This morning, we are going to look at what Jesus has to say about how to pray in a way that leads to receiving an answer. In his song “Good, Good Father,” Chris Tomlin says, “I’ve seen many searching for answers far and wide, but I know we’re all searching for answers only You provide. ‘Cause You know just what we need before we say a word. You’re a good, good Father; it’s who You are . . . You are perfect in all of Your ways.”(1) As Tomlin said, we are all searching for answers and even praying for them. But our heavenly Father knows what we need even better than we do (Matthew 6:8), and His ways are always perfect. We will come to see that when we pray according to God’s will, that He hears and answers; but it might not be what we expect. However, it will be exactly what we need.
Asking, Seeking and Knocking (vv. 7-8)
7 Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
Jesus said here to ask, seek and knock. “These present imperative forms [in the Greek] imply that a person is to ‘keep on’ asking, seeking and knocking.”(2) For example, the Holman Christian Standard Bible translates this verse as, “Keep asking, and it will be given to you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened to you.” Listen, as I read from the New Living Translation: “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.” The use of the words “ask, seek, and knock,” suggest an ever-increasing intensity in prayer.
“When you ASK someone something, you are making a request of them. Asking in prayer is to make a request of God. We ask something of God when we have a need, and we ask something of God because [we know that] He can provide for ‘all’ our needs. If we want to receive, we must ask.”(3) Allow me to provide an example of a situation where we might ask the Lord for something. In Joshua chapter 3, we read about the Israelites standing by the edge of the flooded Jordan River, which was an obstacle that prevented them from entering the Promised Land. An example of asking, would be to ask God to part the waters. Often, there will be a Jordan River experience in our life, where there is an obstacle preventing us from crossing into what God has called us to do; and we might need to ask God to part the waters; or perhaps, even open a door.
“Seeking is asking, plus action. We SEEK when we need something of value to us. There are times when we need to take an ‘active role’ in the prayer process. If we want to find, we must seek. While you must ask, you also must act.”(4) In Joshua chapter 3, we learn that the flooded Jordan River parted only when the priests who were carrying the heavy Ark of the Covenant dipped the soles of their feet into the water. They could not just sit around hoping and asking; they had to act. In pursing God’s call on our life, we often must take the initiative and work at the task set before us. We might just need to set foot in the water; or perhaps, start pushing on that door, testing to see if it will open.
“We KNOCK when we are shut out from what we need and desire entrance. Therefore, when attempting to enter a door, we continually knock until we gain entrance.”(5) Jesus stressed the need for persistence in prayer. In the example of crossing the Jordan River, persistence might be walking out deeper and deeper into the water, just about drowning; and then starting to swim, and then swimming and swimming until you can nearly swim no more. Of course, the priests did not have to go to this extreme in crossing the Jordan River, but you get the picture! “Knocking is asking, plus action, plus attitude,”(6) and we knock until the door opens. But we need to keep in mind, as the old saying goes, that when He does not open a door, then perhaps He will open a window.
Or, perhaps, rather than parting the water, God will instead provide a boat. Some of us might see the boat in front of us – or even the open window – and because it is not what we expected, we sit still and keep on asking. We never even make it to the seeking or knocking stages! Here is a well-worn and time-tested illustration that reminds us of how foolish it is to remain stuck in the asking stage:
A fellow was stuck on his rooftop during a flood. He prayed to God for help. Soon, a man in a rowboat came by and he shouted to the fellow on the roof, “Jump in, I can save you.” The stranded fellow shouted back, “No, it’s OK, I’m praying to God and He is going to save me.” So, the rowboat went on.
Then a motorboat came by. “The man in the motorboat shouted, “Jump in, I can save you.” To this, the stranded fellow said, “No thanks, I’m praying to God and He is going to save me. I have faith.” So, the motorboat went on.
Then a helicopter came by and the pilot shouted down, “Grab this rope and I will lift you to safety.” To this, the stranded fellow again replied, “No thanks, I’m praying to God and He is going to save me. I have faith.” So, the helicopter reluctantly flew away.
Soon, the water rose above the rooftop and the fellow drowned, and he went to Heaven. He finally got his chance to discuss this whole situation with God, at which point he exclaimed, “I had faith in You but You didn’t save me; You let me drown. I don’t understand why!” To this, God replied, “I sent you a rowboat, and a motorboat, and a helicopter. What more did you expect?”(7)
In reference to these verses, commentator William Barclay observes, “One may not receive [exactly] what he requests, he may not find [exactly] what he seeks, and the door upon which he knocks may not be the one opened; but the assurance is that where there is asking there will be receiving, where there is seeking there will be finding, and where there is knocking God will open a door”(8) – or perhaps even a window! Philip Yancey, in an article from Christianity Today, wrote: “When Jesus prayed to the One who could save Him from death, He did not get that salvation; He got instead the salvation of the world.”(9) “God will always answer our prayers, but He will answer them in His way, and His way will be the perfect way of wisdom and of perfect love.”(10)
Good Things for the Asking (vv. 9-11)
9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!
“The [ancient] Greeks had their stories about the gods who answered men’s prayers, but the answer was an answer with a barb in it; a double-edged gift.”(11) In verses 9-11, Jesus was assuring us that God will never treat us like that. He “will never refuse our prayers; and God will never mock our prayers.”(12)
Jesus said, “What man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?” (v. 9). “Some stones look like loaves of bread,” and this is probably why, in Matthew 4:4, “the devil suggested Jesus make loaves out of stones.”(13) Barclay says, “The little, round . . . stones on the seashore were exactly the shape and the color of little loaves. If a son asks for bread, will his father mock him by offering him a stone, which looks like bread but which is impossible to eat?”(14)
Commentator Adam Clarke says that this was a proverb that was circulated in the ancient world. An example can be found in the writings of the Roman playwright Titus Maccius Plautus.(15) In his play Aulularia, the character Euclio states, “[He] holds up a bit of bread in one hand and a stone in the other,” referring to the man who promises to help, but has the ulterior motive of exploiting someone’s hardship to take something from them.(16) Clarke adds that this proverb can also represent “a benefit grudgingly given by a [greedy] man.”(17) God is not greedy, nor does He have some ulterior motive when He provides for us. People often have strings attached to their giving, but not God.
Next, Jesus said, “Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?” (v. 10). The word “serpent” could also be translated “water snake”(18) This was most certainly an eel. “According to the Jewish food laws, an eel could not be eaten, because an eel was an unclean fish.”(19) Leviticus 11:12 says, “Whatever in the water does not have fins or scales – that shall be an abomination to you.” “That regulation ruled out the eel as an article of diet.”(20) Jesus was saying, “If a son asks for a fish, will his father indeed give him a fish, but a fish which is forbidden to eat, and which is useless to eat? Would a father mock his son’s hunger like that?”(21)
Jesus concluded with this rationale: “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” (v. 11). Jesus was using the contrast between sinful people and a perfect God to illustrate a point. If you “who are radically and diabolically depraved . . . feel yourself led, by natural affection, to give those things to your children which are necessary to support their lives, how much more will your Father who is in heaven, whose nature is goodness, mercy, and grace, give good things . . . to [those] who ask?”(22)
So, the Father will “give good things to those who ask Him.” So, what is meant by “good things?” Well, in context, looking at the examples of bread and fish, one meaning of “good things” is food, which would equate to daily provision. In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus told us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11). So, when we are asking, seeking, and knocking, we will most certainly receive the things we need for life, health, and sustenance. These are good things.
Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Based on this verse, I would say that when we are seeking to serve God’s purpose, He will answer those prayers that align with His purpose. We read in 1 John 5:14-15, “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.” If the things we ask for are according to God’s will, they are most certainly good things, and the Lord will give us the good things we ask for.
But let me share with you something else that is a “good thing.” When Luke recalled the words of Jesus, he said, “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 in Luke 11:13. In the Scripture, receiving the Holy Spirit is equated with confessing Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. We often wonder what God wants us to have; what is His will. God’s ultimate will, according to 2 Peter 3:9, is this: “The Lord is . . . not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” God’s will and the greatest good He can bestow is the forgiveness of sin and eternal life; and He promises to give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him.
Expected to Pay It Forward (v. 12)
12 Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
To summarize what Jesus said here: “God gives only good gifts to those who come to Him in prayer [including the gift of salvation]. Likewise, God’s children are to do good things for others. Jesus put the sum of the Law and the Prophets into the statement we call the Golden Rule.”(23) The Golden Rule is “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” This well-known statement, of course, originates right here in Matthew 7:12; but the version we know, began to be widely used during the early 17th century in Britain by Anglican theologians and pastors.
This proverb was already being widely circulated among the Jews, but in negative form. For example, Rabbi Hillel once said, “What is hateful to yourself, do to no other; that is the whole Law, and the rest is commentary.”(24) Tobit, which is a book from the Apocrypha, says, “And what you hate, do not do to anyone” (Tobit 4:15).(25) Jesus changed its negative form into a positive, active form. “His followers were not simply to keep from doing to another that which they did not want done to themselves. They were to treat others in the same way they would like for those others to treat them.”(26)
Based on the old negative Jewish format, a small business owner might think to himself, “I would not want someone stealing from me, so I will not steal from them. I will make sure my employees get the rightful wages they have earned.” But in the new format taught by Jesus, that same small business owner might think to himself, “I would like for someone to give me a gift, so I am going to give my employees a bonus this month.” It is like the difference between playing defense vs. offense; or being reactive vs. proactive. We are to be proactive, going above and beyond the call of duty, to bless those around us in the same way that we would like to be blessed ourselves!
But since this verse is tied to asking for good things, especially the gift of the Holy Spirit and salvation, and receiving those things from our heavenly Father, we are expected to pay those blessings forward unto others. For example, if God has forgiven us, then we should forgive others. Ephesians 4:32 says, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you.” If God saved us from our sins, then we should be “more than” willing to tell others how they too can be saved. 1 John 4:10-11 says, “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation [atoning sacrifice] for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”
Time of Reflection
If we keep on asking, keep on seeking, and keep on knocking, God will answer our prayers, some way, somehow. We might ask for an open door; but instead, He will provide an open window. We might not get exactly what we are asking for, but we will get what God knows is best. His ultimate best for our lives revolves around the good things He has in store for those who love Him and are the called according to His purpose. Those good things include daily provision and spiritual blessings; and what God has given us, such as His forgiveness, we should pass along to others. We should especially share the good news of how they too can receive eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
God loved us so much that He sent us the ultimate good gift. Allow me to explain. Romans 6:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Every single person in the world has messed up and committed sin, and Romans 6:23 tells us that “the wages of sin is death.” We are each supposed to die a spiritual death for our sin, which is eternal separation from God. But Jesus stepped in and took our place in death when He hung on the cross for our sins. Jesus gave us a gift; the gift of His own life when He laid it down for you and I. Listen, as I read Romans 6:23 in its entirety: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 10:9-10 tells us how to receive this gift; the gift of salvation, the Holy Spirit, and eternal life: “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” The apostle James said, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights” (James 1:17). I want to encourage you to come forward today, confess Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord of your life, and receive God’s ultimate good gift; the forgiveness of sins and eternal life.
NOTES
(1) Chris Tomlin, “Good, Good Father,” Worship Together: https://www.worshiptogether.com/songs/good-good-father-chris-tomlin/ (Accessed January 3, 2024).
(2) Clair M. Crissey, “Matthew,” Layman’s Bible Book Commentary, vol. 15 (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1981), p. 46.
(3) Carlton Byrd, “Ask, Seek, and Knock,” Message: https://www.messagemagazine.com/grow-your-faith/prophecy/ask-seek-knock/ (Accessed January 1, 2024).
(4) Ibid.
(5) Ibid.
(6) Ibid.
(7) “The Drowning Man,” TruthBook: https://truthbook.com/stories/funny-stories/popular-stories/the-drowning-man/ (Accessed January 1, 2024).
(8) Frank Stagg, “Matthew,” The Broadman Bible Commentary (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1969), p. 120.
(9) “Jesus’ Unanswered Prayers,” Christianity Today (Feb. 1998).
(10) William Barclay, The Daily Study Bible, vol. 1 (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1958), pp. 275-276.
(11) Ibid., p. 275.
(12) Ibid., p. 275.
(13) A. T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament, vol. 1 (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1930), p. 61.
(14) Barclay, pp. 274-275.
(15) “Plautus,” Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plautus (Accessed January 1, 2024). He lived from 254-184 B.C.
(16) “T. Maccius Plautus: Aulularia,” http://www.forumromanum.org/literature/aululariaeng.html (Accessed January 1, 2024). This quote is from Aulularia, Act 2, Scene 2.
(17) Adam Clarke, Clarke’s Commentary (New York: Abingdon Press), p. 95.
(18) Robertson, p. 61.
(19) Barclay, p. 275.
(20) Ibid., p. 275.
(21) Ibid., p. 275.
(22) Clarke, pp. 95-96.
(23) Crissey, p. 46.
(24) Barclay, p. 277.
(25) The New Oxford Annotated Apocrypha (New York: Oxford University Press, 2010), p. 17.
(26) Crissey, p. 47.
