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Matthew 7:7–11) You Can Trust God (Matthew 7:7–11) rayer—no subject is more precious or more help] that ever fell upon human ears.”5 I have needed. John Wallace (1802–1870), a Scot- titled this lesson “You Can Trust God.” tish clergyman, wrote, “[Prayer] moves the PHand which moves the world.”1 The British poet TO ANSWER YOUR PRAYERS Alfred Tennyson (1809–1892) said, “More things (7:7, 8) are wrought by prayer than this world dreams 2 First, the passage teaches that you can trust of.” US President Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), God to answer your prayers. Jesus said, “Ask, and referring to the dark days of the US Civil War, it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; said, “I have been driven many times to my knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had 3 who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and nowhere else to go.” to him who knocks it will be opened” (vv. 7, 8). In previous lessons on the Sermon on the Mount, we have received instruction and encour- Persistent Petitions agement regarding prayer. In Matthew 6:5–8, we The key words in verses 7 and 8 are “ask,” learned how not to pray: We are not to pray “to be “seek,” and “knock.” The word “ask” expresses seen by men.” In 6:9–15, we learned how to pray as desire. Phillip Brooks defined prayer as “a wish we studied “The Model Prayer.” Now, in 7:7–11, turned God-ward.”6 “Ask” also indicates de- we will be told what to expect when we pray. pendency on God.7 The word “seek” conveys a In the lesson before this one, we looked briefly sense of urgency. In Jeremiah 29:13 the Lord said, at Matthew 7:7–11 as it related to “getting along 4 “You will seek Me and find Me when you search with others.” In this lesson, we want to examine for Me with all your heart.” The term “knock” this potent passage more closely. It is my favorite suggests perseverance. The parallel passage in passage on the power of prayer. E. Stanley Jones Luke (11:9–13) follows Jesus’ parable of the man called it “the most intimate, the most gracious, who would not take “no” for an answer when he and the most utterly adequate offer of [divine was trying to get food for an unexpected guest (vv. 5–8). 1John A. Wallace (http://www.fullbooks.com/The- World-s-Best-Poetry--Volume-108.html. Internet; accessed Most agree that in the progression from “ask” 26 July 2008). to “seek” to “knock,” there is an increase in in- 2Alfred Tennyson, Morte d’Arthur, line 247; quoted in tensity. One writer illustrated the progression Frank S. Mead, comp. and ed., The Encyclopedia of Religious Quotations (Westwood, N.J.: Fleming H. Revell Co., 1965), with the account of a child who has bumped his 348. 3Abraham Lincoln; quoted in Frank S. Mead, comp. and ed., The Encyclopedia of Religious Quotations (Westwood, 5E. Stanley Jones, The Christ of the Mount (New York: N.J.: Fleming H. Revell Co., 1965), 342. Abingdon Press, 1931), 256. 4You may want to review the discussion of Matthew 6Mead, 337. 7:7–11 in the previous lesson “Getting Along with Oth- 7You may want to review the need to be “poor in spirit” ers.” (Matthew 5:3). 1 knee and wants his mother.8 He calls out for her, If anything is clearly taught in the Bible, it asking her to come. If there is no answer, he goes is that God answers prayer. “. out of 667 looking for her. If he discovers that she is in her prayers for specific things in the Bible there are room with the door shut, he pounds on the door 454 traceable answers.”10 I asked my Bible class until she answers. Another writer used the illus- for some of their favorite passages on God’s an- tration of a man trying to locate an old friend.9 swering prayer, and here are some of texts they He asks regarding his friend’s whereabouts. He shared:11 seeks the place where he lives. Then he goes and knocks on his door. I sought the LORD , and He answered me, And delivered me from all my fears It is interesting to note that the word “ask” (Psalm 34:4). begins with an “a,” “seek” with an “s,” and “knock” with a “k.” By a happy coincidence, when “Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received you put those letters together, they spell “ask.” them, and they will be granted you” (Mark Jesus wants us to ask. James wrote, “You do not 11:24). have because you do not ask” (4:2). However, The effective prayer of a righteous man can ac- Jesus does not want us to ask once and quit. He complish much (James 5:16b). wants us to keep on asking and not cease from asking. “Ask,” “seek,” and “knock” are all in the And whatever we ask we receive from Him present tense in the Greek, indicating continuous (1 John 3:22a). action. The AB has “Keep on asking,” “Keep on seeking,” and “Keep on knocking.” Jesus taught Many other passages could be listed to show His disciples “that at all times they ought to pray that God answers prayer, but no single passage and not to lose heart” (Luke 18:1). teaches this truth more clearly or with greater power than our text: “Ask, and it will be given to A Powerful Promise you; seek, and you will find; knock, and itwill be If we persist in prayer, here is the wonderful opened to you.” D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote, promise: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, “I cannot imagine a better, more cheering or a and you will find; knock, and it will be opened more comforting statement with which to face all to you” (v. 7). To make sure we do not miss the the uncertainties and hazards of our [lives]. message, the Lord repeated the promise and, if It is one of those great comprehensive and gra- possible, made it even stronger: “For everyone cious promises which are to be found only in who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and the Bible.”12 to him who knocks it will be opened” (v. 8). Some people protest: “Wait a minute! God The words of Jesus are true to some extent hasn’t answered my prayer! I’m hoarse from in all spheres of life—whether we are talking asking, I’m exhausted from seeking, and my about acquiring a skill, making money, improv- knuckles are bruised from knocking. But I ing our health, or reaching some other desired haven’t received or found, and the door is still goal. If we want something, we generally have shut tight!” Passages like Matthew 7:7–11 teach to persevere in seeking to attain it. Few goals are that God answers prayer, but they do not teach reached without earnest seeking. That which is that prayer is some sort of magical incantation generally true in the secular world is even more that compels God to say “yes” to our every wish. true in the spiritual realm. If we desire to be Other passages teach that there are conditions to blessed by the Lord, we must ask, we must ear- acceptable prayer. nestly seek, and we must persist in knocking. If We must ask according to God’s will. “This is the we will do these things, Jesus promised that we will receive, we will find, and the door of bless- 10 ings will be flung open. Eleanor L. Doan, comp., The Speaker’s Sourcebook (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan Publishing House, 1960), 193. 11Other texts given included Psalm 32:5; Hebrews 5:7; 8Richard Glover; alluded to in John R. W. Stott, The James 1:5; 5:14, 15. Message of the Sermon on the Mount, The Bible Speaks Today 12D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Studies in the Sermon on the series (Downers Grove, Ill.: Inter-Varsity Press, 1978), 184. Mount, vol. 2 (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Wm. B. Eerdmans 9Jones, 278. Publishing Co., 1959), 195. 2 confidence which we have before Him, that, if The biblical view is that life is a journey, a we ask anything according to His will, He hears journey full of perplexities and uncertainties.15 us” (1 John 5:14). What matters in this world is not so much the We must ask in faith. “But he must ask in faith problems we meet as whether or not we are ready without any doubting, for the one who doubts to meet them. One thing that will help us is the is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by certainty that God answers our prayers. the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord” (James TO GIVE YOU 1:6, 7). ONLY GOOD THINGS (7:9–11) We must pray unselfishly. “You ask and do not You can trust God to answer your prayers. You receive, because you ask with wrong motives, can also trust God to give you only good things. so that you may spend it on your pleasures” (James 4:3). Earthly Fathers (vv. 9, 10). Protesters speak up again: “Conditions for In the next section of our text, Jesus first prayer? So God just answers prayers if they spoke of earthly fathers: “Or what man is there meet all the conditions.
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