PRAYING… Matthew
7:7-11
A true story: Brenda was a
young woman who was invited to go rock climbing. Although she was scared to
death, she went with her group to a tremendous granite cliff. In spite of her
fear, she put on the gear, took a hold on the rope, and started up the face of
that rock. Well, she got to a ledge where she could take a breather. As she was
hanging on there, the safety rope snapped against Brenda’s eye and knocked out
her contact lens.
Well,
here she is on a rock ledge, with hundreds of feet below her and hundreds of
feet above her. Of course, she looked and looked and looked, hoping it had
landed on the ledge, but it just wasn’t there. Here she was, far from home, her
sight now blurry. She was desperate and began to get upset, so she prayed to
the Lord to help her to find it.
When
she got to the top, a friend examined her eye and her clothing for the lens,
but there was no contact lens to be found. She sat down, despondent, with the
rest of the party, waiting for the rest of them to make it up the face of the
cliff. She looked out across range after range of mountains, thinking of that
Bible verse that says, "The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the
whole earth." She thought, "Lord, You can see all these mountains.
You know every stone and leaf, and You know exactly where my contact lens is.
Please help me."
Finally,
they walked down the trail to the bottom. At the bottom there was a new party
of climbers just starting up the face of the cliff. One of them shouted out,
"Hey, you guys! Anybody lose a contact lens?" Well, that would be
startling enough, but you know why the climber saw it? An ant was moving slowly
across the face of the rock, carrying it!
When
she told her father the incredible story of the ant, the prayer, and the
contact lens, he drew a picture of an ant lugging that contact lens with the
words, "Lord, I don’t know why You want me to carry this thing. I can’t
eat it, and it’s awfully heavy. But if this is what You want me to do, I’ll carry
it for You." We need to remember these words when we are asked to do
something that we feel is too heavy for us to do and or carry. "God, I
don’t know why you want me to carry this load. I can see no good in it and it’s
awfully heavy. But, if you want me to carry it, I will."
God
is our heavenly father who wants His children to come boldly to him and ask him
to do anything in prayer, in the story it was finding a lost contact lens. What
have you lost, that you need help finding it? What do you need restored in your
life? What questions do you need answered? What miracles are you expecting? We will
be joining in a 21 Days of Prayer initiative of CONVERGE, praying, for
ourselves, our Church, our conference, our country and the world.
What better way to start the New Year than by
PRAYING…? Matt 7:7-11
On
this first Sunday in 2018, we are looking at a portion of the first message
ever delivered by Jesus Christ primarily to his disciples, famously referred as
the sermon on the mount. After encouraging the disciples to cultivate, “The
Beatitudes,” he reminded them of their ongoing relationship with the world,
with one another above all with God
He
taught them, how to approach God through prayer. He said, pray then in this
way, “Our father Who is in heaven, hallowed (kept holy) be Your name.” This
shows the kind of relationship that God desires to have with his children. He
expects his children to relate to him as their heavenly father. Let’s keep this
in mind as we explore the verses from Ch 7:7-11.
I. ASK…SEEK…KNOCK
Vs
7-8 “Ask and it will
be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened
to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who
seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”
Ask… Seek…Knock. Greek present imperatives are used here, indicating
continual asking, seeking and knocking. In the Amplified version it reads,
“Keep on asking and it will be given you; keep on seeking and you will find;
keep on knocking reverently and the door will be opened to you.” This is to
emphasize the fact that our prayer shouldn’t be a one-time thing, but should be
persistent and constant.
This
reminds me of the wrestling match that Jacob had with the angel of God all
night. When the angel said, let me go, for the day is breaking, Jacob said, I
will not let You go unless you declare a blessing upon me. (Genesis 32:36). God
spoke through Isaiah, what kind of attitude Israelites needed to have in
prayer. “I’ve
posted watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem.
Day and night, they keep at it,
praying, calling out, reminding God to remember. They are to give him no peace until
he does what he said, until he makes Jerusalem famous as the City of Praise.”
Isaiah 62:6-7. When it comes to prayer, we need to develop
such tenacity.
There’s a supposedly true story of a
Welsh woman who lived in a remote valley in Wales. She went to a great deal of
trouble and expense to have electrical power installed in her home. However,
after a couple of months, the electric company noticed she didn’t seem to use
very much electricity at all. Thinking there might be a problem with the
hookup, they sent a meter reader out to check on the matter. The man came to
the door and said, "We’ve just checked your meter and it doesn’t seem that
you’re using much electricity. Is there a problem?" "Oh no" she
said. "We’re quite satisfied. We turn on the electric lights every night
to see how to light our lamps and then we switch them off again."
Why didn’t this woman make more use
of her electricity? She believed in electricity, she believed the promises of
the electric company when they told her about it she went to a great deal of
trouble and expense to have her house wired for it, but she didn’t understand
the potential of electricity in her home, and so she used its power sparingly.”[1] Similarly, there
are people who use prayer very much the same way. They believe in prayer. They
know of the promises God has made. They’ve even read and heard stories about
answered prayers, but they use prayer’s power sparingly or give up soon before
they see a breakthrough.
Jesus
illustrated this attitude of never giving up in prayer, in this parable. “In a certain city there was a judge
who neither reverenced and feared God nor respected or considered
man. And there
was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying,
Protect and defend and give me justice against my
adversary. And for a time, he would not; but later he said to himself, though I
have neither reverence or fear for God nor respect or have consideration
for man, yet because this widow continues to bother me,
I will defend and protect and avenge
her, lest she give me intolerable annoyance and wear me out by her
continual coming or at the last she come and rail on me or assault
me or strangle me. Then the Lord said, listen to what the unjust judge
says!
And will not [our just] God
defend and protect and avenge His elect (His chosen ones),
who cry to Him day and night? Will He defer them and delay help on
their behalf? Luke 18:1-7This parable illustrates the fact that God answers
persistent and constant prayers. But what kind of things can we ask God for?
II.
WHAT ARE WE TO ASK GOD IN PRAYER?
Very
early on
in his ministry Jesus encouraged his disciples not to worry about three basic
needs of all human beings, and they are food to eat, water to drink and clothes
to wear. He assured the disciples that their heavenly father know that they
need them and He is eager to provide those needs. In order to drive this point
home, he asked them to consider the birds of the air how they don’t sow are
reap, yet your heavenly father feeds them.
Here
is crucial lesson we all need to learn. If God could take care of the birds he
can certainly take care of us his children. It is generally believed,
especially in the field of medicine, that if a medicine works to cure a certain
disease in animals they conclude that it would also work for humans. Similarly,
if depending on God works for the animal kingdom, it would work us humans too.
How do I know this dependency on God is working for animals?
Psalm,
104 talks about how God is taking care of the basic needs of the animal world. Vs,
10-13, “God makes springs pour water into the ravines, they flow between the
mountains giving water to the beasts and the wild donkeys.” Vs 14-15, He causes
vegetation to grow for the cattle and all that the earth produces for man to
cultivates, that he may bring forth food out of the earth, and wine that
gladdens the heart of man.”
Vs
21, “the young lions roar after their prey, and seek their food from God.” Vs
27, “these all wait and are dependent upon You, that You may give them their
food in due season.” Vs 28-29, “When God
gives food they gather it up from his hands. When he hides his face, they are
troubled and dismayed. When he takes away their breath they die and return to
their dust.” What an incredible lesson we can learn just by observing the
animal world.
Coming
back to our passage, Jesus draws a parallel between human parents and our
heavenly father by saying, Vs 9-10, “Which of
you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a
snake?
Bread and fish were the basic staples of
the Galilean diet. Most Jewish fathers were dependable providers for their
children. When I joined YWAM in 1985 for the first time in my life I learned
the truth that I can trust God for my survival. Example: God giving me bread.
Back
to our passage, in Vs 11, we will notice a shift taking place. Jesus was
lifting the focus of his disciples from earthy and physical things to heavenly
and spiritual things, Vs11, “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to
give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in
heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
The
emphasis here is, “how much
more.”
Jewish
teachers (and some Gentiles) often used analogy arguments from “lesser to
greater. When it comes to asking in the Bible we need to keep in mind that asking
is not demanding, but it is begging. It is often, a lesser appealing to the
greater or a lowly to the higher, a weaker to the powerful. The seeking is by
the inferior from the superior, by a beggar from the giver, by the child from
the parent by man from God.
As
we enter into our 21 Day of prayer focus, let’s remember that Jesus is inviting
us to ask him anything in prayer and he will do it for us. Therefore, let’s
boldly and confidently come before him in humility and reverence, not in a
demanding way, remind him of his promises.
In Philippians
4:6-8 we are told how are we to bring our prayers to God. “Do not be anxious about anything, but
in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your
requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all
understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” In
2018, like little children we will boldly come into our heavenly
father’s presence through prayer. May we experience his power to heal, to
provide, and to protect us in a fresh and renewed way. Let’s grow in our praying,
recognizing that “Every good and perfect gift is from
above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not
change like shifting shadows.” Amen!
