Pray, Receive and Love

Matthew 7:7-12
P. G. Mathew | Sunday, September 14, 1997
Copyright © 1997, P. G. Mathew

“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! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”
Matthew 7:7-12

In this section Jesus was teaching how persevering prayer prevails. When we study the Sermon on the Mount we find that the only subject Jesus teaches about more than once is the subject of prayer. We find his teaching on prayer in Matthew 6:5-14 and also in Matthew 7:7-12. Thus, Jesus’ own emphasis on this subject underscores the importance and power of prayer for us who are his disciples.

Part One

Why Do We Need to Pray?

In Matthew 7:24-27 Jesus concluded the Sermon on the Mount with an exhortation to put his teachings into practice, especially what he taught beginning in Matthew 5:17 through Matthew 7. But this is not always an easy task. In 2 Corinthians 2:16 the apostle Paul asked, “And who is equal to such a task?” Paul understood that in ourselves we are incompetent and unequal to the task of hearing and doing God’s will. But in 2 Corinthians 3:5 Paul also wrote, “Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God.” And in 1 Corinthians 15:10 he said, “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect.” To the question “Who is equal to do these things?” Jesus gives the answer in this section, Matthew 7:7-12.

In other words, Jesus was saying, his disciples must realize their weakness and need, and must earnestly pray to receive grace from the God of all grace, the heavenly Father, to do his will. They must remember the words of Jesus, “Apart from me you can do nothing”(John 15:5) and of Paul, “I can do everything through him who gives me strength” (Phil. 4:13).

So that is the connection of this text, Matthew 7:7-12, to the previous section of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus is telling us that as we pray and seek God, we will receive all that we need to live and love according to God’s will. In verse 12 of this section Jesus said, “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you.” We can only do this if God enables us to do so.

Ask, Seek, Knock

The first thing Jesus tells us to do, therefore, is to ask, seek and knock. Of course, before we do this, we must realize our utter incompetence, poverty, weakness, and insufficiency. We must recognize our need–spiritual, temporal, and physical–and utter inability to relate to others in love. We must acknowledge our total self-centeredness and lack of concern for others. And if you want a theology that will enable you to understand this utter impotence and lack of ability, it is the theology of the Reformation–the theology of Luther, Calvin, Knox and others.

Once we realize our need, what should we do? Ask, seek and knock. Ask as a hungry child asking for milk. Ask as a lost traveler who doesn’t know which way to go. Ask as a sick, suffering patient who is seeking help.

Keep on Asking

One point I must make here is that Jesus Christ is telling his disciples they should not ask, seek and knock just one time but all the days of their lives. He is not speaking about one-time praying, one-time seeking or one-time knocking. If he had been, we would find these verbs in the aorist tense in the Greek text. Instead, we find them recorded in the present tense.

What do these verb tenses mean? Let me give you an illustration. If my wife and I are driving and I tell her, “I want you to stop at the next red light,” I will use the aorist tense because I am asking her to do something just once. But if I say to her, “Stop at every red light,” then I will use the present tense in the imperative mood. So in Matthew 7:7-12, Jesus used the present tense in the imperative mood, thus meaning, “Pray continually, seek continually, knock continually.”

We see this type of praying illustrated in Isaiah 62:6-7. There we read, “I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the Lord, give yourselves no rest, and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth.” These watchmen were to call on the Lord in prayer continually, not resting and giving the Lord no rest until the Lord gave rest to Jerusalem and established her.

The Canaanite Woman

Now, continuous prayer does not mean a lot of vain, repetitious speech. It means ongoing prayer of great faith, confidence, and boldness. That is the idea of asking, seeking and knocking. We find an illustration of this type of continuous, tireless asking in Matthew 15. As Jesus was traveling in Tyre and Sidon, an unnamed Gentile woman, the mother of a daughter who was greatly oppressed by a demon, came to him. In Matthew 15:22 we read, “A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, ‘Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession.'”

Jesus heard what the woman said, but what was his response? Painful silence. Verse 23 tells us, “Jesus did not answer a word.” But did the Canaanite woman go home? No. She went to the disciples and I am sure she said something like this: “Please ask the Lord to have mercy on me.” So we read in verse 23, “His disciples came to him and urged him, ‘Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.” She kept crying out! That is continuous, ongoing, irrepressible, bold, confident prayer. This woman refused to take “No” for an answer, even from the Lord Jesus Christ. What was Jesus’ response? Rejection. “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” In other words, Jesus was telling the woman, “You are a Gentile. I am not sent to help you.”

The woman came again to Jesus, boldly kneeling before him and praying, “‘Lord, help me!’ she said” (v. 25). What happened? Jesus rejected her again. “He replied, ‘It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.'” What a harsh answer! On the surface Jesus appeared to be without any compassion for this woman. But did the woman go away when she heard this? No. We are to keep on asking. We must not take “No” for an answer.

And so in verse 27 we read, “‘Yes, Lord,’ she said, ‘but even the dogs,'” meaning here the pet dogs, “‘eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.'” In other words, she was telling Jesus, “I know I am a Gentile, all right. I know I am a sinner and I am lost. But I have to live, and I must have the crumbs that flow from the master’s table to live. And you are the master!”

How did Jesus respond? Verse 28: “Then Jesus answered, ‘Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.'” That is what Jesus means when he tells us to ask and keep on asking.

The Widow and the Judge

We find another illustration of prayer in Luke 18:1-8 where we read the story of an unrighteous judge who did not fear God and did not care for people. Let me mention here, if you want to care for people, you must fear God. And if you are a politician or a judge who cloaks yourself with the idea that you like people and want to help them, you will not be able to really help anyone unless you fear God.

Not only did this judge not fear God, but he also made no pretense of caring for God’s people. But a poor widow kept coming to him and pleading with him to grant her justice against her adversary. Did the judge do anything? No. Why? She was just a widow, a powerless person. Who cares for a widow?

But this widow knew how to pray. The first day she came and asked: “Grant me justice.” The judge did nothing, and she went home. She came the second day, but the judge did nothing. She came the third day, the fourth day, the fortieth day, the fiftieth day, the sixtieth day, the ninetieth day. Every day, without fail, this widow came and prayed for help from this judge. When did she stop coming? Only when she received an answer from this unrighteous judge. Verses 4-5 tell us, “Finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice.'” Like this widow, therefore, we also must keep on asking when we pray.

Elijah’s Prayer

We find another example in 1 Kings 18. After a tremendous demonstration of the truth that Jehovah alone is the true God, Elijah destroyed eight hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and Asherah and began to pray for rain. In verse 42 we read, “Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees.” He started praying, and this is the prayer we read about in James 5:18. The sky was clear, there were no clouds, and yet Elijah told his servant, “Go and look toward the sea.” The servant went and came back, saying, “There is no cloud.” Elijah prayed again and said, “Go and look toward the sea again.” The servant came back a second time, saying, “No cloud.” Elijah prayed a third time and said, “Go and look.” Again, no cloud. He prayed a fourth time, a fifth time, and a sixth time, but there were no clouds at all–just the bright blue sky.

Elijah prayed a seventh time and told his servant, “Go and check now.” What did the servant report? “A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.” And in verse 45 we read, “Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain came on and Ahab rode off to Jezreel.” In the same way we must keep on praying and seeking until God answers.

Prayer Requires Effort

Not only must we keep on praying, but we must also add great effort to our prayers. In Luke 15:8-10 we read about a woman who had ten silver coins. If the woman lost one of these coins, which was very precious and important to her, what would she do, Jesus asked. “Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?” Indeed, such a person would keep on searching, sweeping, and examining every corner of the house until she found the coin. We must put great effort and energy, in other words, into this business of asking and seeking.

Elisha’s Prayer

In 2 Kings 2 we find another illustration of how to put great effort into our seeking. There we find Elijah and his disciple, Elisha, together in Gilgal on the day Elijah was to be taken up into the presence of God.

We notice there were many other prophets who knew Elijah was about to be taken up by God. That knowledge, however, did not excite them and they stayed where they were. But Elisha acted differently. In 2 Kings 2:2 Elijah told Elisha, “Stay here; the Lord has sent me to Bethel.” How did Elisha respond? “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” Why did he say that? Because he was seeking something from Elijah before he was taken. What was he seeking? A double portion of the Holy Spirit.

So Elijah and Elisha went down together to Bethel. This required great effort, energy, determination, and self-abnegation on the part of Elisha. And when they came to Bethel Elijah told Elisha, “Stay here, Elisha; the Lord has sent me to Jericho.” In other words, if Elisha wanted to, he could have gotten off there. Elijah gave Elisha permission to forsake him and remain with the other disciples rather than following him. What was Elisha’s answer? No way. Elisha was going to Jericho with Elijah.

When the two men arrived in Jericho, Elijah again told Elisha to stay there. You see, this was a test. But what did Elisha say? “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.”

Finally, the mighty power of the Spirit of God worked through Elijah to part the Jordan River. Both men crossed to the other side, and in verse 9 Elijah asked Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?”

Here we must note Elisha’s response. Did he ask for money, or position, or power? No. What was his request? “‘Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,’ Elisha replied.” In other words, Elisha was asking for the Holy Spirit. Here we are reminded of Jesus’ words in Luke 11:13, “How much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

“‘You have asked a difficult thing,’ Elijah said, ‘yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours–otherwise not.'” So they walked on together, and I am sure Elisha’s eyes were coming out of their sockets as he focused intently on Elijah. Why? He did not know at what moment Elijah would be taken up but he knew he must observe Elijah being taken in order to receive the blessing of a double portion of the Holy Spirit.

In verses 11-13 we read, “As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. Elisha saw this and cried out, ‘My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!’ And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them apart. He picked up the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan.” From then on we see God performing great miracles through Elisha, beginning with the parting of the Jordan. God had granted Elisha’s request.

This, then, is what it means to seek God in prayer. Seeking means we demonstrate great effort. It does not mean giving up when we see the first little problem. If we do that, we are not really seeking the kingdom of God first in our lives. We must emulate the energy and perseverance of Elisha.

Continuous Knocking

And not only does Jesus say we are to ask and seek, but we are also to knock. The verb he used for “knock” also means a continuous action: Keep on knocking! It is as if you are outside, hungry, naked and freezing to death. You must get inside, but the door is locked. What do you do? You knock! You are asking to be let in by your knocking, and you will add great effort to your request by knocking boldly and strongly. But there is one more factor in your knocking. You will knock persistently. Do you think you will knock just one or two times if you were in this situation? No, you will keep on knocking, boldly, loudly, and with great effort, until the door is opened and you hear, “Come on in! Come in to the warmth of the banquet! Come in and be saved!”

In Luke 11 we read a story which Jesus used to teach people how to pray. In verses 5 through 9 we read, “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 cannot get up and give you anything.”‘” You see, this man is a good friend, but it is late, his family has eaten, the door is closed and everyone is in bed, half asleep. They are not in a mood to get up to answer a little mild knocking. But what does Jesus say? “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 [or persistence] he will get up and give him as much as he needs.”

Real knocking, therefore, is persistent. And let me tell you something in this context that will give you great encouragement. No person will knock before God unless God has already knocked at his own heart. In Revelation 3:20 Jesus said, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock,” and again this word “knock” means he is knocking again and again. He continues, “If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” In other words, Jesus is knocking, but not because he needs anything. He is not standing out in the cold, naked and looking for sustenance. No, it is we who have nothing. He has everything but he is outside waiting to come in to bless us. He is the one who died and rose again for our salvation.

Isn’t that wonderful? Whenever you are praying, therefore, in this earnest, persistent way, keep in mind that the reason you are doing it is that God has already knocked on your heart’s door.

Only Children Pray to God

The first point we have examined, therefore, is what it means to ask, seek and knock. The second question we must ask is to whom are we praying, seeking, and knocking? The answer is clearly given in Matthew 7:11: “How much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts?” When we pray, we are not seeking, knocking, and praying to our own belly buttons, to our subjectivity, or to some guru or founder of a new religion. No, we are praying to our Father in heaven.

In other words, we must realize that this asking, seeking and knocking are activities only of God’s children. No unbeliever can truly pray because God will not hear an unbeliever’s prayers. We must be very clear about this issue, even if it is not politically correct. If a person has not trusted in Jesus Christ, then the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is not his Father. Such a person can neither pray nor get anything from God. “Ask, seek, and knock” is a command only to the children of the heavenly Father.

Becoming A Child of God

How can someone become a true child of God? It is very simple. We are told about it in John 1:12-13. There we read, “Yet to all who received him,” meaning receiving Jesus Christ as God, the Sovereign Lord of the universe and the Mediator, as the one who died in our place, rose from the dead, ascended into the heavens, and is coming again as the Judge of all the earth. We have to believe the gospel, in other words. “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”

So before we can fulfill this command to ask, seek, and knock, we must repent, believe, and receive Jesus Christ as Lord. Then we will be adopted into the very family of God and the Holy Spirit will come into our life and guide us. It is he who will guide us to ask, seek and knock. To whom are we praying? To our heavenly Father. We are told elsewhere that he knows our needs before we pray. And this God is not a reluctant stranger, a malicious tyrant, or an indulgent grandfather. The Bible says he is the source of every good and perfect gift. God, who does not change, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, so loved the world and gave his only begotten Son. He is the Father of mercies and God of all comforts. He is a Father who pities and does not deal with us according to our iniquities. He is the Father who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all. He is a Father who is good and gives good things to us. He alone is the Father who receives us when our own fathers, mothers, spouses and children forsake and reject us.

That is the picture of our heavenly Father. He is our Father almighty, all-wise, and all-sovereign. We are seen as children of the heavenly Father through Jesus Christ, and this vital relationship enables us to call God our heavenly Father. Isn’t this wonderful? We must believe it because it is true. God loves us.

For What Should We Pray?

Thirdly, what should we be praying for as children of God? Do you remember what Elisha prayed for? Only one thing: a double portion of Elijah’s spirit. So let us understand what we should be praying for as children of God.

1. We must pray for the manifestation of God’s glory in this world. Earlier in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus taught his disciples to pray, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” That is how we should pray: “O God, manifest your glory in this world and please do it through me as I love you, reflect your glory, and obey.”
2. We must pray for spiritual grace. This is more important than anything else. Remember how St. Paul prayed three times that God would remove the thorn in his side. How did God answer? “No, but I will give you something else. I will give you grace.” Then he affirmed and guaranteed to Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you” (2 Cor. 12:9). Let us not question the sufficiency of free grace that flows from the cross of Jesus Christ. It is sufficient. We may question it, but I assure you, it is sufficient. Why? God said so.
3. We must pray that God’s ultimate purpose for us be fulfilled. The ultimate purpose of God concerning the church of Jesus Christ is not that we all get married and live in nice houses with white fences. What is it? We read in Ephesians 1:4: “to be holy and blameless in his sight.” Even as Christians we have a sin problem. The ultimate purpose of God is to rid us of that problem so we will be holy. Now, did you get up this morning and pray, “O God, your purpose is that I be holy and blameless. Please make me more holy and blameless today”? Let me assure you, most of us did not pray that prayer. But it is God’s will for us, and we find it expressed, not only in Ephesians 1:4, but also in Ephesians 5:25-27: “Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.” Did you pray for that purpose today? In Hebrews 12:14 we are told, “Without holiness no one will see the Lord.” Again, our greatest need as human beings is holiness. Our sin must be taken away from us, from our bodies as well as from our spirits. We must perfect holiness out of reverence for God, as we read in 2 Corinthians 7:1. So I ask you again: Did you pray for holiness?
4. We must pray for God to strengthen us. In Ephesians 3:16 St. Paul says, “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being.” Did we pray today, “O God, strengthen me in my inner being that Jesus Christ may reign and rule through my life”? Our lives call for a lot of strengthening, so we must always pray, “O Holy Spirit, strengthen me.”
5. We must pray for wisdom. What else do we need so that we can live in this world for God? Wisdom from God. We need wisdom to make right decisions at the right time. We need wisdom to understand situations correctly and to have insight into situations. Why is wisdom so essential? Because when we make wrong decisions, there will be terrible consequences, such as we read about in 1 Kings 12. Rehoboam made a terribly wrong decision and incurred great loss and trouble. So it is good to pray for wisdom. If we lack wisdom, what should we do? Ask! And James 1:5 tells us that if we ask for wisdom from a heavenly Father who will give to everyone who asks, he will also give it generously without reproaching those who ask. So I must ask you: Did you pray this morning, “O God, give me wisdom that I can make right decisions, your decisions, this day”?
6. We should pray for the church of God. We must not only pray for ourselves but for the church of Jesus Christ. We must pray that God’s church would put away nonsense and childishness and grow up, loving and obeying God and his gospel so that the church of God will truly be the light of the world and the salt of the earth.
7. We should pray for our enemies. We are told earlier in the Sermon on the Mount that we should bless those who curse us and pray for our enemies. Have we prayed like this? If not, let us begin to do so because God will hear such prayers.
8. We should pray for the Holy Spirit. In Luke 11:13 Jesus tells us, “How much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” Elisha asked for the Holy Spirit, and he received the Holy Spirit. If you ask, you shall also receive. And we cannot have self-control without the Holy Spirit. Do you know what is going on among workers nowadays? They are getting onto the Internet and looking at pornography–on company time, of course. Perhaps you are a Christian who is doing this also. You may think you can control yourself, but you need the Holy Spirit’s control. You should pray, “O God, fill me with your Holy Spirit.” Then he will be controlling your thoughts and actions.
9. We should pray for daily bread. Remember how Jesus told his disciples to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread”? We must also pray for this. And if we do so, I guarantee that God will give us jobs and money. We will have more than sufficient bread because God promised it in his infallible word.

Part Two

How We Are to Pray

Now we want to consider how we are to pray. Have you ever wondered why God has not heard your prayers? I am sure many people will complain that they have been praying but God has not heard their prayers. If that is true of you, then you need to learn how to pray.

1. With All Your Heart

We must pray with all our heart. In Jeremiah 29:13 we are told, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” God can discern between when we are seeking him with our lips only and when we are seeking him with all our heart out of love for him. I myself can often tell whether people are speaking to me from their lips or from their hearts. When we speak from our hearts, we are speaking based on love. God will not tolerate people who come and pray while their hearts are far away from him.

So God spoke through Jeremiah and made a tremendous promise, “‘You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and will bring you back from captivity.'” God is not interested in cold-hearted, formal, mechanical, external prayers. (PGM) God asks us to come to him as his children, with hearts that are warm and full of love for him who is our heavenly Father. Then we can pray and he will answer.

2. Be Sober

We need to pray in great sobriety. Before we begin to speak to God, we need to understand reality. We must realize that we are coming into the presence of God.

In Luke 9:33 we are told that when Peter spoke on the the Mount of Transfiguration, he did not know what he was saying. Later on we see him in the garden of Gethsemane where, again, he was not sober; he was sleeping. Eventually, though, Peter learned something and toward the end of his life he wrote in 1 Peter 4:7, “The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.”

We must rid our minds of all the cobwebs and be clear minded. When we come to pray, we must repent, confess, and come into the presence of God with great humility and sobriety.

3. Pray with Watching

We should pray with watching. What does it mean to watch? In Colossians 4:2 we read, “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.” The term is gregoreo , which means to be alert and sleepless. In other words, don’t be sleepy in the presence of God. Watch and pray earnestly.

Don’t you think you will be very alert at two in the morning when you are told your son has been in an accident? Sleep will flee from you instantly if you are human. In the same way, we must be alert when we pray. Why? Because we are coming into the presence of the great King. We must come with great sobriety and watchfulness. “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.” Sometimes we may even have to go without sleep to pray.

4. Agonize in Prayer

We must struggle in prayer. In Romans 15:30 Paul writes, “I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me.” Prayer is struggle!

In the Greek the word means to agonize. Paul used it again in Colossians 4:12 to describe the prayer of Epaphras: “Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you,” meaning he was striving and agonizing as an athlete does, giving his last ounce of energy in the struggle.

In other words, prayer is labor. It is striving, struggling, and wrestling, because there is an enemy who is opposed to us. Satan doesn’t want us to pray, so we must agonize and wrestle. We must pray way into the night, crying out to God and saying, “O God, you must help us.” That is true prayer.

I recently spoke to a young man about his school and his life in general. But when this young man began to speak about soccer, I had no trouble telling that soccer was his passion, even though it requires some striving. This country is given over to sports, and even if we don’t play sports ourselves, we know what struggle is by watching the athletes struggle. They strive and struggle and labor and agonize.

Let me ask you: Have you prayed like this? Have you come to God with all your heart in sobriety, in wakefulness, wrestling, struggling and striving in prayer to God? Wrestling means we are focused; it requires total concentration and effort. Do we pray like that? Oh, no. I think most of us usually just lie down and mumble something and pretend that we prayed.

I know a man who recently fasted and prayed for three days. God spoke to him and he is sitting here today because God strengthened him and caused him to walk with great resolution. So we must strive, struggle, wrestle, labor and put forth energy in prayer before God.

5. Pray in the Spirit

We must pray in the Spirit. Ephesians 6:18 tells us, “Pray in the Spirit,” meaning in the Holy Spirit–in the energy of the Holy Spirit, in the guidance of the Holy Spirit, in the power of the Holy Spirit, and in the wisdom of the Holy Spirit. When you pray like this, all of a sudden you will feel the ease. The Spirit of God will enable you and tell you what to pray and how to pray. We are even given utterance by the Spirit of the living God.

6. Pray Always

We must pray always. In 1 Thessalonians 5:17 we read, “Pray always,” and we must realize that this is not speaking about mere repetitious prayer. It means to keep on asking, keep on seeking, and keep on knocking until God brings an answer to us, until he brings salvation to us.

We know of people who have prayed twenty-five and thirty years for a particular matter. That is what praying always means. We are not speaking about a one hundred-meter dash. We are talking about a marathon that lasts for all of our lives.

7. Pray in Obedience

We must pray from a life of obedience. This is an area in which many people fail. First John 3:21-22 tells us, “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.” Before we start praying to a holy, almighty, eternal, all-wise heavenly Father, it is important to examine ourselves and see whether we are walking in obedience to God’s revealed will.

This may be one reason why our prayers are not answered. We may be coming to God, saying, “O God, just take care of me while I practice my sin and walk in arrogance. Just help me out.” But God refuses to answer our prayers if we cherish sin in our hearts.

What did John say? “We have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.” That is what Jesus did. He always pleased the Father, and here is a text that tells us that if we do that which is pleasing to God, he will hear our prayers also and give us what we ask of him.

Why do we obey God’s commands? Because we love him. How can we know that we love God? It is very simple. If we love God, we will delightfully do his will. Why? He alone is our heavenly Father who saved us.

And if God is our heavenly Father, we must have a nature corresponding to his. If we have been born of God and adopted into his family, we will have a nature within us like God’s nature so that we love his will and hate what he hates. And in that context we can pray.

8. Pray Within God’s Will

We must pray within the will of God. First John 5:14 tells us, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.” We must study God’s word so that we recognize the will of God.

Why don’t I believe in homosexuality? Because I read the Book, which says homosexuality is not the way to go. In other words, my belief is circumscribed by God’s infallible revelation. Why don’t I believe in adultery? Because the Book says that it is not right. In fact, the Bible says adultery is a clear violation of God’s law.

So if you are a praying person, you will be a Bible student who studies the Scripture rigorously. You will be intellectually active, especially in the study of the systematic theology, which gives us a clear, comprehensive understanding of God’s will. Only when we understand God’s word can we pray according to his will.

In 2 Samuel 7:25 David prayed, “And now, Lord God, keep forever the promise you have made. . . Do as you promised.” David was telling God, “You promised, so now do it to me. I will appreciate that.” Now, we cannot go to God and ask him to do what he did not promise or reveal to be his will. But as we study and begin to understand what God has promised in his word, we can go to him and pray, “O God, you promised this in your word, and I am praying for it. Give it to me.” Let me tell you, he will grant you that request.

In James 4:1-3 we read, “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.” There are many people who pray according to this verse.

We must make sure we know what God’s will is when we pray. Be a good student of Scripture. Many of us hold advanced degrees. Why don’t we bring our minds to bear upon God’s revelation and begin to study his word seriously? If we do so, we will begin to pray with great unction, power, conviction, and boldness.

9. Pray in Forgiveness

We must forgive others before we pray to God. In Matthew 6:12 Jesus taught us to pray, “Forgive us our debts as we have also forgiven our debtors.” It is extremely important that we repent, confess, and forgive others before we pray. Then when we come to God, we will be clean, having been cleansed by the blood of Christ.

There are many people who will not forgive anyone. Even on their deathbeds, they refuse to forgive. But let me assure you, a person who refuses to forgive another is not a Christian and faces God’s judgment. So we must forgive others in order to pray aright.

10. Pray in Faith

We must pray in faith and trust in God. In Matthew 21:22 Jesus tells us, “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” Now, we must remember that “whatever” means whatever is in accordance with the will of God. But the point I am making is that in order to pray effectively we must believe that God exists and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. We must have trust and confidence in our heavenly Father, the God who chose us from before the foundation of the world and sent his Son to die for us. We must have faith in the one who, in time, effectually called us, regenerated us and gave us faith to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. We must have faith that this God is for us and he will do this thing we are praying about. We must believe our God! He is for us and he hears our prayers. We must trust in him, for he is good and his mercy endures forever.

James tells us that if anyone lacks wisdom, he should pray. So also Jesus also tells us to ask, but be sure we ask, not in doubt but in faith and trust in God. We see this kind of faith illustrated in Psalm 81. In verse 10 it says, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.” Have you ever seen how baby birds open their mouths so wide when the mother bird brings some food? God wants us to do the same. Open wide! Have great faith, in other words. Why? God is our Redeemer and Savior.

Do you remember the Canaanite woman who sought help for her daughter? She opened her mouth so wide. She told Jesus, “Yes, I know I am a Gentile. Yes, I know I am a sinner.” She even agreed that she was a dog, by Jewish standards. “But” she told Jesus, “you are the master and I must live from the crumbs that fall from the table.” She opened her mouth so wide, and Jesus commended her, saying, “Great is your faith.”

God wants us to open our mouths wide also. He is telling us, “I am the Lord, I am the Savior, I am your Redeemer. Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.” That is the word for God’s children.

11. Pray in Confidence

We must pray in confidence. We must remember what Jesus said in Matthew 7:11: “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” We must pray in the confidence that we are children of the heavenly Father. What more do we need? We are not strangers or enemies of God. We are children of God and he is our heavenly Father. And just as ordinary human fathers who are evil give good gifts to their children, how much more will our heavenly Father give us good things! That is the confidence we must have when we pray.

How Effectual Is Our Prayer?

Having considered how we are to pray, we now must discuss how effectual our prayers are. The Lord Jesus Christ works hard in this portion of Scripture to tell us that our prayers will be effectual. When you read Christ’s reasoning in Matthew 7:7-12, we will be amazed how Jesus Christ desires to generate within us such confidence and assurance that we are given great encouragement to pray.

Look at the promises in verse 7: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you.” Who said this? Jesus Christ, who is God, who is Lord, who is the great High Priest who sympathizes with us. The Sovereign Lord of the universe, speaking in behalf of his Father, is making this promise. And in verse 8 he gives an additional reason: “For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” Everyone here means every true child of God. There is no discrimination. When such a child prays to the heavenly Father, Jesus Christ says his prayer will be effectual.

Jesus is assuring and guaranteeing us that when we pray, his heavenly Father will hear and grant our requests. Now, we must remember that this is speaking about authentic children of God, not people who pretend they are children of God and live like the devil. This is not a promise to anybody and everybody. It is for the children of God.

Then Jesus gives us another argument to help us. He says, “Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?” In other words, an ordinary human father will not deceive and mock his son when he cries out for bread. Notice, Jesus said bread, which means something necessary for existence, not ice cream, which is a luxury. Bread is the staff of life. So if a child is crying out bread, do you think his father will take a stone that looks like bread and give it to that child? No. Human fathers don’t trick their children in that way. “Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake”–something that would terrorize him? No, no, no! Even sinful human fathers would not do such a thing. A father will give his son bread. He will give him fish, and he will give him an egg, not a scorpion, as we read in Luke 11:12.

There is no question, therefore, that sinful human beings give good things to their children. So now Jesus makes his a fortiori argument. “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!” Do you see how Jesus Christ is laboring, striving, and working hard to impress upon our consciousness the effectualness of our prayer? God will hear it, he says.

In Luke 11:13 we read, “How much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” This is what we need. We need the Holy Spirit who will distribute all sorts of gifts to us.

The Golden Rule

In Matthew 7:12 we read, “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” You know, there are many nice, educated people who reject the gospel and Jesus Christ, but they are so happy with the Golden Rule. They are not interested in God and the cross, but they will embrace this Golden Rule which says, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

Have you ever wondered why this verse is here? Let me tell you why: Life is relationship, and we cannot relate properly in the way the Golden Rule directs us unless we pray and receive from God the necessary grace to come out of our self-centeredness and self-love and become filled with the love of God so that we love others.

Philosopher, you love the Golden Rule, don’t you? You talk about it and write many, many books about it. But why did Jesus give us the Golden Rule? He wants us to practice it! That is utterly impossible for an unbeliever to do. Why? Because man is a sinner, an enemy of God, who suppresses truth and cannot submit to God. Man is naturally self-centered and self-seeking, and he cannot do it.

Oh, some people may say, “But we are liberals, we are humanitarians, we are philanthropists,” and so on. But the truth is, no one can naturally do what Jesus is talking about. It’s an impossibility. Why? Jesus said that this rule that we should do to others what we would have them do unto us is a summary of the Law and the Prophets. That means the essence of the Law and the Prophets is this: To love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself. So let me tell you, philosopher, it is impossible for you to fulfill the Golden Rule naturally. You cannot love your neighbor until you love the God of the universe, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ with all your heart, mind, soul and strength.

Who, then, can fulfill the Golden Rule? It is only possible for us who are believers, meaning children of the heavenly Father. Why? Because God has given us a new nature. If we are children of God, we are no longer God’s enemies. We love our heavenly Father who delivered us from self-centeredness and self-love, and God enables us to love other people and be interested in them.

We must love God in order to love our neighbor. And if you are a philosopher, a nice man, an educated person and want to keep the Golden Rule, you must become a child of God. You must repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Then you will learn how to pray, and when you pray, God will give you all that is necessary to come out of yourself and to love another person.

You know, we do not need large books on ethics in order to do the right thing. We only need one rule: Do unto others what you would have them do unto you. We must love one another, in other words. And again, we must realize that this love is not natural to us. It is a gift from God.

In Romans 13:8-9 St. Paul wrote, “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. The commandments, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not covet,’ and whatever other commandments there may be, are summed up in this one rule: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'” Let me tell you, it is the Holy Spirit who sheds abroad in our hearts love in abundance by which we can love God and love our neighbor as ourselves. Only a child of God can keep the Golden Rule.

Let Us Pray!

Finally, then, let us pray. Repent, believe, receive Christ as Lord and be conscious of your need. Jesus said, “Without me you can do nothing,” so we must pray for our spiritual and material needs. We must strive, agonize, and wrestle in prayer. We must devote ourselves and give ourselves no rest until he answers as he did to the Canaanite woman.

Let us learn from Jacob who wrestled with the angel, saying, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” Jacob won the battle but he also had the wound. Now that sounds strange, doesn’t it? If you are wounded, ordinarily it means you are defeated. But in this business, if you are wounded, it means you are victorious.

Let us strive, as Elijah did, seven times praying, “O God, send rain.” Let us clearly understand that God is our heavenly Father and we are his children. Therefore, he must answer and he will answer. He has answered in the past and he will answer us in the present.

In Ephesians 3:20 Paul wrote that God “is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.” When Paul was converted, what did he do? We are told he was praying (Acts 9:11). Paul was a man of prayer, and towards the end of his life he wrote in Philippians 4:6, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” And in Philippians 4:19 he said, “And my God . . .” You see, Paul had prayed to God again and again. He had experienced hundreds of wonderful answers to his prayers. So now he counseled the Philippians, “And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”

I myself marvel at the way God has answered my prayers all these years. I have known him in terms of what St. Paul said, able to do “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine,” so don’t tell me God doesn’t answer prayer. He does. If he did not, then Jesus Christ would be a deceiver. But he is not, and in this section of Scripture Jesus took so much time to engender in us faith in the promise of God. He said he will answer it for you.

May God help us to labor, struggle, wrestle, agonize, strive and devote ourselves in prayer. May he help us to pray the way the Canaanite woman or Jacob or the widow or Elijah or Elisha prayed. May we pray as children of God, opening our mouths wide, knowing that we are coming to a great King and we must bring large requests. And as we pray, may we recognize God’s faithful responses to our prayers. May his glory be manifested in the world through us as we give him all praise and glory for his gracious hearing of our prayers.

I recently wrote to somebody, “To know humans is more difficult than climbing Mount Everest.” But let me assure you, my God knows us and sees us. He will not answer our prayer unless we pray in the way I have just outlined. We must get rid of all our mumbo-jumbo and humble ourselves and repent. We must be obedient to his revelation and ask by faith. Therefore, let us pray! Amen.