-like faith and expectancy.

Green says, “There is no suggestion that if only we ask hard enough and believe passionately enough it will turn out as we ask. What we are promised is that it will turn out for our ultimate good.”

I know this probably won’t answer all of your questions about prayer. Prayer is much more about bringing our will into alignment with God’s will, than it is trying to get God to do our will.

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