ask, seek, knock
Matthew 7:7-11, “ask, seek, knock” [Listen]
Jesus is now beginning to close his discourse. In Matthew 5-7 he has boldly challenged his hearers to think about being the people of God in a way that was different from their religious programming. In fact, Jesus was very confrontational in laying the truth before his listeners. In his words we hear about the people the Holy Spirit creates as Jesus becomes their treasure. He repeatedly challenged the rightness of the religious leadership. It could very easily sound as if Jesus was attempting to overthrow the current power base – he was. To make matters worse, he just finished comparing the religious leadership of the day to pigs and dogs. He was really stretching the minds of anyone who would listen. You can easily imagine all the doubts and uncertainty that would come up after hearing this. And so now he says:
Matthew 7:7-11 (NIV)
“Ask and it will be given to 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.”
This passage is not about prayer the way 6:5-15 was about prayer. In this section Jesus tells his listeners pray, seek, and knock.
This passage is specifically about God’s promise to give what is good to his children.
God wants us to want what he wants.
Jesus has just told them that their God-centered culture was not as God-centered as they might think. They must break with what is wrong, leave the religiosity of the day and understand God’s heart. Their religious leaders are not the ones to lead them there.
Ask, seek and knock – God wants to give them what is good.
God wants his children to pursue the Kingdom with vigor!! Pray – yes, look intently – yes, knock down the door in your pursuit!
In Luke’s parallel passage there is an example of pursuit.
Luke 11:5-13 (NIV)
Then he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.’ “Then the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man’s boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs. “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to 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 fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 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 the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
This is a great example of how we should pursue God. In this story it was late at night and all were in bed. That might stop most people, but not the person in this story. Bold action with purpose is the point regardless of the “little” considerations. Go pursue God until he answers.
We should pursue God through a missional life
1 John 3:21-24 (NIV)
Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him. And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.
Here is a picture of someone pursuing God – someone who is fighting sin and longing to be God’s person (obey his commands). He/she will receive what they ask for.
We should pursue God with singular focus and not waiver.
James 1:5-7 (NIV)
If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord;
We should pursue God in our personal relationships
James 4:1-3 (NIV)
What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
We should pursue God in our ministry – people (mission)
1 John 5:13-16 (NIV)
I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him life.
We should pursue God in our mission
John 15:16 (NIV)
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.
Pursuing God is a difficult thing because we know where it will end. When we pursue God as our greatest treasure he will answer by showing himself to us, implanting his purposes in us, growing his vision in us. In this we will more and more see Jesus as better than everything. We will see this world’s enticements fading in value and the purposes of God growing in value – we will be compelled to give our lives to Jesus in every way. I find this difficult. Even though I know I will gain great joy and fellowship with the One who is life itself, I still struggle when I think of walking by faith – it is difficult to trust. What is the answer here? Ask, seek, knock.
Are you pursuing God vigorously? How are you aligning your life so that God can use you?
I love Jesus’ story here in Luke 11:5-13. The man in bed is God. The one outside the door is me. God rewards boldness, passion and pursuit. I received a call from a distant friend asking for groceries for her daughter. I believe this is one of the areas that my friends and I have been knocking. God, where are the needy in Winona? How do we love them? What does it look to live into their lives? Currently, it came through a relationship with this person from years ago. We haven’t spoken in a bit, yet she still called me. Relational Community is critical. a friend of mine recently wrote an article on this:
http://consumingjesus.org/2008/02/21/utilitarian-relational-leadership-the-myth/
Coming into the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount is bittersweet for me. I am really loving the journey that God is taking me on right now.
Peace
Craig
February 26, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Dear brother Graig: Let me stick my nose in this discourse, like the proverbial camel with his nose under the tent. The needy of Winona are all around us!! Some of them are “us”.It might be interesting to define “needy” The real problem is that they have no idea that they are needy and we don’t particularily care!! I would challenge any Christian to pound on doors and to seek to engage our community. So then God can reward our boldness, passion and persuit!! It is easy to talk about engaging the community to actually do it is a differnt story!! “Our relationship to God and ministering to the church cannot be as meaningful and deep if we aren’t being stretched…to serve..those who are in most need!! The reality is obvious, we are all intricately related, growing closer to God can not be done without stepping out in faith to serve our neighbor, our community, our church members. We need to have a healthy fear that the many words about engaging our community becomes just an intelectual excercise only.
Jim
February 26, 2008 at 2:56 pm
Good comments. I should have articulated better in my note. I agree with you. I was articulating the knocking aspect of it.
This is what I mean by knocking. When I meet people, I ask God what are you doing here and let that guide my conversation.
In response to your quote, “The real problem is that they have no idea that they are needy and we don’t particularly care!!” There are 3 aspects to needs. Spiritual, physical and emotional. All people admit to at least one of these areas at one point or another. Otherwise my friends wouldn’t be asking for food. They are hungry, she has kids to feed. She sees this need. They may or may not recognize their lack of or dependence on God. We really don[‘t know that until we dialog about it. Now our job as well as giving them food is to remind them of Jesus and that he ultimately sustains us, is really reminded through eating. Meals are a daily reminder of our common need for God and his faithfulness to provide both physically and spiritually. Jesus called us to remember him and his sacrifice for us through a meal. When we eat together, we commune around this truth. We regularly eat meals with those not in our immediate family or circle of close friends, discipling them toward a life of dependence on God.
Since Jenah and I were married, we have made it a priority to live amongst our neighbors, serving them, loving them, being Jesus to them. I have stories, a lot of them. Some of them are heart wrenching.
Craig
February 26, 2008 at 5:27 pm
“Meals are a daily reminder of our common need for God and his faithfulness to provide both physically and spiritually. Jesus called us to remember him and his sacrifice for us through a meal. When we eat together, we commune around this truth. We regularly eat meals with those not in our immediate family or circle of close friends, discipling them toward a life of dependence on God.”
This is a quote I have been wrestling with recently. I should have put it in quotes in my previous post, but I forgot. It’s from Soma Community in Tacoma, Washington. Food is the easiest “in” for all cultures and so is communing around the dinner table. Hospitality is critical.
Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty – John 6:36. I love this verse.
Craig
February 27, 2008 at 8:02 am
Craig; Your comments are fantastic. I like the characteristics of need and of course God through Jesus Christ can meet them all!! Initially we often have no idea what is the most pressing need. Engaging and entering into a dialog will move us a long way to that goal. The uncaring attitude is NOT directed toward any person or group!! I think that we must be carefull not to exhibit an uncaring attitude toward people I still think that the “corporate” church is not always responding in a Biblical way to the needs of people. My idea of “knocking” is to actually knocking on doors in the down of Winona and introduce ourselves and the church. The appartments that line both sides of 3rd street is a virtual mission field. I would be only too happy to articulate what that looks like in my little mind….
JIM
February 28, 2008 at 3:51 pm