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Pericope: Matthew 7:7—11 Title: Pray, Pray, Pray
I.
Introduction:
a. Biblical Contact Point: Jesus is concluding his Sermon.
We have seen him work morally good ideas and turn them inside out; he shattered presumptions; he has recited common rules and flipped them over; he has pulled the rug out from under common piety.
All the while he has used common idioms and figures of speech to relate, and then he transitions his audience to understand the real way of living for God.
He calls his audience to respond, to make a choice.
In Matthew 7:7—11 he does the same thing.
Read Text: Matthew 7:7—11
*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!
b. Homiletical Idea: if you want good gifts from the Father you have to ask.
Exegetical idea~/ theme: The perfect Father gives good gifts to his children and expects them to ask.
c.
Personal Contact Point: What kind of good gifts does the Father want to give to you?
II.
Transitional Sentence: From the biblical text I want to give you three principles for receiving good gifts from the father.
III.
First Declarative Statement: The first principle of receiving good gifts from the Father is to ask, seek and knock.
(v.7)
a. Explanation: In the text there are three groups of imperatives in the text.
That is, there are three groups of commands that Jesus wants the disciples to follow.
The words are “ask,” “seek,” and “knock.”
These are commands that are present tense.
That means they are done now and have no particular end.
Also, the words here are all similar words for prayer.
So in other words it is like Jesus is saying, “pray, pray, and pray.”
There are some who even say that they build on each other.
For instance, we can start off by saying, “Please,” which is a little prayer.
Then we may begin to speak and do something, “seek,” which is a prayer that is a little more intentional and energetic.
Then, while we are continuing, the other might, “knock,” which is a loud noisy statement of our asking, and seeking.
For instance, it is like the little kid who wants a cookie and cannot reach he cookie jar.
He asks his mom nicely.
She hears him.
The he goes to find out where his mom is so he can ask.
He finds she is behind a door and he knocks really hard to make sure she hears what he wants.
What exactly should you be asking for?
The text does not say what we should ask for.
I guess the answer to the question is what is it that you want?
It seems from the context that you may ask for anything.
The only thing is that God will give you what is good.
Will he give you what you want?
Maybe, as long as it is according to his will for your life.
If it is harmful then he will not give it to you.
For instance, for some a home would be a gift they would pray for, but for others God may want them to be mobile in ministry, so a house would dangerous.
b. Illustration: I have a family member who always had a weak bladder, especially when he was young.
Consequently, he also had a weak system of reasoning and was therefore naïve and easily influenced.
Well, one day, he and his brother were playing in their bedroom, when all of a sudden he jumped up and said, “I need to pee.”
He ran out of the room to the only bathroom in the small apartment the family lived in.
The door was shut and locked.
His mother was taking a bath to relax as her two young boys had been intentionally irritating her all morning.
He called through the door, “Mom, I need to pee.” His mother replied, “Wait a few minutes I am almost done.”
We walked away and began to play again.
A few moments later, he jumped up and looked at his brother and said, “I have to pee!”
He ran to the door and this time he yelled, “Mom, I need to pee.”
The mother submitted the same reply.
This happened one more time with the young boy banging on the door and the young mom still giving the same reply.
Then the older brother thought of a clever plan to alleviate the problem.
He called over to the younger brother and explained, “Dude, you already wet mom and dad’s bed last night, look.”
He brought the little brother over to the bed and showed him the wet spot still on his parent’s bed from where he accidentally went during the night, as he always slept with his parents when he was ill.
“Look little bro, since it is already wet you might as well go on the bed again, since you cannot get into the bathroom.”
For some reason this seemed to be good and sound advice, so the three year-old pulled over a stool and began urinating on the bed.
Just as he began his mother walked out of the bathroom, and being a little more than surprised to see her son intentionally urinating on her bed exclaimed, “What are you doing!”
c. Application: A silly story that happens to be true illustrates that even though you at first hear a “no” you must still be persistent.
You cannot give up on something you are asking for.
In fact, Jesus commands you to keep asking.
So how can you ask? First, do not be afraid to ask for exactly what you are wanting.
Second, write down what it is you are needing or wanting.
Third, invite someone else to pray with you.
This is a good practice to build community and also each other’s relationship with God.
Finally, review what has happened in your life and the life of the person you are praying with to see if God has answered you.
It may be that he has but not in the way you asked.
d.
Restatement: The first principle of receiving good gifts from the Father is to ask, seek and knock
IV.
Second Declarative Statement: The second principle of receiving good gifts from the Father is expecting your requests.
(v.7-8)
a. Explanation: It is not really easy to see in the English, but Jesus uses what is called a step parallelism.
A step parallelism is a device that reveals a gradual climax or pinnacle.
In the text we see the growth of the prayer from a general asking to growing, seeking, and asking to a loud knock that is a perseverant asking and seeking.
In v. 8 we see the reciprocal of asking, seeking and knocking.
Jesus says that whoever does those things will be answered accordingly.
“Askers” will “receive,” “seekers,” will “find,” and “those who knock” will “have opened doors.”
Jesus reiterates what he says in v. 7. The reiteration and repetition is way of making an exclamation.
This is further proof that the Father will answer the petitions and prayers of his children.
So what exactly are you expecting to receive?
I think you will get what you put into the prayer and petition.
If you simply stop at the asking point because it is too much work to do the other things then you may not get anything.
I think that carries forward.
The other thing to remember is that you may receive a “no” which is still an answer.
Jesus in the garden prayed three times to be delivered in a different way, yet the Father was silent.
It was not his will.
Jesus waited and was expectant, but the Father was not going to grant the request as he did for Abraham thousands of years earlier.
It seems from the mood of the verses Jesus is wondering why the children of God do not just ask.
We see in the Bible people like Hannah, Abigail, and Samuel pray and expect something in return.
The great example is Elijah.
He was from human standards a weakling.
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