D. A. Carson said, “I doubt if there is any Christian who has not sometimes found it difficult to pray. In itself this is neither surprising nor depressing: it is not surprising, because we are still pilgrims with many lessons to learn; it is not depressing, because struggling with such matters is part of the way we learn” (A Call to Spiritual Reformation, p. 9).
“Ask and it will be give to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened unto you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
“Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him.”
1. Your heavenly Father wants you to depend on Him.
In this passage, the relationship between a Christian and God is likened to the relationship between a son and his father. As a young child must depend on his parent or guardian, you and I must depend on God, our heavenly Father.
If we do not pray (or if we do not pray often), we reveal that we are self-reliant, not God-reliant (whether we admit it or not).
The main reason why we pray is not to inform God about our needs but to acknowledge that we need His help. Jesus said in Matthew 6:8, “Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” Our prayers are much more important to us than to God.
2. Your heavenly Father wants you to be persistent in your prayers.
The words “ask,” “seek,” and “knock” are in the present imperative tense. Jesus is saying, “Keep on asking; keep on seeking; keep on knocking.” In Luke 18, Jesus told a story to teach us that we “should always pray and not give up.
He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’
“For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she get justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!”
And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly.”
Jesus is not saying that God is like that judge. We are not to try to bother God until finally He gives us what we want. Prayer doesn’t work like that. We are to pray knowing that God is nothing like that judge. He cares about you and me. What we need more than persistent prayers is persistent faith.
I believe God often answers “Yes” to our prayers, but we may not see the results until later (sometimes much later).
3. Your heavenly Father doesn’t want you to be passive in your prayers.
Sometimes when we ask for something, God expects us to be involved in the answer to that prayer. For example, if you are asking the Lord to help you find a job, you should be willing to look for a job. You shouldn’t do nothing and say, “I asked God for a job and I’m here waiting for Him to give me one.”
4. Your heavenly Father is willing to give good gifts to you.
“Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him.” It’s not natural for a father to ignore the needs of his son. The point is: if human fathers (who are self-centered) are willing to give good things to their children, how much more is God? God is not reluctant to give us what we need.
5. Your heavenly Father knows what is best for you.
The child in Jesus’ example asked his father for bread and fish—good and necessary things. If the child had asked for a poisonous snake, would the father have granted his request? Sometimes God knows we are praying for “snakes” and doesn’t give us what we ask for, even though we persist in our prayers.
ILLUSTRATION: A child often thinks he knows what is best but really doesn’t.
Why don’t you get everything you ask for?
· You may lack faith.
“If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord” (James 1:5-7).
· You may have selfish motives.
Matthew 7:7-8 is not saying that prayer is like a blank cheque.
“When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures” (James 4:3).
Sometimes even good request can have selfish motives.
Prayer is not asking God to do my will. It’s asking God to do His will. First John 5:14 says, “This is the confidence that we have in approaching God: that is 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 what we asked of him.”
· You may be living in disobedience.
“If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened” (Psalm 66:18).
“The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective” (James 5:16).
· You may be unwilling to forgive.
“When you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins” (Mark 11:25-26).
A Three-Fold Prayer Emphasis for 2006:
1. Greater emphasis on prayer in our Sunday services
2. Increased attendance in our small groups
3. Participation in the prayer planner
A Worship Service Based on The Lord’s Prayer
SONG: Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing
PART ONE: WORSHIP (Our Father in heaven, hallowed by your name….)
SCRIPTURE: Our God is a mighty God. Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you (Jeremiah 32:17).
Our God is a holy God. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come (Revelation 4:8).
Our God is a merciful God. Because of the LORD’S great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail (Lamentations 3:22).
Our God is a gracious God. The LORD is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion (Psalm 116:5).
Our God is a faithful God. The faithfulness of the LORD endures forever (Psalm 117:2).
SONG: Holy, Holy, Holy
PRAYER (worship)
PART TWO: SURRENDER (“…your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”)
SCRIPTURE: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it” (Luke 9:23-24).
I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is our spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will (Romans 12:1-2).
PRAYER (surrender)
SONG/OFFERING: Take My Life and Let It Be
PART THREE: REQUESTS (“Give us this day our daily bread.”)
SCRIPTURE: “Ask and it will be give to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened unto you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
“Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him” (Matthew 7:7-11).
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7).
SONG: Seek Ye First
PRAYER (requests)
SERMON: Deepening Your Faith Through Prayer
PART FOUR: CONFESSION (“Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”)
SCRIPTURE: Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting (Psalm 139:23).
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions (Psalm 51:1-2).
He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy (Proverbs 28:13).
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:8-9).
SONG: Cleanse Me
PRAYER (confession)
PART FIVE: PROTECTION (“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”)
SCRIPTURE: Keep your servant from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer (Psalm 19:13-14).
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it (1 Corinthians 10:13).
SONG: Sweet Hour of Prayer
PRAYER (protection)
SCRIPTURE: The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father in heaven, hallowed by your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
