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Matthew 7.7-12 (Prayer and the Golden Rule)

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Matthew 7.7-12 (Prayer and the Golden Rule) Gospel of Matthew Matthew 7:7-12 The King’s Sermon – Prayer and the Golden Rule One of the first things we should consider when we come to a text is the context. What is the significance of Christ’s teaching about prayer in this section? Is there a connection to His previous teaching about judging others? We obviously need wisdom and guidance from God in order to know when and how to judge properly, as we studied in our last lesson (7:1-6). We also need God’s help in obeying and applying the Golden Rule (7:12). So this passage on prayer and the Golden Rule is extremely practical. Why Pray? Before we examine the specific teaching of this passage, let’s consider some basic truths about prayer. Christ had many things to say about prayer. He gave us the model prayer (Lord’s Prayer), and He warned us not to pray as the hypocrites and the heathen. Of the many Biblical reasons given for prayer, here are three basic ones: 1. God commands and expects us to pray Luke 18:1 And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 Pray without ceasing. God does not command us to sing or teach or preach or give or work without ceasing, but He does command us to pray without ceasing. When the pastor asked a young boy in his congregation if he prayed every day, the youngster said, “No, not every day. Some days I don’t want anything.” 2. God hears and answers prayer One of the greatest realities is that God hears and answers our prayers. Psalms 65:2 O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come. What peace and joy that provides for God’s children. 3. God is pleased and honored when we pray In prayer we demonstrate our faith and we give God praise and thanksgiving. Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Faith honors God and therefore, God honors faith. Christ’s Teaching on Prayer: 1. Christ gave a 3-fold command and promise There is a rising scale of intensity in these commands (ask, seek, knock). Hendriksen makes these observations: “Asking implies humility and a consciousness of need. The verb (ask) is used with respect to a petition which by an inferior is addressed to a superior. Seeking is asking plus acting. It implies earnest petitioning, but that alone is not sufficient. A person must be active in endeavoring to obtain the fulfillment of his needs. Knocking is asking plus acting plus persevering. One knocks again and again until the door is opened” (William Hendriksen, New Testament Commentary: Matthew, 361-362). Asking implies the simplicity of prayer. Seeking implies intensity. Knocking implies urgency. First, there is desire, then determination, and finally desperation. A good example of knocking or persistence in prayer is found in Luke 11:5-9, in the story about the man who knocked on his neighbor’s door at midnight. He would not be denied because it was an emergency situation. The word “importunity” (Lk. 11:8) means shamelessness. This man was not ashamed to knock on his neighbor’s door and keep on knocking until he got what he needed. Christ teaches that we should be consistent and persistent in our prayers. Along with the command to ask, seek, and knock, Jesus offered the assuring promise that we will receive, find, and the door will be opened to supply our need. Notice this assurance in the words “every one” (Mt. 7:8). 2. Christ gave a 3-fold question and conclusion Christ reinforced His promise with a powerful illustration of a father and child (Mt. 7:9-11). This argument is from the lesser to the greater. If earthly fathers who are limited and sinful give good things to their children, how much more will our heavenly Father give good things to His children. We should interpret Christ’s teaching here in its context. The good things of which Christ speaks would surely include the restraint needed to avoid self-righteous criticism of others and the wisdom needed to exercise proper discernment (7:1-6). What to Do When Prayer is Unanswered: When we seem to be asking, seeking, and knocking for the good things that God would provide, and yet we don’t receive, find, and the door remains closed, what must we do? We need to examine our prayers in the light of other Scriptures: 1. Am I praying in line with God’s will? 1 John 5:14-15 14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: 15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. 2. Am I praying with the right motive? James 4:3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. One young lady tried to cloak her selfish motive by praying: “Lord, please send my mother a rich and handsome son-in-law.” 3. Am I praying with unconfessed sin in my life? Psalms 66:18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. 4. Am I praying with a disregard for God’s Word? Proverbs 28:9 He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination. Christ’s Teaching on the Golden Rule: 1. This rule is a broad summary of Biblical teaching The word “therefore” ties verse 12 to the Lord’s previous teaching. We should judge others the way we want them to judge us, and we should pray for others the way we want them to pray for us. Christ said this is the law and prophets, which means this Golden Rule is a summary of Old Testament scripture (Mt. 5:17). Hendriksen likens this principle to “a pocketknife or carpenter’s rule, always ready to be used, even in a sudden emergency when there is no time to ask for the advice of a friend or to consult a book” (New Testament Commentary: Matthew, 363-364). 2. This rule is a principle of conduct for God’s people The Golden Rule is not a way of life for sinners, but a way of life for saints. In other words, we are not saved or reconciled to God by keeping the Golden Rule. We keep the Golden Rule because we are saved by grace and we are obedient servants of the King. Our desire and ability to treat others as we want to be treated are only possible by God’s strength and His grace. Apart from the Holy Spirit’s work in regeneration and sanctification, obedience to the Golden Rule is impossible. Our love and proper treatment of others is the result of our love for God and commitment to His will. Paul tied our love for others to our love for God and obedience to His Word, Romans 13:8-10 8 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. 9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbor: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. Galatians 5:14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Galatians 6:2 Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. Hendriksen commented on the important differences between Christ’s Golden Rule and similar rules that come from non-Christian religions or religious liberals: “The non-Christian religious prophet views his rule as a requirement which man is able to fulfill in his own strength, or at best in the strength of someone or something other than the true God, who revealed himself in Jesus Christ. Scripture emphatically denies that he has this ability. The religious liberal has a tendency to separate the rule of love for man from the commandment of love for God. He generally minimizes the latter’s importance. According to his view the Golden Rule is the sum and substance of all ethics. The one thing important in life, as he sees it, is rendering service to fellowmen. It is in support of this contention that an appeal is made to Christ’s Golden Rule. But such an appeal is unjustified, for in the sermon the Golden Rule is preceded by a lengthy discourse in which Jesus, by clear implication, teaches us to love God above all. Now it is in the light of that attitude toward our heavenly Father that we, as his children, are exhorted to love our neighbor, whom God created as his image. To be sure, the rule of the modernist resembles Christ’s Golden Rule. Its music is the same in pitch, but not in quality, just as a note played on the piano differs very much in quality from the same note played on an organ.
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