Thursday, March 8, 2018

ASK

Matthew 7:7

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

Ask. Seek. Knock. These three words are the familiar guidance from Jesus on persistence in prayer and our approach to God.

These three words, however, have directions for us in our prayer life that often go unexplored. Today we are going to try to explore them. The first thing that we should note is that the language experts tell us that the words used in the original Greek manuscripts for ask, seek and knock are words that imply continually asking, seeking and knocking.

The persistence being implored here in the passage, Matthew 7:7-11, suggests a persistence in a context where we have an understanding of who God is, and what He has tasked us to do. Jesus emphasises that God, like earthly fathers, will only give good gifts to his children whom He loves. “If you then, being 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!” Matthew 7:11.

Persistence is a virtue that we need to develop. However, persistence requires a context in which to flourish. Persistence requires an absolute assurance that God is there, that He loves us, and that He is able to come through for us. Jesus tells a story in Luke 11:5-13 that teaches the same principle. There we have the story of a friend coming in a time of need to the home of another. A time that seems inconvenient and a situation where the friend is reluctant to move.

The man who came to the house was facing an embarrassing situation caused by a guest who arrived late and at a time when he had an empty larder. The man came with a request and disturbs his friend’s entire family. Despite these conditions, the friend knocked with “shameless persistence” until his need was met. The difference here is that we have a loving God, not a reluctant friend.

So back to the words, ask, seek, knock. The asking must be a function of us knowing what God has called us to do. It’s not asking like the covetous person who just wants what the other person has, and it’s not asking like the petulant child that is throwing tantrums because he cannot get his way. James writes about those saying to them, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.” James 4:3.

Seeking speaks to the fact that we understand that there is a level of effort that is required of us. That prayer is not a casual mumbling of a few words in moments of convenience or times of routine. But rather that there is a treasure there to be uncovered, that there is a beauty in the pursuit and not just in the getting. Something that we must put in the effort to seek out.

Knocking is where the persistence really is. It is when we knock and keep knocking that the doors are open. Some come by, look and see the locked door and move on. Some come by knock and if no one opens after a while the move on. Some others stand at the door and knock persistently until there is a response from the inside. That is the kind of persistence that Jesus encourages.

Sometimes we ask why we must persist in prayer. If God hears why He doesn’t just answer and let’s move on. There is a story about Daniel who had set his mind to pray about something that God had indicated through prophecy would take place. Daniel fasted and prayed for three weeks about the same one thing. When he finally heard from God’s messenger he got a sense of what takes place in the heavenly realms sometimes, delaying the answers to prayer. This is not always the reason, but it is one of the reasons.

Then he said to me, “Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia. Now I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision refers to many days yet to come.” Daniel 10:12-14.

Daniel kept on asking, kept on seeking, kept on knocking until his answer came through all of the resistance in the spiritual realms to him.

The passion and intensity (and persistence) with which we pray is a demonstration of the depth of our need and desire on the one hand, and our faith and confidence in God to deliver, on the other.

This need for persistence is so central to Jesus’ teaching on prayer that it appears several times in the Gospel accounts. There is another story in Luke 18:1-7 about a persistent widow. There Jesus said, “And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them?” Luke 18:7.

We persist because our God will come through for us based on His love for us.

Think on these things:

1. Do you have a clear sense of your calling and are your prayers aligned with what God has called you to do?
2. Are you seeking to know God to whom you pray or are your prayers simply the requests for what you need?
3. If you do not see answers to your prayers do you persist with them or do you just let them go?

Prayer focus:

Let us pray today that we would be persistent in prayer.

In His Grace

Pastor Alex