A.S.K.
The Sermon on the Mount • Sermon • Submitted
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· 2 viewsThe key to prayer is asking our Father who gives good gifts.
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Transcript
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!
Prayer is often times confusing…
Prayer is often times confusing…
Prayer is often times confusing…
Prayer is often times confusing…
Unanswered prayer
Is prayer effective?
It can feel unproductive
We may ask, is there a wrong way to pray…
yes, but no… but yes… more on that in a moment
It feel mystic
It feel mystic
Texts like can feel misleading because Jesus makes prayer seem like a guarantee…
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.
And yet I wonder how many of us have asked for prayer… and not recieved what we asked for…
this is where it is so important that we interpret Scripture by using… Scripture
There are places in the Bible where there might seem to be a contradiction, when the reality is we need to see the passage rightly in light of the rest of what the Bible says…
So first let us make note of this:
There are many wrong ways to pray.
There are many wrong ways to pray.
5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
Matt 6:
7 Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.
1 Pet 3:
18 If I had cherished iniquity in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened.
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.
Ps 66:
6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.
18 Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.”
8 Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions.
24 Because I have called and you refused to listen,
have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded,
24 Because I have called and you refused to listen,
have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded,
25 because you have ignored all my counsel
and would have none of my reproof,
26 I also will laugh at your calamity;
I will mock when terror strikes you,
Prov 1:24-
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.
Are there wrong ways to pray… yes…
so then what is the secret to prayer…
Do you need to pray the Lord’s prayer word for word?
Do you need to start by addressing the Father?
Or do you need to be asking for specific things from the Spirit such as praying that he would produce fruit in your life and then ask for salvation from Jesus and mercy from the Father?
And then at the end… what happens if we don’t say “in Jesus name”
Will our prayers be forgotten?
no...
So then what is the secret to prayer
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.
The secret to prayer is this; ask, seek, knock.
The secret to prayer is this; ask, seek, knock.
Really? That’s it?
It’s almost like Jesus knew we would have doubt
And so he says it not once but he says it twice
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.
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.
You wonder why God doesn’t hear your prayer… but right at the center of this passage is one of the most significant reasons prayers are not answered…
That is because you do not ask
And the reason we do not ask...
too busy, lack of faith,
A.S.K.
Ask
Seek
Knock
13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.
Jn 14:
In my name—
that is if you bear the name of Jesus
7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
Again when we are in Christ… we can pray in his name
So we don’t pray to a saint
Or to Mary
Or to a priest or a pastor
But instead we pray to the Father because we bear the name of Jesus
Okay well if the secret is to ask
then how often should I ask
on how often we should pray?
Listen to the progression of the passage
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!
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.
We should never stop praying and making requests known to God.
We should never stop praying and making requests known to God.
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.
1 Thess
13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.
5 And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, 6 for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? 8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. 9 And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 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!”
And here in our passage Jesus does something very similar
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!
Because God is good, he will give you what is good.
Because God is good, he will give you what is good.
Not everyone has a good earthly father
But for those who do…
Jesus is talking to fathers
of which… none of you are
Most of you probably have no idea the care your parents have for you
I love to give Peter good things
Fathers are evil though
There are times I accidently hurt Peter
But is God evil?
22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
Br
5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.
So then how is it that there are times when God does not answer prayer?
7 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
2 Cor 12:
Is God wrong for saying no to Paul’s prayer?
No/// because the greatest need that Paul has is to be content with God’s grace
10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
and in case you think that God as a Father is wrong for saying no to prayer…
then you have too small a view of God’s goodness
as he not only said no to Paul
and he not only says no to you, and to me
when we like children ask for things due to our own selfishness and lack of awareness of our greatest need.
But he said no to his own son
42 saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”