Pray, Pray, Pray: Matthew 7 1 7

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Pericope: Matthew 7:7—11 Title: Pray, Pray, Pray

I.                   Introduction:

a.       Biblical Contact Point: Jesus is concluding his Sermon. We have seen him work morally good ideas and turn them inside out; he shattered presumptions; he has recited common rules and flipped them over; he has pulled the rug out from under common piety. All the while he has used common idioms and figures of speech to relate, and then he transitions his audience to understand the real way of living for God. He calls his audience to respond, to make a choice. In Matthew 7:7—11 he does the same thing.

Read Text: Matthew 7:7—11

7 Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are 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!

b.      Homiletical Idea: if you want good gifts from the Father you have to ask.

Exegetical idea/ theme: The perfect Father gives good gifts to his children and expects them to ask.

c.       Personal Contact Point: What kind of good gifts does the Father want to give to you?

II.                Transitional Sentence: From the biblical text I want to give you three principles for receiving good gifts from the father.

III.             First Declarative Statement: The first principle of receiving good gifts from the Father is to ask, seek and knock. (v.7)

a.       Explanation: In the text there are three groups of imperatives in the text. That is, there are three groups of commands that Jesus wants the disciples to follow. The words are “ask,” “seek,” and “knock.” These are commands that are present tense. That means they are done now and have no particular end. Also, the words here are all similar words for prayer. So in other words it is like Jesus is saying, “pray, pray, and pray.” There are some who even say that they build on each other. For instance, we can start off by saying, “Please,” which is a little prayer. Then we may begin to speak and do something, “seek,” which is a prayer that is a little more intentional and energetic. Then, while we are continuing, the other might, “knock,” which is a loud noisy statement of our asking, and seeking. For instance, it is like the little kid who wants a cookie and cannot reach he cookie jar. He asks his mom nicely. She hears him. The he goes to find out where his mom is so he can ask. He finds she is behind a door and he knocks really hard to make sure she hears what he wants.

What exactly should you be asking for? The text does not say what we should ask for. I guess the answer to the question is what is it that you want? It seems from the context that you may ask for anything. The only thing is that God will give you what is good. Will he give you what you want? Maybe, as long as it is according to his will for your life. If it is harmful then he will not give it to you. For instance, for some a home would be a gift they would pray for, but for others God may want them to be mobile in ministry, so a house would dangerous.

b.      Illustration:  I have a family member who always had a weak bladder, especially when he was young. Consequently, he also had a weak system of reasoning and was therefore naïve and easily influenced. Well, one day, he and his brother were playing in their bedroom, when all of a sudden he jumped up and said, “I need to pee.” He ran out of the room to the only bathroom in the small apartment the family lived in. The door was shut and locked. His mother was taking a bath to relax as her two young boys had been intentionally irritating her all morning. He called through the door, “Mom, I need to pee.” His mother replied, “Wait a few minutes I am almost done.” We walked away and began to play again. A few moments later, he jumped up and looked at his brother and said, “I have to pee!” He ran to the door and this time he yelled, “Mom, I need to pee.” The mother submitted the same reply. This happened one more time with the young boy banging on the door and the young mom still giving the same reply. Then the older brother thought of a clever plan to alleviate the problem. He called over to the younger brother and explained, “Dude, you already wet mom and dad’s bed last night, look.” He brought the little brother over to the bed and showed him the wet spot still on his parent’s bed from where he accidentally went during the night, as he always slept with his parents when he was ill. “Look little bro, since it is already wet you might as well go on the bed again, since you cannot get into the bathroom.” For some reason this seemed to be good and sound advice, so the three year-old pulled over a stool and began urinating on the bed. Just as he began his mother walked out of the bathroom, and being a little more than surprised to see her son intentionally urinating on her bed exclaimed, “What are you doing!”

c.       Application: A silly story that happens to be true illustrates that even though you at first hear a “no” you must still be persistent. You cannot give up on something you are asking for. In fact, Jesus commands you to keep asking. So how can you ask? First, do not be afraid to ask for exactly what you are wanting. Second, write down what it is you are needing or wanting. Third, invite someone else to pray with you. This is a good practice to build community and also each other’s relationship with God. Finally, review what has happened in your life and the life of the person you are praying with to see if God has answered you. It may be that he has but not in the way you asked.

d.      Restatement: The first principle of receiving good gifts from the Father is to ask, seek and knock

IV.             Second Declarative Statement: The second principle of receiving good gifts from the Father is expecting your requests. (v.7-8)

a.       Explanation: It is not really easy to see in the English, but Jesus uses what is called a step parallelism. A step parallelism is a device that reveals a gradual climax or pinnacle. In the text we see the growth of the prayer from a general asking to growing, seeking, and asking to a loud knock that is a perseverant asking and seeking. In v. 8 we see the reciprocal of asking, seeking and knocking. Jesus says that whoever does those things will be answered accordingly. “Askers” will “receive,” “seekers,” will “find,” and “those who knock” will “have opened doors.” Jesus reiterates what he says in v. 7. The reiteration and repetition is way of making an exclamation. This is further proof that the Father will answer the petitions and prayers of his children. So what exactly are you expecting to receive? I think you will get what you put into the prayer and petition. If you simply stop at the asking point because it is too much work to do the other things then you may not get anything. I think that carries forward. The other thing to remember is that you may receive a “no” which is still an answer. Jesus in the garden prayed three times to be delivered in a different way, yet the Father was silent. It was not his will. Jesus waited and was expectant, but the Father was not going to grant the request as he did for Abraham thousands of years earlier. It seems from the mood of the verses Jesus is wondering why the children of God do not just ask. We see in the Bible people like Hannah, Abigail, and Samuel pray and expect something in return. The great example is Elijah. He was from human standards a weakling. He was always fearful for his life, but was still able to pray for fire to consume the priests of Baal. The power of prayer and expectation in prayer is based on the goodness of the Father and you have to remember that when you ask.

b.      Illustration: We used to have dog name Poochie. Poochie was a little Lhasa Apso lap dog that was pretty tough. Once he was bitten on the head and thrown by a large Husky. Anyway, Poochie loved to go outside. Taking him outside would not have been a problem except he did not do anything outside except go to the bathroom and that took a long time since he had to always find the perfect spot. If you simply let him out on his own he would walk off and it would take hours to find him. Moreover, Chicago winters are very cold and at night it is even colder and for some reason he loved to go out at night during the freezing cold. All this culminated into a whole house who did not want to take out the dog more than they had to. So our family would be very careful not to say, “outside.” As soon as someone would slip up and say “out” or “side” or “outside,” that little yappy dog would go insane barking and jumping around until someone took him outside.

c.       Application: You see Poochie had an expectation. His expectation was that if you said “outside” or any other words similar to it you would take him outside. How much more should we expect our Father to answer our requests? Too often we simply give up, but we should have a persistent patience that runs around in circles getting ready to hear our answer. One way to do this is be in consistent dialogue with God. For example it is said that Charles Spurgeon was not out of fellowship with God for more than 30 seconds. Paul says, “pray without ceasing.” Are you praying that way? Just speak with God consistently and expect an answer. Like I said before, a good way to see if God has answered you is to keep track yourself and with a partner. I think when you look at your record you will see that God is faithful in answering.

d.      Restatement: The second principle of receiving good gifts from the Father is expecting your request.

V.                Third Declarative Statement: The third principle of receiving good gifts from the Father is remembering he is the perfect Father. (v.9—11)

a.       Explanation: Jesus again uses a common rhetoric device to deliver his message. He uses a qal wahomer. A qal wahomer is simply a way of comparing to things in dramatic ways. Look at v. 9—11. Jesus says, your father is probably good to you. Despite your father being good to you he is living in a sinful world and he may and, in fact, he will, fail you even though he has good intentions. Despite his failings he will still give you things you need when you ask for them. Then, how much greater is a Perfect sinless Holy Father who does not fail and always gives you things you need.

Also, take a look at the comparisons Jesus makes. This is a synecdoche. A synecdoche is a device used to again compare ridiculous things. The child in the parable is asking for fish and bread. These are common foods for the area. However, the response could be that they receive a snake, or probably in the context an eel, or a rock. For the Jewish person either item was inedible and one is potentially harmful. You see the Father is greater than that. He will withhold the eel and the rock because though they may look like the real thing, a fish or loaf fr bread, they are harmful or useless to his child. We can expect God to always give with respect to our well being.

b.      Illustration: There once was a dad who knew his son loved to ride his bike. From early in the morning until the street lights were on, the boy would ride his bike. One day the dad thought that he would like to make his son’s bike riding experience more fun. So he did what his son had asked him to do sometime before and surprised him with a homemade ramp. He called his son in and brought him out to a beautiful long piece of plywood butted up against a nice long fallen tree. The lip of the plywood hung over the tree just enough to send the boy flying though the air back onto the concrete. The son was ecstatic that his dad built him a ramp. He called his friends and they all got together to jump the small ramp. The son wanted to go first so he got a good distance away….took a deep breath…and peddled like never did before. He zoomed past his friends and rapidly approached the ramp. As he got closer some of his nerve slipped and he began to lose speed. As he went up the glorious slice of plywood his speed had so declined, that the end of the ramp tipped and crashed against the ground. The boy went with the ramp, his front tire rolling in the ground and he smashed face first into the concrete. His lip was split pretty badly and his confidence in his dad’s ramp was forever diminished.

c.       Application: The boy wanted a ramp. His father who loved him gave him a ramp. The problem was it was dangerous since it was not what he needed at such a young age and he did not know how to use it. Our Father in heaven is the best Father. He does not give gifts that have the potential to harm even though they may look okay. Maybe the gift your Father is giving you is a “no” or even a “wait.” Since at this time it will harm you. Just know it is not out of anger or wrath he holds something from you. Also, when you receive a gift it is out of no special favor, so do not get arrogant. He loves all his children and gifts gives they need to accomplish his will to bring glory to his name.

d.      Restatement: The third principle of receiving good gifts from the Father is remembering he is the perfect Father

VI.             Conclusion: Jesus again uses common proverbs to address his disciples. He shatters bearers that have been established by the religious law and its leaders by telling his followers that anyone is allowed to approach the Father in prayer and ask for anything. What things does the Father want to do in your life? Maybe he wants to give you gift, but you are not asking for it. Why don’t you follow Jesus’ advice and Pray, Pray and Pray.

a.       Homiletical Idea: if you want good gifts from the Father you have to ask.

b.      Aim: get the audience to understand in order to receive they have to ask, seek, and knock because the Father gives good gifts to his children.

c.       Challenge: to change your prayer life be persistent and particular in prayer

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