Ask,Seek, And Knock

Brandon Fasig

Story Teller • Sermon • Submitted 4 years ago

Luke 11:5–8

Prayer

0 ratings

· 3 views

When it comes to prayer,dont give up

Notes

Transcript

English Standard Version Chapter 11

5 And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, 6 for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? 8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. 9 And I tell 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 the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

So, let’s rant for a second. What are a few common things you find completely annoying? [Communicator note: make a list of five normal things that drive you crazy]. I think there are a lot of things that get on our nerves, but today I want to start off by talking about one that I think all of us can agree on. At the very top of my annoying list is . . . waiting.

None of us love the idea of waiting. It’s difficult for us to know what to do in those moments when we’ve put something out there, but we don’t get something back instantly.

It’s why someone invented microwaves. So, we can have Mac ‘n Cheese in two minutes flat (I wish they would invent something to deal with a mouth that has been charred by the molten lava heat that comes with microwaved Mac ‘n Cheese!).We love to FAST food.There’s a reason why Instagram ISN’T called Eventualgram. Think about airplanes. Can you imagine what Christopher Columbus would think if a flight on Southwest Airlines was explained to him? He’d be like: “I lived through six months of sea sickness, scurvy, dying crew members, and fighting off pirates of the Caribbean to get somewhere. And now you people can go that distance in FIVE HOURS? And you get pretzels and a Sprite while you’re at it?”

Tension:

Let’s face it, we do NOT like to wait. So much so, in fact, that we get weirdly annoyed at the thought of standing in line or even waiting for something to download. These annoyances bring us to another parable that was told by Jesus, the great Storyteller. It’s about prayer. And no matter where you are in your faith or if you’re not even sure about the whole God thing, chances are good that you’ve thrown up a prayer or two at some point. And then you waited.

And it’s not easy just because it’s supposed to be a good thing, right? I mean, maybe you prayed about something and you got an answer right away. Like, BAM! Here’s your reply. If so, that’s great. But most of the time, that’s not how prayer works. Maybe you found yourself praying for something super serious like a sick person or someone who was in trouble and then you just waited. Or maybe you just pray for normal everyday things, like to pass a test or not mess up in your basketball game. Either way, if you didn’t get an immediate response, the whole waiting thing always brings up some questions. Maybe you’ve found yourself wondering:

Is this an okay thing to pray for?Is God saying no? Or yes?Is God even listening?Am I doing this right?

And maybe most importantly, Does prayer even work at all? If you’ve ever wondered that, I want you to know something. God isn’t mad at you. Your heavenly father understands you and isn’t going to strike you with lightning if you ask some perfectly normal and reasonable questions about prayer. Besides, you and I aren’t the first to wrestle with the idea of prayer and whether God is listening. In fact, I think that is one of the reasons Jesus told this particular story—so you and I would have an idea of what to do when we pray and hear . . . nothing.

Related Media

Related Sermons