WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:09.220 Welcome to the Willow Ridge Sermons podcast, where you can listen to audio from our most 00:00:09.220 --> 00:00:13.900 recent sermons and more. Thanks for listening, and be sure to add this show to your library 00:00:13.900 --> 00:00:16.820 if you'd like to automatically receive new episodes each week. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:40.560 Well, good morning. That's a lot of my usual audience, so usually I'm preaching in shorts 00:00:40.560 --> 00:00:45.420 and a t-shirt, so this will be a new experience for all of us. But it doesn't matter if you're 00:00:45.420 --> 00:00:50.440 in shorts and a t-shirt or in a three-piece suit, the Word of God will be made known. 00:00:51.740 --> 00:00:56.560 As we open the Word this morning, I want us to be encouraged by the message of the Gospel, 00:00:57.380 --> 00:01:06.420 Christ's love for us. When we look to Scripture, we see His desire for us to understand who He is 00:01:06.420 --> 00:01:12.500 so that He may be made known. Before we jump into this morning's Scripture, I'd like to do a little 00:01:12.500 --> 00:01:18.460 recap of what Jesus has been teaching us in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus has a lot to say about 00:01:18.460 --> 00:01:24.780 the subject of prayer, and it's crucial that we don't miss it. Already, Jesus has explained that 00:01:24.780 --> 00:01:33.080 prayer is a commanded expectation. Prayer is something believers are required to do. We read back in 00:01:33.080 --> 00:01:40.860 Matthew 6, 9 through 13, Jesus said, when you pray, pray then like this, our Father in heaven, 00:01:41.100 --> 00:01:47.460 hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day 00:01:47.460 --> 00:01:53.200 our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we have forgiven our debtors, and lead us not into temptation, 00:01:53.200 --> 00:02:03.320 but deliver us from evil. Jesus did not say, if you pray. He said, pray then like this. In this 00:02:03.320 --> 00:02:12.720 statement, there's an expectation, a command. Believers are to pray. Jesus has also spoken about prayer in 00:02:12.720 --> 00:02:19.840 Matthew 6, 6, explaining our posture of prayer is important. He says, but when you pray, go into your 00:02:19.840 --> 00:02:26.000 room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will 00:02:26.000 --> 00:02:34.760 reward you. So prayer is a command that when done correctly will be rewarded by God. So what does this 00:02:34.760 --> 00:02:43.660 mean? That we pray using certain words in a secret way that we will receive a reward? Let's dig into 00:02:43.660 --> 00:02:52.900 that for a moment. Jesus wants us to understand what prayer is. When we pray, Jesus teaches us to seek 00:02:52.900 --> 00:03:02.240 God's will. The goal of prayer is God's will to be done on earth as it is done in heaven. He has said we 00:03:02.240 --> 00:03:10.400 should ask God for our daily bread, not store our stuff in storehouses. He says that we are to lay 00:03:10.400 --> 00:03:17.060 our treasures in heaven and not on earth, as Bo talked about a few weeks ago. Jesus wants us to trust 00:03:17.060 --> 00:03:24.540 in him. This is the calling for believers, to think differently than the world. The world trusts in 00:03:24.540 --> 00:03:31.500 themselves, in their things, in what they can accumulate to feel safe or to feel secure. But this 00:03:31.500 --> 00:03:37.020 whole Sermon on the Mount has been Jesus calling us not to trust in the things of the world, not to 00:03:37.020 --> 00:03:42.840 trust in ourselves, but instead to trust in God. That is found in the verses that we have just read 00:03:42.840 --> 00:03:49.980 and also in the verses that we will read in just a moment. Jesus is adjusting how we think, how we pray, 00:03:50.540 --> 00:03:58.080 that our focus becomes his will that must be done. His kingdom is our focus and not ours. 00:03:59.240 --> 00:04:05.100 Matthew 6 33, as Jesus is helping to adjust our views, he says this, 00:04:05.660 --> 00:04:10.740 but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you. 00:04:11.580 --> 00:04:20.720 So when we pray, we are seeking God's will, not ours. And this is key to understanding how and when we 00:04:20.720 --> 00:04:27.120 should pray. That we should pray for the things of God and God's will and not our own. Scripture does 00:04:27.120 --> 00:04:33.680 not teach us that we are the main beneficiaries of prayer, but prayer is meant to benefit God's will 00:04:33.680 --> 00:04:40.480 for his kingdom. Now we'll pick up in today's reading as we continue to learn about prayer. And here's what 00:04:40.480 --> 00:04:47.640 Jesus is teaching us about coming to his father, God. That we should do so in certain ways with 00:04:47.640 --> 00:04:55.140 persistence, with desperation, and with the knowledge that God will provide. Jesus, as he is speaking to 00:04:55.140 --> 00:04:59.980 the disciples and also the large crowd that has gathered around him as he's delivering his sermon 00:04:59.980 --> 00:05:07.300 on the mount, he explains that we have a role in prayer. And he also explains God's desired response 00:05:07.300 --> 00:05:12.580 to that prayer. So we'll pick up in Matthew 7, 7 through 11. And we read, 00:05:13.140 --> 00:05:19.700 "Ask it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be opened to you. For everyone 00:05:19.700 --> 00:05:25.940 who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and the one who knocks it will be opened. For which one 00:05:25.940 --> 00:05:32.500 of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a 00:05:32.500 --> 00:05:39.860 serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your 00:05:39.860 --> 00:05:46.900 father who is in heaven? Give good gifts to those who ask him." If this is your first time seeing this 00:05:46.900 --> 00:05:53.780 passage, you may be surprised at its redundancy. In my studies in preparation for this week, I am again 00:05:53.780 --> 00:06:01.460 amazed. Jesus talking to us about praying to his father explains that we can be, in fact we should be, 00:06:02.020 --> 00:06:07.540 persistent with our prayers. And that's our first point this morning. And this may seem a little 00:06:07.540 --> 00:06:14.180 counterculture because it seems like what we are reading is if we ask and we don't get what we want, 00:06:14.180 --> 00:06:19.380 then we seek. And if we still don't get what we want, then we knock. We pursue when we don't get what 00:06:19.380 --> 00:06:27.220 we want. It kind of seems like we're being told almost to be annoying with our request. Is that what 00:06:27.220 --> 00:06:35.700 scripture is saying? I think about this in the application of other places in my life. If I want something, do I just 00:06:35.700 --> 00:06:42.340 keep asking until someone gives in? I'm not sure about you guys, but this definitely wouldn't have worked in 00:06:42.340 --> 00:06:50.820 my household growing up. You all know me as an adult. I'm busy. I'm moving, constantly talking. I was so 00:06:50.820 --> 00:06:56.980 much worse as a child. I never stopped. And if you're wondering how did your parents make it, I'll tell you: 00:06:56.980 --> 00:07:06.340 barely. I remember many times when we're in situations like this, potluck after church or at church at night, 00:07:06.340 --> 00:07:12.980 the night, and my mom or dad start to have a conversation with somebody. And I'm standing next and I start to tug. 00:07:12.980 --> 00:07:18.980 And I say, "Can I? Can we? Will you?" And their answer was always the same, "Hold on. Be patient." 00:07:18.980 --> 00:07:26.260 I also remember often that my father would say to me afterwards, "Joel, this is not how we act. We don't 00:07:26.260 --> 00:07:33.300 interrupt." I remember his desire was to help me understand that we just need to be patient. But I also 00:07:33.300 --> 00:07:40.180 remember my desire for whatever it was that I wanted it and that I wanted it now. Is that what Jesus is 00:07:40.180 --> 00:07:48.740 really saying in this passage? Does this apply to our lives now? Is Jesus calling us to be so persistent 00:07:48.740 --> 00:07:55.060 that God will hear us and then answer us in the way that we desire in our wants? Not quite. 00:07:56.100 --> 00:08:04.740 I heard it once said about Jesus' instruction of prayer that persistence in prayer is meant to align 00:08:04.740 --> 00:08:11.620 the believer's mind with God's promises. When we align with God's promises, again, it's our shift in 00:08:11.620 --> 00:08:18.900 natural thinking. It means in all situations we align our thoughts and our speech with what God says, 00:08:19.780 --> 00:08:27.380 not our own wants. It requires laying down of personal agendas, our own desires, worldly understanding, 00:08:27.380 --> 00:08:33.060 to embrace God's plan, even when it seems unclear, even when we don't know the outcome, 00:08:34.020 --> 00:08:40.420 even when we're in distress. It is living in confidence that God's promises are already finished 00:08:40.420 --> 00:08:49.300 works, allowing believers to rest in celebrated victory, Christ's victory, before it even appears in our life. 00:08:50.420 --> 00:08:56.500 It is the process of sanctification through the Holy Spirit, transforming our character into the 00:08:56.500 --> 00:09:03.380 likeness of Jesus. So when we are praying, we are not asking for seeking or knocking for personal gain, 00:09:04.420 --> 00:09:08.180 but we are asking, seeking, and knocking for the will of God. 00:09:10.100 --> 00:09:13.860 As I wrestled with this in the last few weeks, trying to understand the passage, 00:09:13.860 --> 00:09:18.820 part of the struggle I was having was just understanding what the word "asking" means. 00:09:19.700 --> 00:09:26.580 So I found in Luke, Jesus teaches this again, but as he often does, he makes it simpler for us as he puts 00:09:26.580 --> 00:09:35.300 it into a parable. In Luke 11:5-10, he says this: "And he said to them, 'Which of you who has a friend will 00:09:35.300 --> 00:09:41.620 go to him at midnight and say, 'Friend, lend me three loaves?' For a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, 00:09:41.620 --> 00:09:48.180 and I have nothing to set before him. And he will answer from within, 'Do not bother me. The door is now 00:09:48.180 --> 00:09:55.700 shut. My children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything.' I tell you, though he will not 00:09:55.700 --> 00:10:02.180 get up and give him anything because he's his friend, yet because of his impotence, or that is persistence, 00:10:02.180 --> 00:10:08.100 he will rise up and give him whatever he needs. 'And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you. 00:10:08.740 --> 00:10:14.180 Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receive, 00:10:14.180 --> 00:10:22.100 and the one who seeks, finds, and the one who knocks, it will be opened." Another example of Jesus 00:10:22.100 --> 00:10:29.140 saying, "Ask, seek, and knock as a command." This time he does it in a parable. Why a parable? To make 00:10:29.140 --> 00:10:34.660 sure we get it. To make sure we understand. We see in this parable, even though the words are not 00:10:34.660 --> 00:10:42.660 specifically used, asking, seeking, and knocking are all in there. The friend is seeking help for a 00:10:42.660 --> 00:10:49.140 guest. He is literally knocking on the door. And when the friend finally wakes up, he is asking for what 00:10:49.140 --> 00:10:55.620 he needs. We believe God's word is without error. But sometimes when we read it, we may think to 00:10:55.620 --> 00:11:02.580 ourselves, it doesn't make sense. But here are two teachings where Jesus gives the example and explains 00:11:02.580 --> 00:11:10.340 we are to come to God in prayer, and that prayer needs to be persistent. Church, how do we pray? 00:11:12.500 --> 00:11:21.540 Do we pray with persistence? Do we pray with persistence sometimes? Do our prayers need to change at all? 00:11:22.980 --> 00:11:29.780 Have you ever felt the need to pray like this, persistently? Maybe for you, maybe for a loved one? 00:11:30.820 --> 00:11:37.380 To just pray and pray relentlessly? Perhaps you're feeling a state of hopelessness. You're stuck. 00:11:37.380 --> 00:11:45.300 You're desperate. Something's got to give. Do you come to God like this? Do you pray? Do you wear God 00:11:45.300 --> 00:11:52.660 out with your prayers? For the issues in life are struggles. What is your process of prayer today? 00:11:53.940 --> 00:11:59.780 If we take scripture for its word, we are to be persistent in asking God for what we need. 00:12:00.900 --> 00:12:07.780 Persistence in prayer often stems from desperation. And that is our second point this morning. Are we 00:12:07.780 --> 00:12:15.220 praying with desperation? Now, the word desperation encompasses a lot of things. What are you desperate 00:12:15.220 --> 00:12:23.220 for? And when you're praying in desperation, are you asking? Are you seeking? Are you knocking? Do we only 00:12:23.220 --> 00:12:30.100 pray this way when we feel like the problem is bigger than something that we can handle? I feel like a lot of 00:12:30.100 --> 00:12:36.980 times in my own life that's where I'm at. The persistency in prayer goes up when I realize I can't do this on my own. 00:12:38.580 --> 00:12:42.340 But that's not what God is saying. That's not what Jesus is saying in his sermon. 00:12:43.220 --> 00:12:50.980 Praying like this should be for all of our prayers. We see the resolve of that as we read in verse 8. He says, 00:12:50.980 --> 00:12:59.300 for anyone who asks, receives. For anyone who seeks, finds. For anyone who knocks, it will be opened. 00:13:01.700 --> 00:13:10.500 I don't understand why we wouldn't pray like this. If God calls us to be persistent and then says he will 00:13:10.500 --> 00:13:17.780 answer our prayers, why wouldn't we pray always like this. This is Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount 00:13:18.260 --> 00:13:24.900 responding to his own command. First he says, pray in this way. And then he follows it with, and here's what 00:13:24.900 --> 00:13:30.820 will happen. Again, echoing what we read in Matthew 6:6 where Jesus says, do it this way and you will be 00:13:30.820 --> 00:13:39.940 rewarded. We are desperate for a conclusion. Are we desperate in our prayers? Are we desperate for our 00:13:39.940 --> 00:13:47.300 answer in our prayers? John Piper, when explaining this text, does a really good job. He says, Jesus 00:13:47.300 --> 00:13:54.900 invites us to pray by threefold command. First we ask, then we seek, then we knock. He goes on to explain 00:13:54.900 --> 00:14:00.580 that these are imperative verbs, meaning these words are all commands. All three verbs, he says, are in the 00:14:00.580 --> 00:14:09.860 the present tense. And that's calling for continual action. So ask and keep on asking. Seek and keep on 00:14:09.860 --> 00:14:17.380 seeking. That's the idea. Knock and keep on knocking. And when you are persistent in your prayer, this is the 00:14:17.380 --> 00:14:25.380 promise that God will answer. Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened. 00:14:26.260 --> 00:14:32.900 As Piper puts it, the asker receives, the seeker finds, and the knocker gets an open door. Your father 00:14:32.900 --> 00:14:40.420 will give you good things. Do we want this? And that's the challenge of our hearts. Are we 00:14:40.420 --> 00:14:45.540 willing to put in the time to speak to God about our needs? 00:14:48.340 --> 00:14:54.500 My wife, God bless her, has heard this sermon numerous times. It does not get better the more 00:14:54.500 --> 00:15:01.380 times I say it. When I ask for feedback, she is always kind in her response. But there is always 00:15:01.380 --> 00:15:08.660 feedback. She said, give an example of ask, seek, knock. So here we go. There are a couple truths 00:15:08.660 --> 00:15:17.140 about me that you need to know. One, I always have candy. And whether you like it, if your kid or your 00:15:17.140 --> 00:15:22.740 student or your young adult or sometimes your husband asks for candy, I'm going to give them candy and I'm 00:15:22.740 --> 00:15:27.220 going to give them way more than you want me to. There's a young man in our congregation. His name 00:15:27.220 --> 00:15:34.260 is Adam Bush and he is my example this morning. Adam knows where I keep the candy. Adam knows with 00:15:34.260 --> 00:15:41.460 or without me he can have the candy. I don't care. But Adam's mom requires him to ask me for the candy. 00:15:41.460 --> 00:15:46.580 She's a good mom. When Adam is hanging out with the youth group here on Sunday morning or Sunday night 00:15:46.580 --> 00:15:51.060 or any event that we're having, and Adam is close to me, he'll look up to me and he'll say, 00:15:51.060 --> 00:15:55.220 "Joel, can I get some candy?" because that's how we communicate. And then he runs off because I say, 00:15:55.220 --> 00:16:00.900 "of course," and he gets handfuls. Sometimes when I'm not around, but his mom has taught him well, 00:16:00.900 --> 00:16:06.500 he will come and find me. And then when he does, even if it's from a distance, he gives me the little, 00:16:06.500 --> 00:16:11.940 "huh," and I do, "of course," and he runs off and fills his pockets. One time on a Sunday morning, 00:16:11.940 --> 00:16:17.380 true story, I was leading a mission trip meeting in room 200, and he swung open the door and just kind 00:16:17.380 --> 00:16:20.900 of tilted his head, which I believe is the international sign for "Joel, can I have some candy?" 00:16:21.620 --> 00:16:25.540 And I gave the nod, "of course you can get some candy," and he ran off because he understands me. 00:16:26.180 --> 00:16:29.780 He knows my goal is to give the kids as much junk food as I can possibly do. 00:16:32.260 --> 00:16:38.500 He knows that I will have that candy. He knows that I will give him that candy, but all he needs 00:16:38.500 --> 00:16:45.780 to do is ask, sometimes seek, sometimes knock or just fling open the door, because he knows my heart. 00:16:46.740 --> 00:16:54.020 He knows what I want to do, and here's the correlation. Jesus is the one telling us here. 00:16:55.380 --> 00:17:03.620 Jesus is encouraging us to plead, "My Father God wants to give you good things." He doesn't have to. 00:17:04.820 --> 00:17:15.380 He doesn't need to. He wants to. Jesus is excited about the prospect of us asking God so that God can 00:17:15.380 --> 00:17:22.660 provide our needs. Some Bibles may be yours. This verse is going to be in red, and the surrounding 00:17:22.660 --> 00:17:27.700 Sermon on the Mount will also be in red, and it's important because those are the words of Jesus. 00:17:28.580 --> 00:17:34.740 For obvious reasons, we know that this is important, but I want to bring up something that's not just 00:17:34.740 --> 00:17:40.900 that he spoke them. While all other words in Scripture are God-breathed as well, and they are inerrant, 00:17:40.900 --> 00:17:47.940 there's something different when we read the words of Jesus. You see, Peter lived with Jesus, and he 00:17:47.940 --> 00:17:54.020 followed God all the days of his adult life, maybe more, and Peter wrote his epistles when he was around 00:17:54.020 --> 00:18:00.260 50. So Peter had known Jesus for about 30 years, maybe God for more, when he wrote Scripture, and that's a long 00:18:00.260 --> 00:18:07.620 time to know God and to know the character of God. Moses was about 80 when he encountered the burning bush, 00:18:08.260 --> 00:18:14.020 and he wrote the first five books of the Bible from 80 to about 120. So for 40 years, 00:18:14.020 --> 00:18:22.660 God listened to, and he learned the character of God. Jesus, well, Jesus has always been with God. 00:18:23.140 --> 00:18:29.780 There has never been a separation. He has always known the character of God. So when Jesus tells us 00:18:29.780 --> 00:18:35.620 to believe in what he's saying, and he tells us to ask, seek, and knock, there should be a different 00:18:35.620 --> 00:18:44.580 feel to it. He knows his father. He knows his father's love for us. He knows so much more that 00:18:44.580 --> 00:18:51.060 God wants to provide because he knows the character of his father. I think about the relationship with 00:18:51.060 --> 00:18:57.300 my son. My son knows who I am. He knows how I'm going to act in most situations, and he knows it 00:18:57.300 --> 00:19:02.900 better than most kids. Now, I've known a lot of the youth for 10 years or more, but Jacob knows what I'm 00:19:02.900 --> 00:19:09.620 going to say, the things that I'm going to do, because he is with me so much more. He's been with me since 00:19:09.620 --> 00:19:16.420 his birth. He knows my character, so sometimes when he speaks, he can speak on behalf knowing how I'm 00:19:16.420 --> 00:19:25.380 going to respond. Jesus does that with God the Father, but so much more. While candy may not be what 00:19:25.380 --> 00:19:32.180 you're desperate for, whatever you are desperate for, God has the solution. That's his promise. 00:19:32.180 --> 00:19:37.780 Not only is that the promise, but also the promise that he wants to give it to you. 00:19:38.900 --> 00:19:47.940 Are you asking? Are you seeking? Are you knocking? Okay, let's say you are. Will God really show up? 00:19:49.220 --> 00:19:56.660 And that's our third point. We need to pray with the knowledge God will provide. This gets tricky. 00:19:56.660 --> 00:20:04.660 I think this gets tricky in real-world application. If you say, Joel, I have been praying and I am 00:20:04.660 --> 00:20:12.100 desperate, where is God? A lot of preachers much more gifted than I have done a better job of describing 00:20:12.100 --> 00:20:16.980 that this does not mean that God will answer all your prayers immediately in the way that you want 00:20:16.980 --> 00:20:23.860 them answered. I don't think any of us think that of the text, but I think that we should take a moment 00:20:23.860 --> 00:20:28.820 and realize that God is not a genie that if we rub the lamp, poof, he's going to do what we want when we want. 00:20:30.180 --> 00:20:33.300 Instead, let's look to Philippians 4:19 where it says, 00:20:34.100 --> 00:20:40.820 "And my God will supply every need according to his glory and riches in glory in Christ Jesus." 00:20:41.940 --> 00:20:48.900 In this statement, it is a powerful declaration of God's abundant provision for believers in him. 00:20:50.660 --> 00:20:56.420 We may not have everything we want, but God has blessed us with everything we need. 00:20:59.860 --> 00:21:05.860 So if he said he will provide all of our needs, our question has to be, can we trust him? 00:21:07.300 --> 00:21:13.620 Can we trust that God will be there when we are persistent and we are desperate? Will he show up? 00:21:14.740 --> 00:21:20.820 Again, we look to scriptures. Numbers 23:19 to answer the question, "Will God show up when we pray?" 00:21:22.580 --> 00:21:30.020 It says this, "God is not man that he should lie, or the son of man that he should change his mind. 00:21:30.740 --> 00:21:36.660 Has he said and will he not do it? Or has he spoken and will he not fulfill it? 00:21:38.340 --> 00:21:41.940 Our heavenly Father is to be trusted that he will supply our needs. 00:21:43.540 --> 00:21:50.340 That we have his only Son telling us, "This is how you ask. Come to my Father like this, 00:21:50.340 --> 00:21:57.140 in persistence, with determination, knowing that he will provide when you ask, when you seek, and when you knock." 00:21:59.460 --> 00:22:03.220 This should be simple, but I think sometimes prayer can be hard. 00:22:04.740 --> 00:22:12.500 It can be hard because our side, God's side is always going to be consistent. He will provide. 00:22:13.540 --> 00:22:17.220 Our side is that we need to come to him. We must come to him. 00:22:18.900 --> 00:22:23.460 Sometimes I feel like this is a little bit out of character of how we think when we think about God. 00:22:24.180 --> 00:22:29.620 We want something, so we just ask. Like God will just answer our requests. 00:22:31.460 --> 00:22:37.060 So again, we go to scripture and Jesus uses this word, "ask," and it's the same word we find in the Old 00:22:37.060 --> 00:22:45.700 Testament in Ezekiel 36-37. It says, "This is what the Sovereign Lord says. Once again, I will yield to 00:22:45.700 --> 00:22:54.500 Israel's plea and do this for them. I will make their people as numerous as sheep." Israel's plea, 00:22:55.220 --> 00:23:01.700 or in other words, Israel's asking for God to do something. This is Israel's prayer. 00:23:03.060 --> 00:23:10.660 And you see how God responds. You see, Jesus wants us to ask, but more than ask, he's telling us to 00:23:10.660 --> 00:23:17.300 plead. So how do we plead for the will of God to be done in our prayers so that our prayers will be 00:23:17.300 --> 00:23:23.620 answered? We'll get there in just a minute. I want to consider two things about prayer before we get 00:23:23.620 --> 00:23:29.700 into answering that question. Number one, we need to remember how God has already answered our prayers. 00:23:30.260 --> 00:23:37.380 We can sometimes be a people that forgets so quickly what God has just done for us that we may not trust 00:23:37.380 --> 00:23:43.780 that he will provide in the future. My friend Mike Bott encouraged me to keep a journal and write down 00:23:43.780 --> 00:23:49.140 my prayers. Now, folks, I've never been a journaler. I think that's the right word. But I trust Mike, 00:23:49.140 --> 00:23:54.980 so I gave it a shot. He said, "When you do this, then you can look back at what you've written and you can see 00:23:54.980 --> 00:24:02.100 how God is working through your prayers, answering your prayers. If you don't do it, you should try." 00:24:02.100 --> 00:24:11.460 As you see him work, you will trust more in God and who he is. This will give you the desire to give 00:24:11.460 --> 00:24:19.940 him more. Build that deeper relationship with him, trusting him more as you go. It's a positive cycle. 00:24:19.940 --> 00:24:26.180 You pray, he answers, you see it, you trust more, you pray more, and it just goes up. 00:24:26.180 --> 00:24:34.580 Our dependence on God, our reliance on God, our desire to give God all the things in our lives. 00:24:35.220 --> 00:24:41.300 So for almost a year I've journaled, and I have seen God move, and I have seen God answer prayers. 00:24:42.180 --> 00:24:47.220 The second thing we need to remember is that prayer is part of a two-way conversation. 00:24:48.500 --> 00:24:55.300 We are not just asking, seeking, and knocking. That's our side. But we are also reading scriptures, 00:24:56.180 --> 00:25:03.940 bringing that to us. We are listening to hear God. We are not just asking, we are thanking. 00:25:04.900 --> 00:25:11.620 We are worshiping, we are honoring God, and we are obeying God. We are deepening our relationship 00:25:11.620 --> 00:25:18.660 through our obedience as we serve, as we tithe, as we pray, as we learn together as part of a community. 00:25:20.020 --> 00:25:25.380 These are not options. All of these things are commands from God. We must do them. 00:25:26.820 --> 00:25:34.580 This is our response to God, our side of that conversation. You see, when Jesus is pushing 00:25:34.580 --> 00:25:42.420 us to pray, that is what he's expecting us to do, to take time alone with God, to share with God who 00:25:42.420 --> 00:25:46.500 we are, to develop that relationship, just like we would with anyone else in our lives. 00:25:47.380 --> 00:25:52.260 Jesus describes this as a wonderful thing, that prayer should not be difficult. 00:25:54.100 --> 00:26:00.420 But sometimes I think prayer is difficult. Why can it be hard to pray? I mean, some of us would say the 00:26:00.420 --> 00:26:06.740 obvious answer is not. So why don't we do it? Why don't we ask God for what we need? 00:26:08.500 --> 00:26:12.580 Sometimes I feel inadequate to pray. And I don't know if that's anybody else's struggle. 00:26:13.940 --> 00:26:20.980 We don't feel worthy to pray. We may not know the right words to say, or we feel like we've done so 00:26:20.980 --> 00:26:26.900 much wrong in our life, or in the month, or even in the week, or even in the day, that when we come to 00:26:26.900 --> 00:26:34.420 God, all we're doing is confessing our sins and asking for forgiveness and not having time to ask for our 00:26:34.420 --> 00:26:42.980 needs. Maybe it's because the world or our sin nature has conditioned us to believe we cannot ask for 00:26:42.980 --> 00:26:49.380 something we did not earn on our own. And these are real thoughts that I have. I think these are real 00:26:49.380 --> 00:26:55.060 thoughts that we all have. That I'm not good enough. That my issues may not be presentable to God. 00:26:56.100 --> 00:27:03.540 He does so much for me already. It feels like I'm asking for nothing. I don't want to be a beggar. 00:27:05.620 --> 00:27:09.700 But isn't that the message of the cross? We are not worthy. 00:27:13.540 --> 00:27:22.980 We cannot be worthy. So Christ had to die for us. So that only through him, his death, his burial, 00:27:22.980 --> 00:27:27.460 his resurrection, can we be seen as worthy to God. 00:27:30.020 --> 00:27:38.820 Sinclair Ferguson says this idea contains beggar's logic. And I might add that it contains beggar's 00:27:38.820 --> 00:27:47.460 privilege. He says, "Prayer is a great blessing that puts our lack in touch with his supply, our needs 00:27:47.460 --> 00:27:55.460 in touch with his riches." What he is saying is we are not good enough to come before an awesome God 00:27:55.460 --> 00:28:06.580 and ask for anything we alone are not. In our sinful humankind, we are not worthy to ask. But in Jesus, 00:28:07.380 --> 00:28:15.540 we can. For the believers in here today, this morning, this message is that Jesus is our connection 00:28:16.100 --> 00:28:23.940 in our relationship with God. A God who desires to pray, to answer our prayers. A God who desires 00:28:23.940 --> 00:28:28.900 for us to pray so that he may answer our prayers. If you are not a believer in the room, let me tell 00:28:28.900 --> 00:28:35.540 you what God is asking for right now. He is asking for a relationship with you and he desires that relationship. 00:28:36.580 --> 00:28:44.180 He wants to know you and he wants you to know him. If you are struggling, our heavenly Father wants to 00:28:44.180 --> 00:28:51.220 come alongside you, but you have to say that you want him too. And that starts that conversation. 00:28:52.820 --> 00:28:58.900 You see, when Jesus' sacrifice, he made our prayers acceptable to God. 00:29:00.340 --> 00:29:08.900 His sacrifice on the cross connected us relationally to God the Father. Jesus' actions allow us to be worthy 00:29:08.900 --> 00:29:19.220 to pray, allow us to be worthy to ask. But we must ask. And Jesus doesn't say just ask. He says ask, 00:29:20.420 --> 00:29:28.820 "And then seek, and then knock, and do this in our communication with God through our prayers." 00:29:30.340 --> 00:29:38.820 We need to ask in repetition. We need to ask with the wholeness of our heart in desperation. And we need to ask knowing that God will provide. 00:29:39.860 --> 00:29:47.460 So what will he provide? Again, back to scripture. He says, "Of which one of you, if his son asks him for 00:29:47.460 --> 00:29:55.060 bread will not will give him a stone, or if he asks for fish will give him a serpent, if then you who are evil know 00:29:55.060 --> 00:29:59.940 how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father who is in heaven give good gifts to 00:29:59.940 --> 00:30:10.100 those who ask him?" God will not give you something that is harmful, even if you ask, because he loves you and he 00:30:10.100 --> 00:30:17.620 knows what's best for you. But he wants to give you all your needs. Read again with me how he ends this verse with a 00:30:17.620 --> 00:30:26.260 statement and an exclamation point. "How much more will the Father who is in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him?" 00:30:29.380 --> 00:30:38.500 A father would not give his son's request of bread or fish, a stone or a serpent. That would be a terrible thing. 00:30:39.540 --> 00:30:48.740 The child is hungry. He needs food. Jesus reminds the listeners that you are evil and you still give good gifts. 00:30:50.100 --> 00:30:57.380 But God is not evil. Imagine, as our heavenly Father, how good of a gift we can receive. 00:30:59.300 --> 00:31:07.140 Read it like Jesus said it. "How much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him?" 00:31:08.420 --> 00:31:09.460 He wants to. 00:31:10.660 --> 00:31:19.140 This is Jesus explaining the character of God to us and saying, "My Father wants to give you good gifts." 00:31:21.780 --> 00:31:28.980 If we ask, if we ask, if we seek, and if we knock. I'm going to ask the band and the prayer team to come up. 00:31:31.300 --> 00:31:32.820 And I want to ask us this question. 00:31:34.660 --> 00:31:39.780 What is our role? What is our role? What do we do with this text that we just read in Matthew? 00:31:39.780 --> 00:31:44.820 We know that it is a direct command to engage in persistent, 00:31:45.620 --> 00:31:47.700 constant, confident prayer, 00:31:48.340 --> 00:31:53.300 trusting in the goodness of God as a loving Father who delights in giving good gifts. 00:31:54.420 --> 00:31:58.260 So, how do we do it? We engage in that conversation. 00:32:04.660 --> 00:32:05.540 Where are you today? 00:32:07.940 --> 00:32:15.780 Are you asking for what you need? And then, how are you asking? Does your prayer echo what Jesus teaches 00:32:15.780 --> 00:32:19.540 us to pray? Your kingdom come, your will be done? 00:32:21.700 --> 00:32:24.660 Or are we asking for the things that just benefit us? 00:32:28.820 --> 00:32:32.500 We are not worthy to ask, but through Christ we can. 00:32:33.700 --> 00:32:38.740 So, are you coming to God with persistence and desperation, knowing God will provide and that 00:32:38.740 --> 00:32:44.340 his will will be done? I want to end with what King David said in Psalms 37:4. 00:32:44.980 --> 00:32:50.100 He says, "Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart." 00:32:50.740 --> 00:32:56.420 Church, is that where we're at? Do we see prayer as something that we just do quickly before we eat, 00:32:56.420 --> 00:33:01.620 quickly before we go to bed? Or is it a continual relationship that we have with a loving Father 00:33:01.620 --> 00:33:08.020 who wants nothing more than to answer our prayers? So, that's our challenge. Check your own heart today. 00:33:10.020 --> 00:33:15.940 Are you praying as Christ commands us to pray? Let's pray together. 00:33:18.340 --> 00:33:20.980 Heavenly Father, I just thank you for the opportunity to dig into your word. 00:33:24.660 --> 00:33:29.700 Lord, nothing in Scripture is written by accident, but everything is written with a purpose. 00:33:29.700 --> 00:33:36.500 Lord, I pray that we see that purpose today. 00:33:36.500 --> 00:33:42.660 Jesus, your time on earth was short, so the things that you said had meaning. 00:33:45.060 --> 00:33:52.660 Lord, you called us to call on God persistently, to ask, to seek, to knock. 00:33:53.860 --> 00:33:57.300 Lord, to align ourselves with his expectations, with his word. 00:33:59.140 --> 00:34:02.020 Lord, I pray that our hearts be challenged this morning to do just that. 00:34:04.180 --> 00:34:09.380 Lord, that we don't just ask when there's a simple need, but we ask for everything. 00:34:10.020 --> 00:34:13.380 Lord, that we build our side of this conversation with you. 00:34:15.300 --> 00:34:17.860 Lord, that we respond to you the way that we need to respond. 00:34:18.980 --> 00:34:21.380 We love you, Jesus. We pray these things in your name. Amen. 00:34:24.100 --> 00:34:28.580 That's it for this week's message. Be sure to check back next week for a new episode. 00:34:28.580 --> 00:34:33.260 And in the meantime, you can visit us online at willowridgechurch.org 00:34:33.260 --> 00:34:37.700 or by searching for Willow Ridge Church on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. 00:34:38.120 --> 00:34:39.080 Thanks again for listening.