Ask and Keep on Asking (200) Teaching With The Chosen: Jesus Teaches the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5-7 - YouTube

Matthew 7:7-12

7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

12 “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

Can you imagine the Jewish crowds hearing this message for the first time. This upside down Kingdom son of God who says they could ask. That they could seek. That they could knock. Can you imagine? What was reserved for leaders and prophets and high priest, now they could partake. They too could enter into the throne room of God and make their request know.

What a privilege they had. What a privilege we have!!

I don’t have to be a Hight Priest.

I have a High Priest.

I don’t have to be a prophet.

I have one who fulfills every prophecy.

I don’t have to be a leader.

I have the one who leads me for His name sake!!

The amplified version says it like this… 7 “[a]Ask and keep on asking and it will be given to you; seek and keep on seeking and you will find; knock and keep on knocking and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who keeps on asking receives, and he who keeps on seeking finds, and to him who keeps on knocking, it will be opened.

So this is good news, right? I get to enter and not only enter He hears me.

So here where God becomes like Santa Clause or like a magic genie.

Three wishes but ask wisely, money, cars, good health, fortune, and fame!

But then we have to add in the totality of the messages in the entire Bible as well as heart of the message to the people of God in this environment as well as in ours today We have another condition to the promise of “ask and receive” in John 14:14, “You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” Here, Jesus does not promise His disciples anything and everything they want; rather, He instructs them to ask “in my name.” To pray in Jesus’ name is to pray on the basis of Jesus’ authority, but it also involves praying according to the will of God, for the will of God is what Jesus always did (John 6:38). This truth is stated explicitly in 1 John 5:14, “If we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.” Our requests must be congruent with the will of God.

Ask and keep on ask according to His will.

Seeking and keep on seeking according to His will.

Knock and keep on knocking according to His will.

The promise of “ask and receive,” even with its conditions, can never disappoint.

There is no chance of things we need not being in God’s will. He promises to supply what we need when we “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness” (Matthew 6:33).

Of course, what we want is not always what we need. If what we want is not in God’s will, then we really don’t want to receive it. God knows what is good for us and is faithful and loving to say “no” to selfish and foolish prayers, no matter how much we want what we’re asking for.

Ask and it shall be given you

This is to be understood of asking of God in prayer, for such things as are wanting; whether of a temporal nature, as food and raiment, which Christ, in the former chapter, had warned against an immoderate and anxious concern for; or of a spiritual nature, as grace, and wisdom to behave in a proper manner, both towards God and men: and such, who ask according to the will of God, in the name of Christ, and under the direction, guidance, and influence of the Spirit, who ask in faith and fear, and with submission to the divine will, shall have what they ask for; not as what they deserve, but as a free gift.

Seek, and ye shall find.

This is still meant of prayer, and of seeking God, his face and favor: which such shall find, who seek in a right way, by Christ, and with their whole hearts, diligently:

knock and it shall be opened unto you

as beggars do, who use much importunity for relief and assistance. So men should stand and knock at the door of mercy, which will not always be shut against them. Faith in prayer is a key that opens this door when a poor soul finds grace and mercy to help it in time of need. Our Lord's design is to express the nature, fervor, and constancy of prayer, and to encourage it. (Excerpt from John Gill's Bible Commentary) Mark 11:24 ~ "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." Matthew 21:22 ~ "And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith." James 4:3 ~ "You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions." John 14:13-14 ~ "Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it."

And then Jesus throws in a story to further exemplify the point!!

9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

The asking and seeking and knocking are built on relationship.

And Relationship changes the asking seeking and knocking.

(Ex Maylen) It someone in my house is the example of this verse it’s her.

She can ask, seek, and knock. She will make doors open that no one else can.

From her birth her and the Aunties at her orphanage would pray for a forever family and they tell us that when families would come it to adopt the cute one kid she would hop in the van when they would pull of to the airport. That’s faith.

And now that she is in a relationship, with family and a father and mother even more so!!

I am writing this sermon even now and she came knocking on my door…pestering.

And sometime the answer is yes but yall sometime for her best interest its no!!

Our prayers to God are not unlike our requests of men. Our prayers are based in a relationship, as Jesus points out in Matthew 7:8. If a child asks his father for something the father knows to be hurtful, the request is denied. The child may be frustrated and unhappy when he doesn’t get what he asked for, but he should trust his father. Conversely, when the child asks for something that the father knows is beneficial, the father will provide it eagerly because he loves his child.

It’s important we understand what it means to ask and receive so that we can grow in our relationship with Him. When we ask for things that are in keeping with His will, we can ask

confidently knowing He hears us. This is a beautiful promise from our Father – the greatest gift of all!

Receiving from God is a process that starts with faith and obedience. We must be willing to do His will, rather than our own, if we want to see answered prayer in our lives. When we allow Him to direct our paths according to His perfect plan, then we can walk in confidence knowing He will fulfill His promises.

But the biggest ask, seek, and knock, is to know Him.

Psalm 25:4-5 “Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths, Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation for you I wait all the day long.

The best ask is to know His Ways.

The best seek is to teach me your paths.

The best knock is to lead me into your truth.

Where our hearts are seeking His kingdom purposes.

(Example of you and the property and the little Kingdom vs His Kingdom)