How to ASK in Prayer
Matthew 7:7
There was a pastor who had a parrot. All the parrot
would say was, “Let’s pray, let’s pray.” The pastor tried to teach him to say other things but to no avail.
He learned that one of his deacons had a parrot. That parrot would only say, “Let’s kiss. Let’s kiss.” So the pastor decided to invite the deacon and his parrot over to his house. When the deacon arrived they put the parrots into the same cage to see what would happen.
The deacon’s parrot said, “Let’s kiss, let’s kiss.” The pastor’s parrot said, “Thank you, Lord. My prayers have been answered.” There’s great power in prayer.
One of the most important activities in which a Christian should engage in is that of prayer.
I think is worth our attention to note what the Apostle Paul is doing immediately after his conversion (Acts 9:12).
In Matthew 6:5-7, it is not if we pray but when we pray.
Why pray?
Prayer DEEPENS our fellowship with God.
Prayer DELIVERS the blessings of God.
Prayer DETERMINES the will of God.
Prayer is possible for every child of God. We cannot all pastor but we can all pray. We cannot all give large sums of money, but we can all pray. We cannot all go to the mission field, but we can all pray. We cannot all teach a class, but we can all pray.
Prayer is Bible subject.
Prayer is a big subject
Prayer is a beneficial subject.
The lack of prayer in our life is the cause of spiritual powerlessness. R. A. Torrey said, “We have a great deal of activity but we accomplish little; many services but few conversions; much machinery but few results. The power of God is lacking in our lives and work. We have not because we ask not.” The lack of prayer is the cause of spiritual weariness. The Bible says in Luke 18:1 that “men ought always to pray and not to faint.” The implication is that if we don’t pray we will faint. The word “faint” speaks of losing heart or being discouraged. Discouragement is the a result of prayerlessness.
The lack of prayer is the cause of spiritual emptiness. Why is it that we lack the strength we need to face the demands of each day? Prayerlessness is the culprit.
The lack of prayer is also the cause of spiritual weakness.
Now, if we are to pray effectively our lives must meet certain conditions (I Timothy 2:8).
WITHOUT DEFILEMENT - “holy hands”
Holiness is one of the conditions for effective praying.
James 5:16 declares, “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”
WITHOUT DISCORD - “wrath”
We should harbor no vindictive feeling against any person; hold no unforgiving spirit.
Discord destroys the testimony.
Discord delights the devil.
Discord disrupts the blessing that prayer can bring.
Psalm 133 - “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.....for there the LORD commanded the blessing.” God commands His blessing where peace is cultivated.
WITHOUT DOUBTING - “and doubting”
Prayer and believing must go together.
A strong faith is a venturous faith.
A strong faith is a victorious faith.
HOW TO ASK IN PRAYER
Notice what happens if you take the three imperatives in our text verse -ask, seek, and knock, and put them underneath each other.
Ask
Seek
Knock
Even the three words themselves cry out to us to ask. What does Jesus want us to do when it comes to prayer? Just ask.
I. Ask with SIMPLICITY
James 4:2 states “ye have not, because ye ask not.”
That is so simple. The poverty of the prayerless is beyond calculation.
The simplest reason people do not obtain certain things is because we do not ask.
A. Ask in sincerity (6:5)
B. Ask secretly (6:6)
The secret of prayer is praying in secret.
C. Ask in simplicity (7:7)
II. Seek with INTENSITY
The word "seek" speaks of our desires and our endeavor and efforts to have those desires met. John Wesley spoke of the word as "diligent endeavors." It is praying wiht great energy and fervency.
The Bible says in James 5:16, "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." Then in verse 17 we are given an example of fervency in prayer. The Bible says, "Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months."
The Bible says that Elijah prayed earnestly. E.M. Bounds who wrote perhaps the greatest books on prayer ever written explained the earnestness of Elijah’s praying as all the combined energies of prayer. Elijah prayed with passion. It was not, "I lay myself down to sleep, I pray the Lord to keep," and then hop in bed prayer. Elijah poured out his soul before God.
Eli thought Hannah was drunk. But she answered in 1 Samuel 1:15, "No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the LORD." That is praying with passion. The old-timers used to call it getting down to business with God.
III. Knock with PERSISTENCY
Keep on asking....not giving up.
While empty repetition of the same words is forbidden (Matthew 6:7), earnest reiteration is not, because persistenty knocking may be needed in some unusually difficult situation.
A little boy who was misbehaving one night when his father was trying to get him to go to bed. The boy’s mother had gone to a meeting and his father was taking care of things at home. Long after the little boy had been tucked in for the night, he was doing the classic drink of water routine: "Dad, I need a drink of water." His father came upstairs and gave him a drink of water and of course a short time later the little lad had to go to the bathroom. This happened several times.
Finally the exasperated dad reached the limit of his patience and said, "No more. Young man, you get into bed and stay there."
A few minutes later, the father heard again the pitter-patter of little feet upstairs. He bolted to the foot of the stairs, this time angry that his reading had been interrupted. He yelled up too the misbehaving son, "Look, I’m telling you for the last time. You get in bed and you stay in bed. If you get out of bed one more time, you are in trouble. I’ll be coming up there and you will get a whipping."
For a moment it was so very quiet. Then a little voice drifted down, "Daddy, when you come up here to give me a whipping, would you bring me a glass of water?" That is how children are. They just keep asking, and that is what Jesus is trying to emphasize here.
Jesus is the great example of prayer. We read in Luke 6:12, “And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.” The day of the all-night prayer meeting has long passed. Maybe that explains why we see so little of our prayers answered.
Have you ever heard the expression “praying through.” What that expression means is that someone would go to God in prayer and pray until they got a hold of God in prayer and they would not quit until they prayed through.
Knocking with persistency is when we get to the place we have to have something from God. This is when we must have God to come through for us.
Conclusion
Andrew Murray once said, “If there is one thing I think the Church needs to learn, it is that God means prayer to have an answer.” However, it may not be the answer we were looking for.
A woman was at work when she received a phone call that her small daughter was very sick with a fever. She left her work and stopped by the pharmacy to get some medication. She got back to her car and found that she had locked her keys in the car. She didn’t know what to do, so she called home and told the baby sitter what had happened. The baby sitter told her that the fever was getting worse. She said, "You might find a coat hanger and use that to open the door."
The woman looked around and found an old rusty coat hanger that had been left on the ground, possibly by someone else who at some time had locked their keys in their car. She looked at the hanger and said, "I don’t know how to use this."
She bowed her head and asked God to send her help. Within five minutes a beat up old motorcycle pulled up, with a dirty, greasy, bearded man who was wearing an old biker skull rag on his head.
The woman thought, "This is what you sent to help me?" But she was desperate, so she was also very thankful.
The man got off of his cycle and asked if he could help. She said, "Yes, my daughter is very sick. I stopped to get her some medication and I locked my keys in my car. I must get home to her. Please, can you use this hanger to unlock my car?
He said, "Sure." He walked over to the car, and in less than a minute the car was opened.
She hugged the man and through her tears she said, "Thank you so much! You are a very nice man."
The man replied, "Lady, I am not a nice man. I just got out of prison today. I was in prison for car theft and have only been out for about an hour."
The woman hugged the man again and with sobbing tears cried out loud, "Oh, Thank you God! You even sent me a Professional!"
Isn’t God Good!
Asking, seeking, and knocking are the appointed means for those who expect God to give.
Lord, teach us to pray.
