Matthew 7:7-11 The
Blessed Privilege of Asking
Introduction: This text is obviously about prayer. Jesus has already taught some on prayer. (1) Not to pray to be heard of men but to be
heard of God. (2) Not to pray for vast
riches, Matthew 6:19. (3) To follow the
model. (4) In this text He emphasized the privilege and the need of asking God
for things.
I. The threefold command, verse 7.
A.
Ask.
1. This means to ask as a free gift.
2. It is not an offer to buy; it is not an
exchange.
3. It is to come empty handed and unworthy and
ask.
B.
Seek.
1. This expresses a sense of urgency, a sincere desire.
2. It is the kind of strong desire Hannah had
when she asked God for a child.
3. The effectual fervent prayer . . . availeth much,
James 5:16.
C.
Knock.
1. The idea is knock and knock again, . . .and again.
2. Persistence is somewhat involved.
3. Mostly it is faith involved.
II. The
promise, verses 7-8.
A.
Everyone gets an answer from God.
B.
There are some implied restrictions.
1. One must be sincere, must be humble, must ask
in faith, and must ask that which is in keeping
with the character of God.
2. No right thinking person would assert that
Jesus promised to grant the request of one who
was insincere, proud, lacked faith or asked amiss. (Suppose someone asked God to kill
an enemy for him.)
C.
But everyone gets something, verse 8.
1. One who asks amiss gets “No.”
2. Almost everyone else gets, “Yes, gladly.”
3. Sometimes one gets “Not now.” James 4:3
4. Sometimes one gets, “Not that. I’ll give you something better. (For example Paul asked,
sought and knocked for a thorn to be removed. Instead God gave him grace.)
III. The
illustration, verses 9-11.
A.
Jesus gave an illustration to encourage us to ask.
B.
He asked two questions:
1. What father would give a stone for bread?
2. What father would give a serpent for fish?
C.
The conclusion was: Since
imperfect men give good things to their children who ask, we should
know
that God, who is perfect, will give good things to His children who ask of Him.
IV. Some
things which the child of God may properly ask.
A.
To supply his material need, (and for his family).
1.
He is not to worry about his material need,
but he can ask of God and depend on God to
supply.
2.
He can ask for food, clothing, money, or
whatever else he has as a genuine need.
B. To take care of his physical health. (Nobody knows more about the physical body than
God.)
C. To protect him from his enemies. (The prayers of David abound in such request.)
D. To supply what is needed in the work of God.
1.
Do you need land? Ask God, He owns it all.
2.
Do you need a building? Ask God, He built the world.
3.
Do you need more workers? Pray the Lord of the harvest and He will give you
workers.
4.
Do you need money? Ask God. He is able to supply.
E. To supply over and above our absolute necessity.
1.
We may ask many things above the absolute
necessities without asking amiss.
2.
God had supplied much for David and He said,
“If that were not enough, I would have
given more.”
3. An earthly father likes to give his child
more than he absolutely needs and so does God.
Conclusion: Jesus taught this lesson not to discourage us
from asking, but to encourage us to ask the more. But be careful not to ask amiss. Thus it is helpful to first consider what
would be most important to ask.
(1) You who are
unsaved, what would be the most important thing for you to ask for?
(2) You who are
saved, what would be the most important thing for you to ask for?
(Would it not be for God to help you
to live your life in His will?)
(3) You who are
members of this church, what would be the most important thing for you to ask
for in interest
of this
church?
Why not ask right
now?
Preached
at