Hopefully asking, seeking, knocking
Series: Metamorphosis | Bible text: Matthew 7:7–11
Ask – receive, seek – find, knock – it will be opened to you. This is how simply Jesus describes the life of prayer. Unfortunately, this statement does not correspond very well with our experience. How often do we ask, seek, knock, but there is no response. This is because most of the time we pray with too much of an I fixation. Our Father in heaven wants to do us good and knows exactly what is good for us. But first we have to recognise what we should ask, seek and knock for. It is not primarily about having our earthly dreams fulfilled, but about entering into a relationship with God, asking Him for His nearness, seeking Him and knocking on His door.
We often lose things, but unfortunately not every search is successful. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus makes a statement that should actually make every search successful as soon as we pray to God. Today’s sermon is about this biblical passage.
Coming before God without reserve
«Ask and you shall receive. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened to you». (Matthew 7:7 NLB). When Jesus talks here about prayer, that is, talking to God, and what effects it can have, it sounds quite simple. Ask and you will receive. Seek and you will find. Knock and a door will be opened to you. This sounds too good to be true. If this is really so, then all problems, needs, worries and fears are gone. I hardly have any worries, then I ask God and bang, the problem vanishes into thin air. If I ever lose something again or am looking for something – Zack, I will find it. And if I’m out late somewhere and looking for a place to stay, all I have to do is knock on a door, of course of the house I like best, and I’m immediately let in and offered a bed. This sounds too good to be true. I think it sounded the same to Jesus» listeners. So simple?
But Jesus reinforces his statement even more, instead of softening it as we might expect. «For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.» (Matthew 7:8 NGÜ). In the first promise in verse seven we should actively ask, seek and knock and we will receive, find and be opened. So we actively do something and receive the result without our doing anything. The statement of Jesus in verse eight is completely different. Whoever actively asks, actively seeks and actively knocks, receives, finds and is opened. Prayer as described by Jesus has active effects and a clear result. Jesus calls us here intensively to prayer. Prayer that is hopeful and has an effect. Followers of Jesus not only have a good friend in him, but also a heavenly Father in God. The addressee of such hopeful prayers is God, the heavenly Father.
In his sermon on this biblical passage, Michael Herbst makes two points about the direction a prayer to God can take. One is for spiritual breadth, the other for change. When followers of Jesus ask, seek and knock on their heavenly Father, this broadens their vision. By praying to God, they are actively asking for things that they themselves lack, but it lifts their gaze towards God. Just as a child goes to its father with everything that concerns it, children of God can go to their father and ask him for everything. If one asks God, then this also changes many things. On the one hand, it changes one’s view of certain things, on the other hand, it can also widen one’s view of others. When in prayer not only one’s own needs are brought to God, but also the concerns of other people, then this broadens one’s own view and changes one’s perception of other people.
To remind followers of Jesus how good the heavenly Father is to them, Jesus points to the relationship of parents to their children. «You parents – when your children ask you for a piece of bread, do you give them a stone instead? Or if they ask you for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! If you, who are sinners, know how to do good to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven do good to those who ask him?» (Matthew 7:9–11 NLB). Parents are concerned about giving their children the bare necessities. Bread and fish were staples at that time. So when children ask their parents for food, they will not meet them with unnecessary harshness, for which the stone can stand. Yes, parents will not expose their children to any dangers either. They will guard and protect them and not give them a snake which could be poisonous. Jesus» conclusion leads to the fact that the heavenly Father deals with His children even more lovingly and carefully than we humans can. We may not always succeed in doing the right thing, but the basic tenor is usually positive. But God as the heavenly Father always wants the best for His children (Romans 8:28).
The (other) answer of God
When we hear the words of Jesus, despite all the optimism in the statement, it is difficult to really believe it. Because experience rather shows the silence of God. God is not a wish machine. People pray to God, perhaps even cry out to him, but unfortunately he does not answer. This can lead to turning away from God. For how can Jesus make such statements and say that the heavenly Father does good to those who ask him, if this does not correspond at all to the world of life and experience?
This view comes above all from the fact that hearing God is limited only to the concrete fulfilment of a wish. Everything else is declared to be evil. Whether the wish is fulfilled differently or not at all. Often an answer to prayer, especially if it turns out differently than expected, is not perceived as such. The focus is usually only on what is not answered by God. What he does positively, on the other hand, is not perceived. The late Archbishop of the Church of England, William Temple, summarised this as follows: «If I pray, this or that happens by chance; if I stop praying, nothing happens by chance.» Just as parents know exactly what their children need, our heavenly Father knows exactly what we need. If God answers a prayer differently than expected, it is because this is better for us than if He were to fulfil our wish.
The other fulfilment of our wish is not yet such a big hurdle. But not having our wish fulfilled shakes our trust in God. It makes us doubt a good God. Especially when we are personally deeply affected. In August 2017, I received a phone call from a friend. Joyfully I picked up, but what he had to tell me pulled the rug from under my feet. He told me that his flatmate, one of my best friends, had died in a car accident while on holiday in the USA. This news left me in shock. I was deeply affected and saddened. In this situation, I cried out to God in prayer. I accused him. I banged on his door, hoping that he could make this news not true. I asked God to explain to me why. But this has not happened until today. To this day, it is a mystery to me why my colleague died at the age of 24. Many explanations end in emptiness. Although this is the case, I am also convinced that God can also say no sometimes. But this no is no less loving than a yes. This tension has to be endured. For me, the loss was extremely difficult, but I also notice how my life has changed since then. I have had a change of perspective. In retrospect, I was able to recognise, even through the pain, what is written in the Letter to the Romans: «And we know that for those who love God and belong to him according to his will, all things work together for good» (Romans 8:28 NLB).
When our asking, seeking and knocking does not come true, it leaves us with unanswered questions and often hurt. But perhaps it is also because we are asking for the wrong thing. Michael Herbst formulates this wonderfully in his sermon on this passage. «I’ll try it this way: The promise Jesus makes does not apply to everything we expect from God! But if we seek God ourselves, we shall find him. When we ask him for his nearness, we never ask in vain. When we knock on his door, perhaps timidly and for the first time, it is not barred to us. God opens the door and we look into a beaming face. God looks at us and laughingly calls out to us: «It’s great that you’ve come! You are welcome! Let’s see what good I can do for you».
From the beginning again
In order for us to understand this call to prayer, the Our Father must be kept in mind. This always resonates somewhere. Especially with such difficult issues. Therefore, we pray to our Father in heaven that his will be done, not my will. Jesus introduced this prayer in the same discourse. In Luke’s Gospel, too, this speech of asking is listed. But instead of merely speaking of a good deed, it is personified. «But if even you sinful people know how to do good to your children, how much sooner will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him». (Luke 11:13 NLB). The Holy Spirit is goodness in person. He is the helper, comforter, substitute. God as a loving Father does not simply take us out of a situation or leave us alone in it, but places the Holy Spirit at our side. If we find this change of perspective difficult, we can pray the following prayer with Charles Haddon Spurgeon. «Lord, I want to think more of You than of my own prayer; more of Your Son than of my own faith; more of Your Holy Spirit than of all the rest of Your good gifts.»
God meets us as a loving Father. Such a father wants only the best for his children. But this also means that he withholds certain things from his children. He protects them from certain things and allows other things to happen to them so that they learn from them. A loving father is not unloving by setting limits for his children. No, he even shows his love for the children by doing so. Nevertheless, he does not take every hurdle out of the way, because otherwise the children will not become mature people. God is the same way.
In one story that Jesus tells, the side of the loving Father is particularly evident. It is the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11–32). This story shows us much of God’s perspective and can be a help in leaving the earthly perspective. A young man wants to see something of the world and therefore receives an advance inheritance from his father. With the money he disappears and squanders it all. After the money is gone, so are his friends. So he looks for a job and finds one as a day labourer. There he earns so little that he can barely keep himself alive. In this situation, he remembers his kind father, who treats even the most poorly educated workers well. He therefore decides to return to him. He wants to work for his father as a labourer. So he sets out to knock on his father’s door. For our sermon topic today, the father’s rection is very exciting.
«So he returned home to his father. He was still far away when his father saw him coming. Full of love and compassion, he ran to meet his son, embraced him and kissed him». (Luke 15:20 NLB). His father sees him from afar. He does not lock his doors or send someone to turn him away. No, he runs towards his son with open arms. In the culture of the time, running was not appropriate for a father. Especially not for someone who owned property. Only children or workers ran. This puts him on a level with his impoverished son. The father receives him as a loving father and welcomes him.
This loving Father is the same one Jesus spoke of at the beginning. He wants to do good to you. Even if this is beyond your imagination. This Father in heaven is waiting for you. For you to ask, to seek and to knock on his door. What is stopping you?
Possible questions for the small group
Read the Bible text: Matthew 7:7–11
- What about asking, seeking and knocking on God’s door in your life?
- Where has God disappointed you by not acting as you had hoped?
- How have you already experienced God’s work in your life? Where has it come out even better than you asked for?
- What prevents you from asking God, seeking Him and knocking on His door?
- Is it your turn to knock on God’s door and let him into your life?