Ask, Seek, Knock, Part 1 - Feb. 16, 2020

If you have your Bibles be turning over to Matthew chapter 7 Matthew chapter 7th. We're going to begin in a moment by this morning with starting a new sermon series. This one won't take nearly as long as the last one. It'll just be a three or four weeks at most, but it's over a very very important idea in Christian's lives. And that is the idea of prayer. What is prayer your Christians are known as people who pray praying is a very religious thing to do, but I found to my own life to studying with others through this through my Ministry in through my Years of Living that prayer is something most of us struggle with at least at different points in our lives. How do we do it? Why do we do it? What effect is it supposed to have in my life? What what am I supposed to be trying to do when I pray almost seems ironic because when you look at scripture prayer is all through its prayer is a Cornerstone of what it means to be a Christian yet. Most of us as Christians struggle in our prayer life. Maybe not all the time. But at least sometimes it for some of us we struggle quite a bit most of the time because it's a it's a skill. We failed to develop. Alright prayer isn't something that necessarily comes naturally. Prayer isn't something that we just automatically know how to do we do it well and we do it right prayer is well, it's communication and I'm getting ahead of myself before we get to that look over the Matthew Chapter 7. Matthew chapter 7 and I'm going to start reading and verse 7.

I'm going to read down to 12. So Matthew starting in chapter 7 verse 7 through 12. Ask and it will be given to you seek and you will find knock and the door will be open you for everyone who asks receives the one who seeks finds in the one who knocks the door. So the door will be open which of you is the ask for if your son asks for bread will give him a stone or if he ask for a fish will give him a snake if using though, you are evil know how to give good gifts to your children. How much will your father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him. So in everything do to others as you would have them do to you for this sums up the law and the prophets ask seek and knock. What are the struggles we have as Christians in this goes for everybody? So I don't care who you are. I don't care. How long you been a Christian. This is a struggle you have I know because we all do is the fact that our faith is based on a relationship or relationship with God. That relationship is not normal because God is not another person that we can simply turn to him and have a conversation with him the way we do with our friends the way we do with our spouse the way we do with our neighbors if we can just walk up the God and talk to God like talking to any other person it might be different but that's not the way this works. But any relationship and I mean any relationship the first Cornerstone of that relationship is communication If there's good communication the relationship will Thrive if this poor communication the relationship will falter. And again, it doesn't matter what relationship were talking about siblings friends spouses work Communications at the center of it all how many times we find ourselves in conflict with somebody because we failed to communicate correctly. We thought there was a problem the truth is there wasn't a problem. We just were so poor at talking to each other that we assume there was a problem until we finally do talk. We realized oops. We've been fighting about something that didn't really matter. No that happens to husbands and wives all the time. They they failed to communicate they make assumptions. The assumptions are wrong in the relationship hurts. Happens in business all the time a boss comes in said something to you. You didn't understand what they said. They didn't communicate clearly whatever the cause you make assumptions you jump to conclusions you get angry at what they said and then after the fact it turns out oops, you didn't actually say that at all. One time when I was in school as a preacher training school.

I'm not going to pretend like I was the best student. All right, cuz I'm in church and preaching and you shouldn't lie don't care where you are. So I was never the best student. All right, I'm particularly. What am I study so much as the school headed dress code. Yeah, look at your preacher. I don't do good with dress coats. And the dress code was slack shirt and tie. There was a problem I had with this dress code. Not that I had any problems like shirt and tie. I wear slacks wouldn't I if I feel it's appropriate no problem. I can clean up on occasion Tracy's good at doing that for me. The problem was we were all dead broke cuz you weren't allowed to work and go to the school. So all of us had to raise funds from churches are individuals or whatever to be able to go to the school. So none of us had any cash burning a hole in our pocket and I don't know the last time you went into a Dillard's or Macy's we're going to Walmart in the dress clothes section dress clothes aren't cheap. Are they So they had a way of helping us get around that there were several churches in the DFW area that have clothing closets. So when students got to dress in clothes old men died and left behind.

We look stupid. That was my opinion. Anyway, I'll be ugly stuff. I can find it was my way of rebelling and what I didn't realize is that the way I was dressing and by the way when you have a 18 inch neck finding dresser so you can actually button and yeah, I felt like I had a new surround my head most of the time somebody is always pull down a little bit. Clean shaven rule. You see how poor of a fit I was for the school. What I didn't realize is that in this case my behavior the way I was dressing with communicating something to the president of the school that I didn't realize. I meant something else happened me and a buddy of mine had an assignment and we needed to make how many remember what transparencies are. You got to be over a certain age. All right before we had all this fun stuff. You actually had to copy things on do sheets of clear plastic put them on overhead projector and that's how you did a demonstration or made visuals what I had to do that. The problem was the copiers. The students were allowed to use could not run overhead transparency. They would melt and destroy the copier but the school in the church office cuz this is in a church had a big nice awesome copier that can copy anything to me and my buddy David. We went in there after school one day and said we know we're not supposed to use this copier, but we just need to make a few overheads. Would that be? Okay? We ask Rose the secretary she said, yeah, no problem. She walked back punched in the code so we could use it. Right? No problem. There were two secretaries at this church. The other one walked in. What are y'all doing without what is making a couple copies? Well, I'm leaving. Okay. We'll turn out the lights when we go. I think we misunderstood what she was trying to communicate. She was trying to communicate we had no business being there and we needed leave. I totally missed it. The next day the director of the school Dave see my buddy was David. The director was Dave just gets a little confusing two very different people. He calls us both into the office. Okay? No problem. Go knock on his door walk-in. He looks at me and goes knock before you enter my office. I thought I did but I turned around and walked out shut the door not back in and what in the world is going on in me and my buddy walk in and we're standing in front of director Miller's desk and he said I'm that close to kicking the two of you out of here. And I kid you not I turned on my buddy Davis at are his fingers touching. Now that they're touching I'm gone. Cuz that means I got no chance. and then the director said we ask David. What do you graduate? He graduated in about a month Kenneth. What do you graduate? And I promise you the only thing went through my head was I really think that depends on how this conversation goes, but I did not say that out loud. I just said they're headed dumb look on my face, which I was very good at my buddy Dave answers for me and he the director for seeds to chew us out. And I walked out of that office. Turn my buddy. David said we just kicked out and have cuz I don't know if it were kicked out. I'm not going to go take this test. Cuz why am I going to waste my time? But I decided I'd risk it went took the test on my way driving home. I realized what all happened because he met the director made a couple of comments about one of the secretaries in the secretary that came in in in Sudley to subtly try to tell us we needed to leave and we couldn't be there had gone to the director and told them that we were rude and We snuck in and we didn't have permission to be there and then we wouldn't leave when she told us leave and is it all started to put together in my head? I'm like, this is wrong. I didn't do that. We were nothing but polite we got permission from the other person and because there was a lot of poor communication going on. I found myself in a really bad spot. I've been accused of things. I hadn't done. I was almost kicked out of school and just it was all pounding up. So driving back to school the next day. I decided something me and the director are going to have a talk. He wasn't there that morning, so I had to go through the whole school day and then inevitably because I wanted to go talk to him apparently, so did every other student in school, so I had to sit there for an hour after school waiting for his office to clear my stomach just turning the whole time. And finally, everybody walks out and the director missed. Your mother calls me in and I walked into his office and I looked at him and I said Dave you were wrong. And he looked at me and said you're right. I was I'm sorry. And then I almost passed out because of all the adrenaline.

What we talked about it. I really he realized the other secretary had not communicated clearly and that we had got permission. Actually thankfully the other the first one that we did ask had gone and defended us today when she found out what was going on with another in that a lot of what I was doing. With saying stuff to the director that I never intended to say. He thought I didn't take School seriously because the way I dress I said no. I just don't take this dress-code seriously because I can't afford to do it right but after that I'll change my ways a little bit. Communication is hard.

How do we then as Christians communicate with a guide is not flesh and blood like us. How do you communicate to a guide who resides in the heavens? That's how we normally think about him? How do we know this passage? We just read and Mark chapter 7 or Matthew chapter 7 is real how do we know that if we ask he will answer that if we seek he will reveal spend if we really try to enter his presence. He will always open the door the answer to all that lies in our prayer life. If we want to be strong faithful Christians, we have to learn to communicate with our father. The communication like we just talked about isn't easy know when it comes to this. It sounds like a great promise doesn't ask and you will receive seek and you will find knock and the door will be open but it doesn't always work. That way doesn't how many of us can raise your hand. If you want to have ask God for something that we did not receive. I raise my hand. It happened numerous times will talk more about that in the coming weeks as well. We'll talk about some of it today. How many of us have searched for God and we feel like we're still searching at times that we haven't found what we're looking for yet, but that we haven't arrived where we think we should have arrived. Well, the promise sounds great. There is a problem and its execution, but the problem is not God. The problem is me. The reason this promise doesn't always work that's on me because I'm not communicating the way I need to communicate with my father. Now. He gives us a few things here. He says ask. Let me ask you a question. What are you asking for? So many times in our prayers, what are we asking for? Trivial things little things talk about that more in a minute. She's okay seek, but what are we looking for? What what's her in goal? all this makes sense in the second knock but where are you trying to go? What door is it? You're trying to get through. The answer to these questions will determine the strength of your prayer life. If your prayer life is suffering, it's because you haven't found the right answer to these questions yet. All right.

This morning. I want to focus on the task for okay, that's where we're going to start. What are we asking for? The truth is we tend to ask for the wrong things. We tend to ask what the wrong motives we ask with the wrong attitude. If you have your Bibles turn over the book of James. Now I'm already out the screen the Book of James listen to what James has to say about this James chapter 4 starting to verse 1. What causes fights and quarrels among you don't they come from your desires that battle within you you desire but you do not have so you kill you cover, but you cannot get what you want. So you quarrel and fight you do not have. Why? Because you do not ask God.

When you ask you do not receive because you ask with wrong motives that you may spend what you gets on your pleasures and talk about this for a second. What do you think James means when he says you ask with the wrong motives?

Let me ask you to have a deep question this morning. What is your life about?

What's the most important thing in your life? Because whatever that is. That's what you're going to be asking for the most. The problem we face is a lot of times as we live our lives that main idea that main focus gets Miss focused. It gets put on the wrong things. My focus becomes more My Success. Maybe it starts to focus more and more. on my wealth or lack thereof Maybe my focus becomes more the people around me but not in a spiritual way. I'm talking in a more. selfish way the easiest lie for us to believe that Satan has been telling us from the beginning of time is that our lives are all about us. Be at God has said repeatedly. No, it's not. If our lives were about us our lives will fail our lives are about him. He's the one who gave them. He's the one who sustained is he's the one who redeemed is he's the one that promises us a future. Our lives are not about ourselves if they're about ourselves. We're going to focus on the wrong thing. We're going to ask for the wrong thing for the wrong reasons in the wrong motives. So the first problem in our prayer life is we lose focus.

this past week I pulled the

well duh moment. In front of my parking lot my house my driveway. Yeah, that's the right word. I'll get there eventually. In front of my driveway, there is a little metal post about that tall it is there because there used to be a basketball goal sitting years ago A storm blew the basketball go on to our car. So we got a nice little Memento of it got rid of the basketball goal. Stop thinking about it. Normally when I'm in my truck I park on a certain cuz you know, we all have our thing Tracy parks on one side. I'll park on the other side. Once you do something three times. It's a tradition that can never be broke. Will one day this last week. I pulled up on the wrong side of the driveway and in my truck because it's a truck before I back into a little spot we have so I don't drive on the grass always pull up a little bit angle so I can cut it sharper. Will I did it from the wrong side to this? Nice little metal post caps for my bumper does It goes over it. And I don't realize it. And I start backing up. My truck is just in the world and then it Dawns on me. I've caught my bumper on the dumb pipe. But what do you do? You for it, of course.

What do you want to think my bumper look like when I look at it later? Yeah, it was all. wonky And I'm sitting here thinking why does this going to cost any answer as an auto repairs way more than I thought.

So what do you think was most important to me in that moment?

I'll give you a hint. It wasn't a truck. Here's where Satan gets has he puts little things in our way that seem far more important than they are. Yeah, it cost me money more money than I had at the moment. Thank you credit cards.

Do you know what I had the credit? I think I get 0% financing. That's always nice. It really wasn't a big deal still have my vehicle still could get to work still can take care of my wife and my kids and my family but if your focus is wrong and sometimes mine is I did a little better this time how many of us when we hit a situation like that? We just ordered buckle down like I don't got I don't know how I'm going to pay for this and that that that don't bill becomes the heart and soul of our existence.

And then we don't understand why God why aren't you paying this bill? I'm asking. Why am I not receiving?

Well, the answer is because we're still asking for the wrong thing. God isn't just about paying a bill if God is only role in my life is to make sure I get the bumper on my pickup truck straightened. That's not a real God needs to feel. If God's only role in my life is hey God help me get the promotion at work that I want if that's all it is. It's not going to work if God's only role in my life is God. Please keep my family and friends and everybody. I love safe and healthy. Then I'm going to be disappointed. Cuz that's not the role got supposed to play in my life. If God is God.

Then he's over everything. If God is God, it's not about any particular little thing going on. It's about everything all together. Sure, the bumpers important to me. I got to get it fixed my inspection stickers up cuz you know things always happen in that particular order. Okay, small trivial detail Even at work I get to promotion I make more money I can do more for my family. My life will be better God I need this. No you need God. The other would be nice and it's not to say that he won't provide it. But it's not what you need most. What you need most is your father in your life when we get so caught up on the details. We had all worried about what we want and what we need in our things that we forget. He's not just there for that. He's there for all of it.

prayer It's supposed to be a reminder of that. Prayer is supposed to help focus of another reality is if you stop and think about it. The guide know I needed a new bumper. before I did apparently I wish you would have warned me but He knows what's happening. Does God know that I can use with my money sometimes? Yeah, he knows my bank account honestly better than I do cuz often I'm confused apparently. Casino I want my family taking care of. Yes, he does. But more than all of that he knows that I need him. And that's what prayer is supposed to be. Prayer is about spending time with the one we need the most. When we make it about stuff. We really start to miss the point.

Give me bubbles come over to Matthew chapter 6.

I'm not going to read this whole passage. We read it a lot in different sermons. I'm I'll let you read the larger context this passage is about What are we looking for? What's our focus is our focus on the things we need to live this life or is our focus on something better. So God. So Jesus in The Sermon on the Mount says look, Why do you worry about what you're going to eat? Why do you worry about what you're going to wear? Why do you worry about where you're going to live when he gets a great illustration? He says the birds. They don't store up. They don't have a freezer in the garage. They don't keep a fridge that they don't have a savings account. But yet your father takes care of everyone of them. the flowers why they don't go to Neiman Marcus to shop when neither do I but flowers don't either But he says in all their Splendor Solomon doesn't get close to the flowers guys the one who dresses them and yet here today gone tomorrow. So then at the end of it he says this. So don't worry saying what should we eat or what? Should we drink or what should we wear for the pagans run after all these things and your heavenly father knows that you need them. Here's one of the mistakes. We make him prayer we go to God in prayer and we think we're filling him in on something. You don't know. We think oh God. I have this big problem and in a really need you to help me with this problem. Cuz here's the problem in the problem is got her Hindu. You're not you're not telling him something that he didn't already know better than you.

So why tell him at all? It's not to inform him. It's the commune with him. He already knows you need it. He already wants to care for you. He already has an answer for you. But sometimes we're so busy talkin. We never hear the answer. We're so busy seeking out things wanting things needing things that guys already said look, I know you need this stuff cuz these are the basic. I'll take care of this. You just need to trust me. That we failed to look for what's most important and that's in the next verse.

But seek first his kingdom. And his righteousness and look at that sparked all these things will be given to you as well. Cuz they're trivial. They're small. They may seem huge at the moment, but compared to our father compared to his kingdom compared to his righteousness now there nothing. Let's let let's pause for just a second. We're almost to the interior. What does it mean his kingdom and his righteousness?

ways Kingdom is the realm in which god reigns in which he is ruler in which he is supreme. Now granted he's ruler over everything but there's a special version of God's kingdom that is made up by those who submit to him. We think first. to submit to him

And I would argue that's why our prayers should start not with okay, God. Let me give you my list. Houston we would say our prayer list too often resemble our Christmas list. Now I would argue our prayer list too often resemble or Amazon wish list who has one of those. I have three I categorize.

God's not an Amazon wish list He's a king. He's more than a king. He's a God and he's more than that. He is our creator and our Lord. Zombie go to him in prayer. It's not with the shopping list. It's the communion with the one who made us. It is to submit to his will. How many of us? At times and I'm as guilty of this. Is anybody will say our prayers and give our list, but nowhere in the prayer do we honestly just stop and say but God you know what? Let me seek you Above All Else. The answer to this, you know what I want, but I want you more than that. I would argue most of us don't. We may end our prayer with not my will but thine be done. That's great if you mean it, but the problem with prayers and those we stay stuff we say stuff so frequently, we can say it without thinking about it. When I was in another church, I don't even say where does things get recorded? You never know who's going to listen to what?

That they were two men that were brothers. There were older older than me which makes them old actually are both in their seventies at this point only prayers in the church. and I was always fascinated by their prayers because they came out so fast and there was a almost a poetry to them but it came out so fast, it was really hard to follow and you can tell listen to both of them both the brothers that these were prayers. They have been praying a long long long time and to be honest and I'm not saying they didn't think about it, but you can tell it take thought necessarily be these were things that just were said until one day. They're 94 year old father. Gets up to lead a prayer cuz he's feeling better and he starts to pray in the knee thing was it was all the same phrases Institue Sons. But I could tell something was different these phrases were his and when he prayed them he prayed them with meaning and with sincerity and there was a depth to them. Let's be honest if son's didn't have because they were mimicking their father not in a bad way necessarily, but when we approached prayer as a list as a ritual as a formula. Prayer starts to lose its value. It starts to lose its meaning because there's not as much communication in that. When you pray What are you trying to do? Give God a list say thank you for your food. So if you choke on it while you eat to get to go to heaven. I know. I'm not the only one who thought that when I was younger. Really? What are you trying to do when you pray? What we should be doing.

Is bowing before I came seeking his lordship in our life in the other one his righteousness big word. All that means is right with God seeking our relationship that he's provide. Our righteousness isn't even her own. You can turn it U Can't do enough to deserve it. Jesus gave it to you free of charge. He made you right with God, but you have to live in it. Can we see God's lordship in our life. We live in the relationship he gave us if that's not the beginning of our prayer life. Then our prayer life is not going to work because God doesn't hear us God hears. Not just a repair. You say every thought you think And he loves you, and he does take care of you. But if you're not praying the way you're calling to pray, you're not hearing him and you'll miss the answers cuz sometimes the answers are no. That wouldn't be good for you or here's the way you can approach this. And approaching it this way. You may find much greater blessings and what you thought you were looking for? When it's truly learn to pray it's just a one-sided conversation. We send stuff at God. We never get what's coming back, which is the most important part of the good news in all this.

God did pay the price. He wants to talk to you. He wants the communication any parent craves communication with their kids right? Well. I left at 11 or 12. And they've been talking for 6 hours straight outside of that. We want to talk to her kids and fix it when their kids leave home, right? I don't think in the year-and-a-half in explain going to college he's ever said. Hey, can I call and we said no. Good morning. What's going on? Yeah call right now please in fact, we're using the one asking him and he's at so I'm busy I'm studying and I'm like, yeah, right, but okay. He is he's better than I am. God wants to talk to you. He wants that conversation. But you have to invest into it. He paid the price. He answers the prayers. He knows the needs. So next week, we'll talk about what Godly biblical spiritual prayer really looks like and start to look at what that can do in our lives. If you're struggling in your face this morning.

I promise you your prayer life can play a part in that. You need strength learn to pray. You need strength get on your knees. Sometimes. I know we say prayer posture doesn't matter. It doesn't God listens whether we're standing sitting kneeling Lane doing jumping jacks, but sometimes we need to Humble ourselves.

And just submit to him. maybe you need to say link the prayer and what you say nothing. It's a God. You are my God. And live in that for a moment the beauty of this is God paid the price so you can do that. In fact, one of the things we'll find later in the series that hinders our prayers the most is our sin not because God can't handle the sin. But because you can't approach the throne of the king with guilt. Your spirit just won't let you. Go take care of the guilt. He'll take care of everything if we will just do our part.