You will turn with me now to the seventh chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. We shall be considering verses 7 through 12. I'll begin reading with verse 1. Do not judge or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, let me take the speck out of your eye, when all the time there's a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, And then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. Do not give dogs what is sacred. Do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet and then turn and tear you to pieces. Ask and it will be given you. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. He who seeks, finds. And to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in Heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him? So in everything do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the law and the prophets. May God richly bless this hearing of his word. Shall we pray? And now, Lord, we look to you for your wisdom and guidance. Help us to understand your word correctly and then help us to learn how to pray properly. Yes, persistently. That indeed our prayers may be heard by you and that then those prayers will be answered. Grant, O Lord, your wisdom to us through your Holy Spirit, using your feeble servant to your ends. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Why pray anyway? Is it really necessary to pray? I mean, after all, God is everywhere. God is all-knowing. God knows everything you need before you need it. And God has planned everything, hasn't He? And He'll take care of everything. So surely, I mean, we don't have to ask Him. I mean, if He is so all-knowing, then why, it's kind of frivolous to ask, isn't it? And when we ask, don't we normally do so out of anxiety, worry, all upset? And we've just studied back in the sixth chapter that we are not to worry, not to worry about our clothing, not to worry about where our food's coming from. God's going to provide it for us. Well, if we don't have to worry, then surely we don't have to pray either, do we? Doesn't that sound reasonable to you? especially if you believe in the sovereignty of God. Sounds very reasonable, doesn't it? But that's not what Jesus says here. Jesus tells us that we are to ask, we are to seek, we are to knock. That is, that we are to come to God with our prayers with great fervency and persistence. And so we must learn that truth this morning. Oh, I'm not saying that we have to learn it for the first time, but it needs to be reinforced. Just ask yourself, how often do you pray? How fervently do you pray? Is it sort of a secondhand thing? I mean, it's kind of... develop that when you sit down at a meal you don't feel quite right unless you pray, of course. So you say a few words and some people even just recite the Lord's Prayer and that takes care of it, right? Or does it? Or does it? In this passage, Jesus commands us to pray. Jesus promises that our prayers will be answered. And Jesus tells that this truth is on the foundation of our Heavenly Father. Yes, as we begin the passage, we note it says ask, seek, and knock. He doesn't say, if you ask, you will receive. It's not a conditional phrase. He says, ask. He commands you. You must do it. You must seek. You must knock. Prayer is not something that's optional. Prayer is not negated because of the greatness of God, but prayer is required precisely because of the greatness of God. Jesus teaches us that truth. It's a command. And notice the progression. You come and you ask. Well, if things don't happen right away, then you go, what, a little step further and you seek. You are persistent. You go for it. And finally, if still nothing is happening, you go and knock on the gates of heaven and pound on those gates until it comes to pass. You see, you can't just sort of utter a little flippant prayer and it's taken care of. Not at all. Well, why does God command this? Why does Jesus command it? Precisely because of our sinful nature. As sinful human beings, we are taken up in our everyday affairs. We get enveloped by the empirical. We get involved in all of the little details of life. And we do not involve our relationship with God. Even though we sit in the heavenly places that we are there raised up in Jesus Christ, nevertheless, we are very much attuned to what goes on here and all the little foibles and all the little problems that transpire here. And our tendency is now to deal with those on our own and to take care of them, at least try to take care of them, in our own way. We think we can handle it after all. Sometimes we even think we're invincible. And we don't really depend upon our Heavenly Father for taking care of us. And so it is, you see. So it is that we don't really storm the gates of heaven. as we ought. When Jesus taught this truth, as recorded in the Gospel of Luke, he told a story about a man who had guests that came at midnight. And these guests came from afar and they hadn't had anything to eat. And he didn't have anything in the house to feed them. And so he goes to a friend of his and pounds on the door and says, hey, I need some food. And the man's in bed asleep and his family's asleep. And oh, he says, go away. Don't bother me. It's too late. It's midnight. That's a different age than ours, I think, sometimes. Oh, yes. So what does he do? Well, go try to find somebody else? No! He stands there pounding and pounding and pounding on that door until the fellow says, OK, OK, I'll get you some food. And Jesus is telling us that that's precisely what we are to do. We are to ask. We are to seek. We are to knock. We are to go for it with God. until he answers. Now that doesn't mean that God is reluctant to answer. That's not the point. The point is on our part that we are to have that kind of prayer life. That's the point. Another example in the scriptures which I think is very, very poignant and very much, very much to the point as well. And that's in Matthew chapter 15. Jesus is up in Tyre and Sidon, which are Phoenician cities north of Israel. And of course, he's surrounded with Canaanites. And there's a Canaanite lady who comes to him and wants her daughter to be healed, who is seriously troubled by demon possession. And she's making a big fuss. And the disciples say, oh, get rid of this woman. She's making too much trouble. Tell her to go, Lord. Tell her to get out of here. We've heard enough from her already. And Jesus' response was, I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel. Now, it seems like a strange response, doesn't it? She's a Canaanite, obviously it doesn't apply to her, his powers, his ability to heal. He's saying that it applies to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. You think she's discouraged by that? Not a bit. She comes to him and kneels down before him and says, Lord, help me. Then you remember what else he said? I mean, if that didn't discourage you, surely this will discourage you. It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs. How would you like that? Wouldn't that discourage you to be called a dog, which was a terrible, terrible word to use of people in that age? You don't deserve the food. It belongs to the Israelites. Go away, woman. Hmm. That's what it sounds like, isn't it? And then she responds this way. She isn't put off one single bit. She says, yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the master's table. And then Jesus answered her, Woman, you have great faith. Your request is granted. And her daughter was healed. You see what is necessary? When we're asking, when we're seeking, when we're knocking, what is necessary is that we really believe that God has the power and the will to answer that prayer. Like this woman, we have various circumstances in our life that can put us off. Certain things happen to us, and we become very discouraged about life. We think that God doesn't care. We think that God doesn't listen, that he's not concerned about us. But it's not true. It's not true. I remember only too well. Even though it was in college and seemed like yesterday, that there was a woman in the congregation where I was attending who was dying of cancer. And her son prayed fervently for her healing. God promises to heal, surely she'll heal my mother. But she died. And he gave up. He left the church. He left Christianity. It was all done because God did not heal his mother. We've all gone through difficult experiences like that. In another one of my congregations, I know a set of parents that prayed for their son that he would be converted. Their son had grown up in the church and had been taught properly and everything, but he had turned aside. And he didn't believe in the Lord. They prayed till their dying day, and they went to the grave without knowing any answer to that prayer. But while I was there, he came to faith in Jesus Christ, to the witness of the church. He turned around and became a believer. And shortly after that, died of cancer. But he became a believer. You never know when God is going to answer your prayer. You never know how God is going to answer your prayer. But be sure of this. What is required of you and of me is faith. Faith that our Father in heaven indeed cares for us. Our Father in heaven cares for us more than anyone else. Our Father in heaven will answer our prayer. That means, for you and for me, that you can't give up. And just because hardships come your way and life seems almost impossible, that there are certain things that happen in your life that seem to be impossible to reconcile with God's love for you, nevertheless, God brings all things into your life to train you and to discipline you. That's why they come. He's your father. And so it is that we, according to his command, must ask and seek and knock. And once we have done that, we have this promise that if we ask, we will receive. If we seek, we shall find. If we knock, it shall be open to us. That God's response is unconditional. He will give us His answer to our prayers. You can absolutely bank on it. It's the most sure thing in all the world. Heavens may come and the earth may disappear. All things may foment into a great cataclysmic event, but this is sure and certain beyond it. The word of God declares it. Jesus declares it to us. When you ask, you shall receive. And I hear you saying, That's nonsense. I've asked and I haven't received. I've asked many times. I've pled with God and He hasn't answered my prayer. That's just not true. Well, indeed, God's promise is unconditional but there are in scripture conditions upon our asking. You recall in James chapter 1, verses 5 through 7, he talks about the necessity of asking in faith without doubting. For someone who doubts is like the wave of the sea, blown by the wind back and forth, back and forth. There's faith and doubting, faith and doubting. And then James says, he who doubts should not think he will receive anything from the Lord. You see, we cannot doubt the veracity of our God. We cannot doubt His love for us. We cannot doubt the correctness of what He says. Or else, we've lost it right there. If you go on further into James, into chapter 4, you read this. When you ask, you do not receive because you ask with wrong motives to spend what you get on your pleasure. What are you asking for? Are you asking that life shall be comfortable? Are you asking that all things shall go well for you? That it'll be easy? Are you asking that every disease you get shall be healed? that your body will be strong and vigorous when you get older? Are you asking that things shall go just perfectly in your marriage? What are you asking, anyway? Are you asking for your own pleasure so that your life shall be comfortable, so that you will feel good about yourself? Is that what you're asking for? Well, then you're asking the wrong way! Whom the Lord loves, He disciplines. He trains. And we don't like discipline very well, and we don't like training at all, usually. Too much work, too hard. Ah, but if the Lord's love is to be found among us, we have to be. We have to learn to suffer with Christ. Life is suffering on this earth because of the character of things now under sin. If we are resisting our own temptations, then we are suffering. If we're trying to take ourselves and be dedicated to the Lord and to serve Him rather than to serve ourselves, then we are suffering. Then the hardships are there. The problems are there. And the Lord doesn't release us from those problems because we say, oh Lord, take this away. No, they're there at His command because He wants us to grow. He has our good in mind. You remember the Apostle Paul, all that he went through? That whole list in 2 Corinthians 11, remember that? And you remember too how he had a stake in the flesh, this terrible painful thing that beset him. Here is a missionary dedicated like no other missionary to doing the work of the Lord, and yet he had this terrible affliction. And he prayed three times that the Lord should take it away. And what did the Lord say? Did the Lord take it away? No. Rather, the response of the Lord in answer to his prayer was, my grace is sufficient for you. For my power is made perfect in weakness. So what he had to learn was to rejoice in his weakness. Have you learned that? Or are your prayers intent upon developing your own pleasure? Having things nice? Having things go in a comfortable manner? Or are you a servant of Jesus Christ? Are you one who is ready to bring to pass God's ways in your life? One who is ready to hear God's response, His answer to your prayer. My grace is sufficient for you. I'll take care of you. Don't worry. But you've got to deal with these things. That's part of life here in this world. And the third thing that we find is in John 14, 13. I will do whatever you ask in my name, says Jesus. Whatever you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. so that the Son may bring glory to the Father, not so that you can have it easy, not so that your life goes smoothly, but so that there may be glory brought to the Father, and therein is found our prayer's essence, that we must pray that Jesus Christ be glorified, and that in Him God be glorified. Therein is our prayer, therein is our purpose, to bring to pass God's ways. And you see, when we pray that way, with that breadth of knowledge and breadth of understanding, then you can see how God always brings to pass His promise. That if you ask, you will receive. If you seek, you shall find. If you knock, it shall be open to you. And you go through difficult times, and you go through hardships, but God will take care of you every step of the way. He will not let you go. He who gave up his own son, will he not also with him give you all things? He who has begun a good work in you, he will complete it. Yes, all of these promises are true. But if you don't believe them, then forget about your prayer life. It won't be of any value. The prayer life is founded in these promises of God. And you must believe them. They are the word of the living God. They are true. You just have to see how God is working in your life. And the reason that they're true is because they are founded in the Heavenly Father. And so Jesus goes on to tell us about the comparison between earthly fathers and the Heavenly Father. Your fathers here on earth, what do they do? When you ask for a loaf of bread, a nice round loaf of bread, are they gonna give you a stone in the place of it? That's a horrible thing, isn't it? Do you know any father that would do that? Oh, there are some, I know. We hear them on the news all the time, but they're very much the exception. The normal father, Christian, non-Christian, whoever he is, it wants to give good gifts to his kids, doesn't he? He wants to do nice things for his children. There is that filial bond that's there. And if you ask for a fish, is he going to give you a snake, a poisonous snake to bite you? Is that what he's going to give you? Of course not. That is not the way of fathers here upon this earth. No. Even fathers upon this earth, who are by nature sinners, who are evil, give good gifts to their children. Well then, if that is the case, then how much more is it not true of your Heavenly Father? Your Father in Heaven will give good gifts to those who ask Him, says Jesus. Yes! I mean, do you think God is off fishing and He doesn't care about you? Do you think He's gone somewhere too busy about something else that He won't hear your prayer and won't answer your prayer in a positive manner? Of course He will, but you have to see the answer in terms of God's kingdom and His glory and not find it in terms of your own pleasure and your own way. and what you want. I remember two families in Canada. They were young families with six to eight children. And in both of these families, the mother and wife died from cancer. And everybody said, oh, why would God ever do such a terrible thing as that? In both cases, these men wrote back to their relatives in Holland and said, you got a good woman over there who might like to have a brand spanking fresh new family? And in both cases, women came from Holland and became mothers to these children and wives to these husbands. And I remember one of the daughters of one of these families talked to me and she said, it's terrible, it's awful that mother died. And then I talked to her later and she said, I never would have believed it could be this good. The new mother who came in took over beautifully and took care of those children and they were wonderful children. And in fact, the husband was far more devoted to the Lord than he'd ever been in his life. What appears on the surface to be a tragedy is not a tragedy at all in the eyes of God. It's only that God has something better. He sees the big picture. And likewise, those things that seem to us to be awful, we have to see in the light of our God as our Heavenly Father. who takes care of us, who really, really loves us. Yes, loves you much more than even your earthly father, who loves you so much that he sent his own son, his one and only son, Jesus, to die for you. If he did that, he'll take care of you. He certainly, surely will. And in the light of his fatherhood, you then are to be one who gives good gifts. You are to do unto others as you would want them to do unto you. But remember this, when you ask, when you seek, when you knock, you are dealing with your Father who reigns in heaven. Amen. Oh Lord, we thank you and praise you that you have brought to us this knowledge of our Heavenly Father, that we know who He is, that we know His presence in the Holy Spirit in us. we know his wonderful gracious and merciful character and we know that he loves us as no earthly father can love us may it be therefore that we shall in our prayers reflect this knowledge and never give up and always pray and always seek him wanting to converse with him like we would want to converse with a loving father here desiring that he should care for us even more than an earthly father here can care for us. May it be therefore, Lord, that you will instill within us through this passage faith to trust our Heavenly Father completely. For we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.