Sermon Tone Analysis

*          The Sermon on the Mount – Asking & Receiving  Mt.

7:7-11*

                                       */PART 2 Receives, Finds, & Opened/*

* Mt. 7:7-11*“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 he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

9  Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?

10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?

11 If you then, being 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!

* *

*We found last week what it means to ask, seek, and knock.*

*ASK   **154*.

*1* to ask, beg, call for, crave, desire, require.

*SEEK **2212 *to seek in order to find.

1a to seek a thing.

1b to seek [in order to find out] by thinking, meditating, reasoning, to enquire into.

*KNOCK **2925 * to knock: at the door.

/(to seek entrance into the will of God)/

* *

*We found that this includes but is not limited to prayer, study, and effort, *

We ask in prayer

For what we need

 

                        We seek by the study of God’s word & obtaining wise counsel

                        Searching for what the Lord says about it, the will of God

 

                        We knock on God’s door by persistent efforts

                        Trying to be in the will of God

(Desire to enter His presence, favor, grace)

 

*This is emphasized by the present tenses in the verbs: *

*“keep on asking”; “keep on seeking”; “keep on knocking”  *

Keep on asking for what you need

Keep on searching for what the Lord says about it, the will of God

Keep on trying to be in the will of God (desire to enter His presence, favor, grace)

* *

*It is the appointed means of; *

1.      Obtaining what we need,

2.      Learning the precepts he has given

3.

And the grace to obey the precepts he has given,

 

·        Prayer includes asking and getting answers from God.

But it is more than just asking;

It is confession, adoration, thanksgiving, and fellowship with God.

 

·        Study includes the gathering of knowledge, by reading, investigation, or reflection

But study is more than acquiring knowledge.

It is an effort to know the heart of God, the mind of God, and the will of God.

                       

 

·        To knock on God’s door is to desire an intimate relationship with Him.

But knocking on God’s door is more than just the desire of fellowship with God.

It includes the total dedication & commitment of our heart, mind, body, and soul to Almighty God.

 

* *

*This week we will look at the results of asking, seeking, and knocking *

* *

*The Lord wants to give us of His good treasures*

 

asks, seeks, knocks, are followed by three verbs receives, finds, opened

/This is God’s response to those who seek his presence.

/

* *

*ASK & RECEIVE (what?)*

* *

*Prayer obtains mercy*

*Heb 4:16 *16  Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may *obtain mercy and find grace *to help in time of need.

* *

*Prayer saves the lost*

*Rom.10:13

*13 For /“whoever calls/  on the name of the Lord *shall be saved*.”

* *

*Prayer restores the backslider*

*1JOHN 1:9 *9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just *to forgive* us /our/ sins and *to cleanse* us from all unrighteousness.

* *

*Prayer keeps us from falling into temptation  *

*Mt.26:41* 41  Watch and pray, *lest you enter into temptation*.

The spirit indeed /is/ willing, but the flesh /is/ weak.”

*Prayer strengthens the saint*

*Jude 20 *20 But you, beloved,  *building yourselves* up on your most holy faith,             *praying* in the Holy Spirit,

* *

*Prayer bestows peace*

*Phil.

4:6 *6  Be anxious for nothing, but in everything *by prayer* and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and  *the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

*

 

*Prayer heals the sick*

*James 5:14 *14 Is anyone among you sick?

Let him call for the elders of the church, and *let them pray over him*,  anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.

15 And *the prayer of faith will save the sick*, and the Lord will raise him up.

And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

16 1Confess /your/ trespasses to one another, and *pray for one another*, *that you may be healed*.

*The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.*



 

*Prayer accomplishes the impossible.*

*ACTS 12:5 *5 *Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church*.

6 And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night *Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers*; and the *guards before the door were keeping the prison*.

7 Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by /him,/ and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, “Arise quickly!” *And his chains fell off /his/ hands*.

8 Then the angel said to him, “Gird yourself and tie on your sandals”; and so he did.

And he said to him, “Put on your garment and follow me.”

9 So he went out and followed him, and  did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision.

10 When they were *past the first and the second guard posts*, they came to *the iron gate that leads to the city,  which opened to them of its own accord*; and they went out and went down one street, and immediately the angel departed from him.

11 And when Peter had come to himself, he said, “Now I know for certain that  *the Lord has sent His angel, and  has delivered me *from the hand of Herod and /from/ all the expectation of the Jewish people.”

*James 5:17 *17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and  *he prayed* earnestly that it would not rain; *and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months*.

18 And he prayed  again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.

*Prayer imparts wisdom*

*JAMES 1:5 *5  *If any of you lacks wisdom*,  *let him ask of God*, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, *and  it will be given to him*.

* *

*Prayer reveals the will of God*

*Luke 11:9 *9 “So I say to you, *ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you*.

10 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

* *

*/PRAY BELIEVING/*

*JAMES 1:6 *6  But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.

7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

* *

* *

* *

*Prayer must be according to the will of God*

*1 John 5:14 *14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, *that  if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us*.

15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

* *

*SEEK & FIND*

 

You will *find* */Him/* if you seek Him w~/ all your heart w~/all your soul    *Dt 4:29*     

/            find God/

Lord grant that you may *find* *rest,*     *Ru 1:9*     

/            Rest/

So you will *find** favor*      *Pr 3:4*     

/            Favor & good understanding in the sight of man & God/

 

They (my words) are life to those who *find* them (*/The words of life/*)      *Pr 4:22*     

 

And I *find* *knowledge /and/ discretion*.

*Pr 8:12*