Introduction
How do you approach God when you have something to ask him?
• Specific words?
• Hoping for an answer but not sure?
• Get on your knees?
• Very “pally” or very respectful?
• Only at certain times?
• Only as a last resort when you have tried everything else?
When I was a child I was quite timid. I was timid as a child because I was frightened of the reaction of my father to what I might ask for. My dad was a strict disciplinarian - a typical army man if you like. I was frightened I would be turned down, which I often was. Many of us approach God the Father like this. We think we will be turned down or we are too timid to ask. Jesus tells us here that we can approach God, not in an attitude of timidity or fear, but one of boldness and confidence. Confidence that you will be heard.
Jesus encourages us to pray by telling us we will be answered. When you know you will be heard and there will be a positive reply it really does encourage you to ask more. How do we know this will happen? In verses 9-11 Jesus contrasts human parents with God the Father. He reminds us that even though we are evil in comparison with the perfect Father most of us love our children enough not to give them something inedible like a stone or dangerous like a live snake when they ask for food. Now, if we, bad as we are, can act like this in relation to our kids, how much more will a perfect God look after the needs of his children? We can indeed call him "Abba", "Daddy", in the true sense of the word.
But Jesus didn’t just tell us to pray in confidence he showed is it works himself. Let’s take Jesus and any other faith leader who has ever lived. All were men of prayer. All of them prayed when they were dying. All of them prayed for forgiveness when they were dying. But there is a very significant difference. When the others were dying they prayed for his own forgiveness. When Jesus was dying He prayed for the forgiveness of others. In fact, not once it is it recorded that Jesus ever prayed for His own forgiveness: because he had no need for forgiveness, Jesus had no uncertainty about where He would go after death. The leaders of other faiths were not sure whether God would send him to hell or to paradise. Jesus said with certainty, "Today you will be with me in paradise" and as living proof the others lay in their graves whereas Jesus rose from the dead.
What does asking, seeking and knocking mean?
What does ask, seek, knock really mean in practical terms because it's obvious God does not always give us what we want? It's also obvious that lots of people believe in him and are worse of, or so it seems, than those who have no belief. Some people seem to sail through life without any prayer, just by sheer hard work. How can you explain that?
First, in order to understand the answers to these questions we need to understand two major things about God.
God is creator of the universe
He is the creator of all material things and he provides all these things for the benefit of all mankind. Often we abuse this and frustrate his will such as when we don’t share resources like food and money equally, but we are all provided with life, food, sunshine, rain, and materials to help us live properly. As creator he provides these and we do not have to pray for them unless we are deprived of them through injustice.
God is Father
There are some things which are provided for his children alone: (ask what they are) salvation, eternal life in heaven, the Holy Spirit, the fruit of the Spirit and gifts of the Spirit. He longs for us to be like Christ. We call these blessings because they are not things you can have unless you know God.
So God the creator provides materially for all people. God the father provides spiritually for those who have a relationship with him - his children. Primarily, Jesus is saying, we are to ask for spiritual things from the Father for these are the real signs that you are blessed by him. This is extremely important when it comes to the question "What do I ask for?" Many of God's children, like human children, waste time asking for what is not good for them. We should primarily be engaged in asking for the spiritual goodies, not the physical. You can have all the physical goodies you want and be fat on them, but if you die without the spiritual life of God within you, what have you gained? So ask for the right things. You may receive them immediately.
But what if you do not? There are two reasons for this. You are either barking completely up the wrong tree or there is more to discover. At any time in this process of prayer God may deny you what is not right for you at that time. Maybe he wants you to seek a little harder because you are on the right lines, but not quite there. He does this to bring us to maturity. He wants us to think his thoughts, to understand his plan better. Through this your attitude to him and others matures. But even at this point he may want to test how serious you are and you will not receive.
If we are honest, many of us ask things of God without seriously thinking through the consequences. If we thought through the consequences of asking God to help us love our neighbours properly some of us may be put off by the consequences. God wants us to understand the cost. If we are convinced what we are asking for is what God wants do we really want it more than anything and will we give everything for it? If we do we will knock the door down. If not, we aren’t ready for it and it would be too big a burden. No parent wants to give their child an impossible task.
Let me share an example from my own life. When I came forward for ordination I and some others were convinced that God wanted it. The longer I thought about it the more I thought I was willing to give up. God knew how committed I was but he wanted me to see what that commitment would cost. I went to see the Director of Ordinands, Philip Welsh, for my first interview. He tore me to shreds. Made mincemeat of me. Opened me up with a scalpel and exposed me to the world. At the end he told me to call him if I wanted to carry on. I was shattered physically, mentally and spiritually when I got home, and for days afterwards but I was still convinced God had called me so after a few days I called him. I now understood what my prayers would cost me. The next session he was completely different. I asked him later why he had been so hard. He said "I always do that. Everyone who comes to see me to be ordained has done some asking, some seeking, but I want to make sure they do some knocking as well. I need to know they have counted the cost."
God is a loving Father who longs for us to ask so that he can provide. We have to seek from him the right things to ask for - usually the spiritual things - and we need to show him how keen we really are to do his will by knocking the door off its hinges if necessary. This leads us into having the right attitude to others who are outside God's family too.
Our attitude to others (7:12)
So in verses 7 & 8 Jesus tells us what our attitude to God needs to be. We can ask him in confidence, we must be diligent in seeking what the right things are – mainly the spiritual things – and we must be willing to keep knocking – to count the cost of what we are praying for.
In verses 9-11 Jesus reassures us that God is like the perfect Father who will provide for the real needs of his children in the best possible way.
Verse 12 shows us though that when we have the right attitude to God and when we experience his wonderful grace, our attitude to others will change too. He says that as a result this will be different. "Do to others what you would have them do to you", he says. This is called the Golden Rule.
A professor of astronomy was once having a go at Christianity in one of his lectures. He said “Let’s face it, basically all religions are the same. What they all boil down to is the Golden Rule: treat other people as you would like them to treat you”. A Christian in the class replied, “Just as in astronomy it all boils down to one thing really: “Twinkle, twinkle little star.”
The professor was wrong. The Golden Rule is found in many religions, but in the negative form "Don't do things to others which you would not want done to you". Only Christianity states it in the positive. Christ's Golden rule is positive; others are negative. The Talmud of Judaism said, "What is hateful to you, do not to your fellow men." Hinduism said, "Do naught unto others which would cause you pain if done to you." Buddhism said, "Hurt not others in ways that you yourself find hurtful." Confucianism said, "Do not unto others that you would not have them do unto you." Christ's Golden Rule is positive, "Do to others, as you would have them do to you." It is a significant difference. It is easier not to hurt your enemy if they keep out of your way. It is harder to go to them and love them. The startling thing about the way Jesus puts it is that we act we don’t just ignore. This leaves us no room to ignore people we do not like and it calls us to love them as we love ourselves. It is also a saying which prevents the necessity of laying down endless little rules. This one is enough to cover all our attitudes to others. Remember it well. Remember too to examine yourself first when asking, seeking and knocking. If your attitude to others is positive and your prayers include the best God can give them, it is more likely your prayers are on the right lines.
Conclusion
When our attitude to God is right, our attitude to others will be positive. And that attitude to others will be reflected in what we ask God for and our commitment to help him see it through. But one last thing: When God answers our prayers what might it look like?
In the film Evan Almighty, Evan’s wife prayed for a better family life. The family was falling apart and never spent any time together. Then her husband says God has told him to start building an Ark like Noah. She can’t understand how God answers prayers and she meets him in a café! Now I know this is fiction, but so were many of Jesus’ parables. Like Jesus’ parables this has something to say to the listeners (play video).
So when we pray don’t expect warm fuzzy feelings. Don’t even expect others to have to sort it for you, including God. Expect opportunities to love and serve others. Treat other people as you’d like them to treat you – whether they do or not.
