Just Ask
Notes
Transcript
Introduction:
7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?
10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?
11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
1. The Command (v.7)
1. The Command (v.7)
7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
This is an imperative
Keep asking, Keep Seeking, Keep knocking
An intensification of the request
Why does God want to put us through this?
God wants us to develop persistence in prayer
God wants us to develop a habit of coming to Him in prayer
16 Rejoice always,
17 pray without ceasing,
18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Jesus modeled this lifestyle for us. He was often getting alone with the Father and He also depended entirely upon the Father
2. The Promise (v.8)
2. The Promise (v.8)
8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
Jesus gives the promise that if we keep asking and are persistent, God will hear us and answer
What answer does God give us? We will see that in a moment, but first we need to know that God has promised to hear us.
3. The Illustration (v.9-10)
3. The Illustration (v.9-10)
9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?
10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?
Jesus now moves to an argument from the lesser to the greater
If we, who are evil, as parents will do our best to give our children what they ask for, how much more will our Heavenly Father, who is infinitely good, give us good things?
Jesus acknowledges our human sinfulness
There is no one who is truly good, and many of the things that we do are done for our own sense of self-worth and pride. We do things to benefit our own selves, even if it looks on the outside to everyone else that we are great people
God on the other hand always gives us what is best for us
4. The Conclusion (v.11)
4. The Conclusion (v.11)
11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
The conclusion is that God will give us what we ask for
The caveat is that what we ask for must be good for us
Jesus said the Father would give us good things
What are these “good things”?
They are not just the physical things we ask for. God already knows what we need and has promised to give these things to us (see Matt. 6:32-33)
We don’t just have to ask for physical needs (Prayer meeting illustration)
We also can ask for spiritual things
Luke summarizes these spiritual things by saying that God will give us the Holy Spirit
13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
If what we ask for is not good for us, God will not give us these things
2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask.
3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
Conclusion
All of this discussion matters only for God’s children. You see not everyone is God’s child. He is everybody’s Maker, but He is not everybody’s Father.
God is also not interested in being our genie in a bottle to be at our beck and call.
People pray to God to get what they want without caring at all about having relationship with God.
They sound more like the younger brother in the parable of the prodigal son. They say to the Father, give me my inheritance now.
Now we are stretching the parable a bit, because we just said that God is not the Father of everyone, but He is generous and causes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust.
God gives them life and blesses them with His general grace. He does this for us all, but so many people act like that son and go off into the far country spending all God has given them on wild living and gluttonous pursuits.
We shake our fists at God when any bad comes at us, most often because of our own doing. People want God out of their lives but then run to Him when they need something.
But, if you are a child of God, you have a special promise from God that He hears you. He will give you what you ask for if it is what is best for you. But you must ask in faith. You must keep asking. You must keep seeking. You must keep knocking.
What about at the door of heaven? Have you knocked there? Have you come to Christ and asked Him to save you? He will definitely answer that request, without hesitation! So ask today!