The sermon "Ask, Seek, Knock" by Pastor Greg elucidates the concept of prayer within the context of Matthew 7:7-11. Pastor Greg stresses that prayer is more than simply requesting things from God and expecting immediate results; instead, it should be viewed as a consistent and passionate pursuit of God's will. The message serves as a reminder of Jesus' teachings on humility, repentance, mercy, love, and righteous living, and encourages aligning one's desires and actions with God's kingdom through prayer. Pastor Greg underlines the importance of the verbs 'asking,' 'seeking,' and 'knocking' in the context of prayer. These actions are seen to build upon each other, demonstrating the importance of continuous engagement and perseverance in prayer. The sermon highlights the goodness of God in providing His children with good gifts when they ask earnestly. Even in adverse circumstances, one can derive good gifts from God. Pastor Greg repeatedly emphasizes the significance of an individual's consistent engagement with God and hunger for righteousness in effectual prayer. The overarching message of the sermon is the advocacy of a prayer life rooted in intimacy with God. Pastor Greg concludes by challenging his listeners to ask boldly, seek passionately, and knock persistently, with the confidence that God hears and answers prayers. Even in situations where prayers seemingly go unanswered, he encourages the congregation to maintain the perspective that God is always working for their wellbeing.

Read Matthew 7:7-12

We are nearing the close of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus’ greatest sermon – last week, Josh walked us through the first 6 verses of Matthew 7 on how we judge others, and remember the point was not that we shouldn’t judge, or discern when people are struggling, but we should be humble and recognize our own sin patterns before calling out other people’s sin

Now Jesus is going to once again focus on one of the most important disciplines we practice in the spiritual life – PRAYER – If you remember last month, Jesus gave a model prayer in Matthew 6, The Lord’s Prayer – Now, here in Matthew 7, he is once again drilling down on the subject – this is probably one of the most misused passages in scripture, because when taken out of context, it becomes “name it and claim it” theology, meaning If I ask, seek and knock, that God is now required to give me what I want – clearly that’s not the case, because we don’t all live in a million dollar home, driving a $100K car, with the lotto money we won – so, Jesus is driving at something more here – He is actually inviting the original hearers, and you and me, into a life of prayer – If what Jesus is saying here is true, that asking, seeking and knocking is the key to unlocking the Kingdom of Heaven in my life, then why don’t I pray more consistently and more persistently? 

Leonard Ravenhill put it this way: “The self-sufficient does not pray, the self-satisfied will not pray, the self-righteous cannot pray. No man is greater than his prayer life.”

V7 – “ask, seek, knock…” – The implication here is “be asking, be seeking, be knocking” – it is an ongoing process – but these verbs seem to build on each other – Sam Storms says, “Asking is step one, Seeking is asking plus acting, Knocking is asking plus acting plus persevering” –

So, asking is simply PARTICIPATING in prayer, seeking is PASSIONATELY PURSUING God in prayer, and knocking is PERSISTENTLY PURSUING God in prayer

V8 – Jesus double down on his promise: What you ask for you will receive, what you seek, you will find, when you knock, the door will be opened – If you’re like me, this can be confusing or a complete disconnect, because I know for a fact that I don’t get everything I pray for – so, maybe WHAT I PRAY FOR IS AS IMPORTANT AS THE ACT OF PRAYER ITSELF 

Remember, if you read through this sermon, he has indicated that the humble, the repentant, the meek, the hungry and thirsty for righteousness, the merciful, peaceful, the pure in heart, the ones willing to suffer for the sake of righteousness are the ones who get the Kingdom of heaven – and the ones who love their enemies, the ones who are sacrificial, the ones who have eternity in view by the way they store up eternal things instead of possessions, the ones who don’t worry but seek HIS KINGDOM FIRST, the ones who don’t judge others MORE than they judge themselves, they are the carriers of the Keys to the Kingdom

What if the context of this section is actually part of his epilogue? That Jesus is saying, “I’m sure you’re overwhelmed by now, because what I am describing is virtually impossible without me. So, come to me, ask me, earnestly seek me, persistently knock on my door, and I will give you ALL OF THIS – Maybe Jesus us saying here that a life of complete SURRENDER is required to experience the fullness of the KINGDOM of HEAVEN that is outlined in this message -

This concept is consistent throughout scripture 

2 Chronicles 7:14 – the implication here is that HUMILITY and REPENTANCE are ingredients to answered prayer

Psalm 37:4 – When I am delighting in the LORD, I am aligned with his purposes, his will, and he is aligning my desires with his desires – so I get the desires of my heart because they are HIS DESIRES

Jeremiah 29:11-14a – God has good things in store, and he says come and pray to me, and WHEN YOU SEEK WITH ALL YOUR HEART, YOU WILL FIND ME

John 16:24 – Ask IN MY NAME and you will receive – but contextually, he has just told them about the Holy Spirit who will guide them in all truth and will remind them of everything he has said to them – so, again, he is saying that when you are asking ACCORDING TO HIS WILL, you will receive

How do you develop this kind of prayer life? The kind of prayer life where you and God are in sync, and you are actually praying for the things that are on HIS HEART? Jesus has already given us the answer in Matthew 6:6 – The reward happens in the Secret Place with him

This does not come easy for me, because I am generally in a hurry – I often lack the discipline to just be still, commune with and be one with God – This kind of prayer life is not fast but slow, not tepid or timid but passionate, not one and done, but persistent – Like anything else, it takes time to develop the listening skills necessary to hear God, digest his character and nature, become like him, so I begin to pray not MY HEART AND WILL but HIS HEART AND WILL

Mother Teresa was asked in a 60 minutes interview, “When you pray to God, what do you say to Him?” She answered, “I don’t say anything: I Listen.” The interviewer followed up by asking, “What does God say to you?” She replied, “He doesn’t say anything: He listens” – What did she mean? She was so in tune with God, that they were one, that her thoughts had become his thoughts – What would it be like to have that kind of intimacy with God?

V9-11 – Jesus uses the “how much more” contrast here between man and God – If your child is hungry, even you, a sinful person will feed him – HOW MUCH MORE will God give good things to those who ask him – two thoughts: GOD IS GREATER, and he only GIVES GOOD THINGS

James 1:17 – Every good and perfect gift comes from God – God only gives good gifts – even the hard things in life are gifts, because as James says earlier in chapter one, even the hard things are working for our maturity and completeness, so the hard stuff is often the BEST STUFF

Believing that God is good even when things are difficult is often the hardest part – Acts 12, Peter is put in prison by Herod, and heavily guarded – and verse 5 says the church was earnestly praying for him – So, do you get the scene? Peter is jailed for the cause of Christ – How could he keep faith while in such a desperate circumstance – BUT GOD – he sends an angel to deliver him from prison – The angel removes his chains and walks him out of the jail and through the city gates – Peter, upon being released goes to his friend’s house and knocks on the door – a girl named Rhoda goes to the door, sees Peter and goes back to the remnant who had been praying and says, “Peter is at the door” – their response? “You’re just seeing things – it couldn’t possibly be Peter” – but as Rhoda persuaded them to go to the door, verse 16 says they opened the door and were ASTONSIHED that Peter was there – What a faith builder that must have been!

Billy Graham once said: “Heaven is full of answered prayers that no one bothered to ask.”

So, what is the point of the passage today? Jesus clearly wants us to pray, but not just our own selfish prayers, but prayers that are aligned with his heart – these prayers are the prayers that unlock the Kingdom of Heaven in your life

Here are a few ideas to take with you as you think about prayer: 

1. Effective prayer begins as you PARTICIPATE in the Secret Place. James 5:16 says that the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. And Jesus said in Matthew 5:6 that the pathway to being filled with righteousness begins with a hunger and thirst for it. And a key indicator of that hunger is showing up daily to be with God

2. Seek the Lord PASSIONATELY in prayer. There is no place for timidity in the Kingdom – pray BELIEVING that God will answer you.

3. Be PERSISTENT in prayer. Don’t give up just because you pray for something once and it doesn’t happen the way you want it to. Sometimes God’s answer is no, but sometimes it is NOT YET. Often God wants you to develop perseverance, to keep praying – Galatians 6:9 – DON’T GIVE UP

4. Pray with the PERSPECTIVE that God is always working for your good. As you pray, remember that God only gives good gifts, even when they appear hard. He is always up to something good. Always pray with eternity in view.