Seek and Find Matthew 7:7-11
• When I was growing up I remember one particular thing I enjoyed about going to the doctor or dentist office
• As a child you are always nervous whether it is for a regular checkup
• Or maybe you are actually sick
• The worst was when I was going to have to get my shots or a cavity filled
• I would sit in that waiting room
• I could hear somewhere deep within the bowels of that maze of hallways
• Behind that door a random child crying or even screaming hysterically
• I could picture the size of that needle the doctor was going to stab me with
• Or I was sitting waiting for the dentist
• And I hear the most awful sound in the entire world
• The drill spinning and whirring and grinding
• My eyes would get really big, imagining that they must be using a drill just like Dad’s power drill he has at
home
• Sitting there in horror I would look around the waiting room and my eyes would land on the stack of
magazines
• And there it was, a copy of Highlights for Children
• Right there on the cover it said the words
• Fun with a purpose
• All of my fears would fade away for a moment
• Of course I loved the funny stories and comic strips
• The back cover had the What’s Wrong with this Picture
• But my favorite part was the Hidden Picture puzzle
• Finding all those hidden objects was so much fun
• Unless of course some idiot had ruined it by already circling all the objects
• And taking all the fun out of it for the rest of us
• For over 75 years Highlights has been entertaining children and helping them stay calm in those waiting
rooms
• But then, that door would open and the nurse would say, “Brian”
• And my nightmare had returned
• As kids most of us loved those seek and finds
• Then of course Where’s Waldo came along in 1987 and became wildly popular
• Our kids would check those giant hard back books out of the library and lay in bed at night searching for
Waldo and all of his friends
• I loved those too
• Seek and finds, popular with kids of all ages
• That is the title of this morning’s message
• Seek and Find
• Many people today, believers and non-believers alike, are seeking
• Seeking answers to hard questions
• Seeking guidance, seeking wisdom, seeking truth
• Or seeking after their own desires and passions
• What do some very familiar verses in Matthew have for us when we seek and find?
• We will see three main points in this passage
• Three Actions on our part
• Three Affirmations on God’s part, and
• Three Analogies for our lives
• READ MATTHEW 7:7-11
• Ask, seek and knock
• As we read these words you will notice, if you have a red letter edition Bible
• That these words, and all the surrounding words are in red
• These are words directly from the mouth of Jesus Christ
• This passage is part of the greatest sermon ever preached
• What is known as the Sermon on the Mount
• This ask and it shall be given portion is close to the end of Jesus’ sermon
• And is wedged between two of the most famous parts
• Previous to this Jesus speaks to us about judging others and uses the beam in your eye versus the speck in
another’s eye illustration
• What follows this passage is what is known as The Golden Rule
• Do to others what you would have them do unto you
• This sermon covers a multitude of topics
• Blessings, murder and adultery
• Giving of oaths, prayer and fasting
• And it finishes up with the wise man built his house upon the rock
• The Sermon on the Mount’s call to moral and ethical living is so high it seems unattainable to many
• Seems completely unrealistic
• But there is no doubt that Jesus gave this sermon as a standard for all Christians
• That we could only meet through the power of the Holy Spirit
• So we see in Matthew 7:7-11
• Ask, seek, knock
• We start out with Three Actions
• First is ask
• Jesus simply says ask
• Similar to what God said to Solomon in 1 Kings 3:5
• Ask what I shall give you
• What do you think of when you picture yourself asking God for something?
• Prayer, that is what these verses are really all about
• How we should approach God in prayer
• Earlier in this sermon Jesus had given His listeners instruction on how to pray
• The Lord’s Prayer, or better described as The Model Prayer
• He instructs us to not pray as the hypocrites
• Praying for show and recognition
• But to pray humbly before the Father that knows what you need before you ask Him
• Now He assures us that God welcomes prayer and urges us to come to Him continuously and persistently
• So Jesus here is encouraging us to consider the spirit of our prayers
• Do we pray knowing that God is a loving Father?
• Do we ask, realizing He already knows what we need before we even ask Him?
• There’s nothing that reveals more about a believer than his or her prayer life
• How we approach God and what we are willing to ask for shows how we view God
• Everything is built around these three words, ask, seek, knock
• A picture of progression in prayer
• Level 1, asking
• There are some things that the need is so clear that we only need to ask for them
• A man stranded in the desert for a few days doesn’t beat around the bush
• He says can I have some water?
• A man who hasn’t eaten in days simply asks, Can I have something to eat?
• A man with pneumonia who cannot breath simply asks, Can I have some oxygen?
• When the need is obvious, we know exactly what to ask for
• We know our need and if we know someone who has what we need
• And if we believe that individual cares about us
• Then we ask
• Level 2, seeking
• Seeking is a deeper level of praying than just asking
• Sometimes we doubt and James 1:6-7 reminds us that is not the way to approach God
• But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by
the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;
• Paul also tells us in Romans 8:26
• Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought,
but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
• So when we do not know what to pray the Holy Spirit intervenes on our behalf
• As we are seeking what God wants of us
• Level 3, knocking
• Now we are asking, looking and we are pounding on the door
• Because we want an answer to our request
• The word knock here means to strike, to beat the door with a stick to get in
• Lord I have asked, I have looked, I need an answer and I need it bad
• This is a deeper level of prayer and we need to learn to pray at this level
• This type of praying is focused, usually on one need
• You are not praying for all of the lost people in the world
• You are praying for that one person who is lost and the burden you have for them just won’t let up
• Or you are praying for healing for someone because you care so deeply for them
• And when you go to God in prayer, it’s all you can think about
• Its focused
• It’s also persistent
• This prayer doesn’t stop because it isn’t answered the first time
• Or the second time, or the third
• You are saying, Lord, here I am again with this same prayer
• I am going to pound on this door until I get an answer
• If I don’t get an answer today, I’m coming back tomorrow
• I’m going to pray until something happens
• Some of us have prayed this way
• Some of you may have prayed this way a lot
• And some of us may have never prayed this way
• We may not even know what to pray
• The truth is though.
• Prayer is not about getting what you want
• Prayer is about getting what God wants
• These verses aren’t about prosperity Gospel
• Ask God for my dream car
• A 1988 Porsche 911, jet black, look it up, you will want one too
• Ask God for a 1988 Porsche 911
• Seek for it until I find the perfect one
• Then pound on that door until I get it
• That’s not it folks
• 1 John 5:14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He
hears us.
• Key phrase there is “according to His will”
• Real prayer is communion with God
• And what is necessary for communion are common thoughts between His mind and ours
• What we need is for Him to fill our minds and hearts with His thoughts
• Then His desires become our desires
• Flowing back to him in the form of prayer
• We must realize that prayer is not us dictating to God
• But a humble and heartfelt expression of our attitude of dependence and need
• Remember
• Prayer is about getting what God wants
• Jesus does encourage us to be persistent with our asking, seeking and knocking
• In the original text the present tense is used
• It really says, keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking
• Ask what you will
• Seek the Master, and
• Knock at the door
• Now there Three Actions on our part are followed by Three Affirmations on God’s part
• Ask and ye shall receive
• Seek and ye shall find
• Knock and it shall be opened
• Ask according to His will and He will hear
• You shall receive, we receive satisfaction
• Seek, seek what Matthew 6:33 says
• But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
• What should be at the top of our list of things we are searching for?
• His kingdom and His righteousness
• Most importantly, salvation
• Then search after the things of God
• Rather than be concerned for the things of this world and our physical needs
• The Lord’s disciples should be concerned for and seeking after the things of God
• And when we do, we receive the full care and provision of God
• What are all these things?
• What are we going to eat and drink
• What are we going to wear
• Your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things
• Seek Him first, and He will supply your needs
• He clothes the lilies of the field, how much more will He cares for you.
• If you seek you will find implies fellowship with the Father
• Your Father knows your needs, because you are with Him
• Knock and it shall be opened
• This means acceptance
• Do you ever get that knock at your front door that you were not expecting?
• There are not as many door-to-door salesmen as there used to be
• I remember growing up and playing Little League baseball
• Each season we would get those booster’s stickers to go sell to people throughout the neighborhood
• Man, did I hate doing that
• I didn’t sell very many, at 1o years old I wasn’t a very good salesman
• I was at my parents’ house recently and saw on their bench in the foyer one of those cards from the fire
department
• They had the privilege of receiving a “free” family portrait
• I knew someone had knocked on their door, and they accepted them, accepted what they were selling
• If there is a stranger at the door, you are less likely to open to door, and probably will not let them in
• Opening the door shows acceptance
• When we persistently knock, after persistently seeking, after persistently asking according to His will
• God opens the door and invites us in
• God is always at work around us
• He wants us to ask, seek and knock so He can let us in on what He is doing
• Ask, seek and knock is a license to come boldly but humbly before your heavenly Father with your requests
and expect them to be heard
• It’s an open invitation from God to have access to God
• Finally, Jesus gives us three analogies
• Some illustrations to drive home His point that God has and knows what is best for us
• READ 9-11 again
• Jesus’ illustrations sounds strange to us today
• They are actually a form of Hebrew poetry in which there is a rhyme of thought rather than of syllables
• Would a father give his son a stone for bread?
• What man, or father, is there of you that would give his son a stone when he asks for bread
• When one of my sons had come to me when they were younger and said
• Daddy, I’m hungry, can I have a peanut butter sandwich?
• I wouldn’t have given them a rock and said here you go son, suck on that for a while
• Then you won’t be hungry
• No I would have made them a peanut butter sandwich
• And probably one for myself as well
• My kids don’t eat much fish, but if they asked for a tuna sandwich from Subway I wouldn’t have served up a
rattlesnake instead
• Jesus I using illustrations that the people listening in the crowd would have understood
• The little round limestone stones on the seashore were exactly the shape and color of little loaves of bread
• If a son asks for bread, will his father mock him by offering a stone which looks like bread but is impossible
to eat?
• How about the fish and the serpent
• According to Jewish law the Jews were only allowed to eat fish with scales
• There is a long, scale less catfish found in the Sea of Galilee which was called by the Jews a “snake”
• Maybe this was what Jesus was referring to
• A Jewish father would not give his son such a catfish to eat
• It would be forbidden and useless
• Would a father mock his son’s hunger like that?
• No, we take care of our kids
• Think about how much you love your kids
• I mean, really think about it
• As parents, we want what is best for our kids
• We would do anything for them
• So this is where Jesus really drives it home
• If you, being evil, sinful by nature
• If you a sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children
• How much more will your Father who is in heaven, perfect as He is, give good things to them that ask him?
• He calls us to be His children
• He adopts us into His family
• His grace enables us to be included in the family of God
• This is why we even have access to His throne to ask, seek and knock
• It is all because we have a heavenly Father that wants to give us the very best
• But, far too often we are slow to bring our prayers before God
• We are quick with the excuses
• We don’t feel worthy to come into His presence
• News flash we aren’t
• We have to put on the righteousness of Jesus
• Because worthy is the Lamb who was slain
• Perhaps we say, God knows everything, so we don’t know what to pray
• Yes God does know everything, but He loves it when we talk to Him and ask for His good gifts
• Maybe we are just too busy with life that we don’t take the necessary time
• I just don’t have time to do all that asking and seeking and knocking
• I heard an illustration from Pastor Tony Evans that I altered some to fit us here in Arkansas
• We love our Razorbacks, we make time for our Razorbacks
• Especially Razorback football
• Me and my wife love football
• But, have you ever thought about how much time we devote to football?
• The average NCAA football game lasts an average of 3 hours and 15 minutes
• But did you know that in that 3 hrs. 15 min, there is usually only about 15 minutes of actual gameplay?
• The majority of the game is consumed by coaches talking, referees standing, walking and arguing
• TV commercials take almost an hour by themselves
• You spend 2 hours listening to the hosts talking with the analysts
• Now, if you actually go to a home game, in Fayetteville
• Oh my goodness
• 2 hour drive there and 2 hours back
• You get there 30 minutes early
• It takes 45 minutes to leave, because of the traffic
• So 4 hrs. drive time, 3 hrs. 15 min game time 30 min early and 45 min to leave…4 plus 45… carry the 2
• That’s 8.5 hours for one game
• Then the next day you spend all day talking about it with your buddies at work
• Then you start looking forward to next week’s game
• Let me ask you this
• What have the Razorbacks done for you lately?
• But I know somebody that will give you what you ask
• Somebody who will show you what you are seeking
• Somebody who will open the door and accept you
• Somebody that says all these things shall be added unto you
• If I can get your undivided attention in relationship under My rule, My kingdom
• Instead of asking what this world can provide
• Instead of seeking desires and pleasures of this world
• Instead of knocking on every door of opportunity that comes before us
• We need to seek His kingdom and righteousness FIRST!
• The King of kings will provide all our needs
• Would your heavenly Father refuse to His children that which they cannot do without?
• Luke 11:13 reads like this
• If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father
give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
• This is what we cannot do without
• The Holy Spirit and His guidance
• If we ask, seek and knock in our own power
• We will only receive things of this earth
• Things that fade away
• Things that are inferior to what the Master can give
• But if we follow the Holy Spirit
• Then we will seek and find the kingdom and righteousness of God
• ASK, it will be given
• This is words of communication
• Are we taking our needs and requests to the throne room of God?
• Ask and God’s ears will attend to our request
• SEEK, you will find
• We must start looking around with faith eyes
• Acknowledge God can handle this, actively and eagerly searching
• KNOCK, it will be opened
• This is a step out in faith, not every door opens instantly
• We can find God behind this door
• To knock is to gain admittance and come in
• Prayer is not cutting deals and making bargains with God
• We must come to the throne and keep asking, keep seeking and keep knocking
• Seek and find
• What are you asking, seeking and knocking for?
• Seek, and ye shall find
• God is always at work around you
• Find out what God has in store for you
• James 1:17
• Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom
there is no variation or shadow of turning.
