Matthew 7:7-11
When properly understood, The Sermon on the Mount will leave every seeker of God with a deep sense of the need for God’s grace. It is written to the ones who want to be a part of God’s Kingdom. The broad context of the Sermon sets down the surpassing righteousness, humility, sincerity, purity, and love expected of those who are members of the Kingdom of God. These virtues are beyond human attainment apart from God’s grace.
A text without a context is pretext
Jesus tells us how to pray for the character of the kingdom in our lives.
In other words, what if prayer is not about requests, but relationship?
Nothing Succeeds Like Prayer:
Matthew 6:9-15 shares the content and authority of prayer while Matthew 7:7-11 speaks of assurance in prayer.
- I. The Persistent Perseverance of Prevailing Prayer v.7
“Ask” implies asking for a conscious need.
“Seek,” involves asking but adds action.
“Knock” includes asking, acting and persevering
Things We Desire From God From Different Perspectives..
1. We ask for what we wish.
2. We seek for what we miss.
3. We knock for access to some place or thing
We are to passionately persist in prayer for that which we need to be used by God.
We are to keep on asking, seeking and knocking for those things that will make us more like Jesus.
- II. The Personal Promise of Prevailing Prayer v.8
Prayer does not change God’s purpose, create His desire to give or persuade Him to give; it opens the way for Him to give.
“Prayer can do everything that God can do, and as God can do anything then prayer is omnipotent.” R.A.Torrey
- III. The Parental Passion of the Provider of Prayer v.9-11.
“how much more” - Jesus reasons from the “lesser to the greater” to demonstrate God’s unfailing care for his own children.
We do not always know what is best for us.
You will not be satisfied in prayer if you only feel God answers when you get what you wanted.
