Ask \u2013 recei\u00adve, seek \u2013 find, knock \u2013 it will be ope\u00adned to you. This is how sim\u00adply Jesus descri\u00adbes the life of pray\u00ader. Unfort\u00adu\u00adna\u00adte\u00adly, this state\u00adment does not cor\u00adre\u00adspond very well with our expe\u00adri\u00adence. How often do we ask, seek, knock, but the\u00adre is no respon\u00adse. This is becau\u00adse most of the time we pray with too much of an I fix\u00ada\u00adti\u00adon. Our Father in hea\u00adven wants to do us good and knows exact\u00adly what is good for us. But first we have to reco\u00adg\u00adni\u00adse what we should ask, seek and knock for. It is not pri\u00adma\u00adri\u00adly about having our earth\u00adly dreams ful\u00adfil\u00adled, but about ente\u00adring into a rela\u00adti\u00adonship with God, asking Him for His near\u00adness, see\u00adking Him and kno\u00adcking on His door.<\/p>\n
We often lose things, but unfort\u00adu\u00adna\u00adte\u00adly not every search is suc\u00adcessful. In the Ser\u00admon on the Mount, Jesus makes a state\u00adment that should actual\u00adly make every search suc\u00adcessful as soon as we pray to God. Today\u2019s ser\u00admon is about this bibli\u00adcal passage. \tWhat about asking, see\u00adking and kno\u00adcking on God\u2019s door in your life? Ask \u2013 recei\u00adve, seek \u2013 find, knock \u2013 it will be ope\u00adned to you. This is how sim\u00adply Jesus descri\u00adbes the life of pray\u00ader. Unfort\u00adu\u00adna\u00adte\u00adly, this state\u00adment does not cor\u00adre\u00adspond very well with our expe\u00adri\u00adence. How often do we ask, seek, knock, but the\u00adre is no respon\u00adse. This is becau\u00adse most of the time we pray too I fixed. Our Father in heaven\u2026<\/p>","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","wpfc_preacher":[79],"wpfc_sermon_series":[72],"wpfc_sermon_topics":[],"wpfc_bible_book":[],"wpfc_service_type":[12],"class_list":{"0":"wpfc_preacher-cedric-bruegger","1":"wpfc_sermon_series-metamorphose","2":"wpfc-sermon-single","3":"post-3712","4":"wpfc_sermon","5":"type-wpfc_sermon","6":"status-publish","7":"hentry","10":"wpfc_service_type-gottesdienst"},"acf":[],"sermons_blog_filters_topics":"\t\t\t\t
\nComing befo\u00adre God wit\u00adhout reserve
\n\u00abAsk and you shall recei\u00adve. Seek and you will find. Knock, and the door will be ope\u00adned to you\u00bb (Matthew 7:7 NLB<\/span>). When Jesus talks here about pray\u00ader, that is, tal\u00adking to God, and what effects it can have, it sounds pret\u00adty simp\u00adle. Ask and you will recei\u00adve. Seek and you will find. Knock and a door will be ope\u00adned to you. This sounds too good to be true. If this is real\u00adly so, then all pro\u00adblems, needs, worries and fears are gone. I hard\u00adly have any worries, then I ask God and bang, the pro\u00adblem vanis\u00adhes into thin air. If I ever lose some\u00adthing again or am loo\u00adking for some\u00adthing \u2013 Zack, I will find it. And if I\u2019m out late some\u00adwhe\u00adre and loo\u00adking for a place to stay, all I have to do is knock on a door, of cour\u00adse of the house I like best, and I\u2019m imme\u00addia\u00adte\u00adly let in and offe\u00adred a bed. This sounds too good to be true. I think it sound\u00aded the same to Jesus\u00bb lis\u00adten\u00aders. So simple?
\nBut Jesus streng\u00adthens his state\u00adment even more, ins\u00adtead of sof\u00adtening it as we might expect. \u00abFor ever\u00adyo\u00adne who asks recei\u00adves, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be ope\u00adned\u00bb (Matthew 7:8 NG\u00dc<\/span>). In the first pro\u00admi\u00adse in ver\u00adse seven we are each to actively ask, seek and knock and we will recei\u00adve, find and it will be ope\u00adned to us. So we actively do some\u00adthing and we recei\u00adve the result wit\u00adhout our doing any\u00adthing. The state\u00adment of Jesus in ver\u00adse eight is com\u00adple\u00adte\u00adly dif\u00adfe\u00adrent. Whoe\u00adver actively asks, actively seeks and actively knocks, recei\u00adves, finds and is ope\u00adned. Pray\u00ader as descri\u00adbed by Jesus has acti\u00adve effects and a clear result. Jesus calls us here inten\u00adsi\u00adve\u00adly to pray\u00ader. Pray\u00ader that is hop\u00adeful and has an effect. Fol\u00adlo\u00adwers of Jesus not only have a good fri\u00adend in him, but also a hea\u00adven\u00adly Father in God. The addres\u00adsee of such hop\u00adeful pray\u00aders is God, the hea\u00adven\u00adly Father.
\nIn his ser\u00admon on this bibli\u00adcal pas\u00adsa\u00adge, Micha\u00adel Herbst makes two points about the direc\u00adtion a pray\u00ader to God can take. One is for spi\u00adri\u00adtu\u00adal breadth, the other for chan\u00adge. When fol\u00adlo\u00adwers of Jesus ask, seek and knock on their hea\u00adven\u00adly Father, this broa\u00addens their visi\u00adon. By pray\u00ading to God, they are actively asking for things that they them\u00adsel\u00adves lack, but it lifts their gaze towards God. Just as a child goes to its father with ever\u00ady\u00adthing that con\u00adcerns it, child\u00adren of God can go to their father and ask him for ever\u00ady\u00adthing. If one asks God, then this also chan\u00adges many things. On the one hand, it chan\u00adges one\u2019s view of cer\u00adtain things, on the other hand, it can also widen one\u2019s view of others. When in pray\u00ader not only one\u2019s own needs are brought to God, but also the con\u00adcerns of other peo\u00adp\u00adle, then this broa\u00addens one\u2019s own view and chan\u00adges one\u2019s per\u00adcep\u00adti\u00adon of other people.
\nTo remind fol\u00adlo\u00adwers of Jesus how good the hea\u00adven\u00adly Father is to them, Jesus points to the rela\u00adti\u00adonship of par\u00adents to their child\u00adren. \u00abPar\u00adents, if your child\u00adren ask you for a pie\u00adce of bread, do you give them a stone ins\u00adtead? Or if they ask you for a fish, do you give them a sna\u00adke? Of cour\u00adse not! If you, who are sin\u00adners, know how to do good to your child\u00adren, how much more will your Father in hea\u00adven do good to tho\u00adse who ask him\u00bb (Matthew 7:9\u201311 NLB<\/span>). Par\u00adents are con\u00adcer\u00adned about giving their child\u00adren the bare neces\u00adsi\u00adties. Bread and fish were stap\u00adles at that time. So when child\u00adren ask their par\u00adents for food, they will not tre\u00adat them with unneces\u00adsa\u00adry harsh\u00adness, for which the stone can stand. Yes, par\u00adents will not expo\u00adse their child\u00adren to any dan\u00adgers eit\u00adher. They will guard and pro\u00adtect them and not give them a sna\u00adke which could be poi\u00adso\u00adno\u00adus. Jesus\u00bb con\u00adclu\u00adsi\u00adon leads to the fact that the hea\u00adven\u00adly Father deals with His child\u00adren even more lovin\u00adg\u00adly and careful\u00adly than we humans can. We may not always suc\u00adceed in doing the right thing, but the basic tenor is usual\u00adly posi\u00adti\u00adve. But God as the hea\u00adven\u00adly Father always wants the best for His child\u00adren (Romans 8:28).
\nThe (other) ans\u00adwer of God
\nWhen we hear the words of Jesus, despi\u00adte all the opti\u00admism in the state\u00adment, it is dif\u00adfi\u00adcult to real\u00adly belie\u00adve it. Becau\u00adse expe\u00adri\u00adence rather shows the silence of God. God is not a wish machi\u00adne. Peo\u00adp\u00adle pray to God, per\u00adhaps even cry out to him, but unfort\u00adu\u00adna\u00adte\u00adly he does not ans\u00adwer. This can lead to tur\u00adning away from God. For how can Jesus make such state\u00adments and say that the hea\u00adven\u00adly Father does good to tho\u00adse who ask him, if this does not cor\u00adre\u00adspond at all to the world of life and experience?
\nThis view comes abo\u00adve all from the fact that hea\u00adring God is limi\u00adt\u00aded only to the con\u00adcre\u00adte ful\u00adfilm\u00adent of a wish. Ever\u00ady\u00adthing else is declared to be evil. Whe\u00adther the wish is ful\u00adfil\u00adled dif\u00adfer\u00adent\u00adly or not at all. Often an ans\u00adwer to pray\u00ader, espe\u00adci\u00adal\u00adly if it turns out dif\u00adfer\u00adent\u00adly than expec\u00adted, is not per\u00adcei\u00adved as such. The focus is usual\u00adly only on what is not ans\u00adwe\u00adred by God. What he does posi\u00adtively, on the other hand, is not per\u00adcei\u00adved. The late Arch\u00adbi\u00adshop of the Church of Eng\u00adland, Wil\u00adliam Temp\u00adle, sum\u00admed this up as fol\u00adlows: \u00abIf I pray, this or that hap\u00adpens by chan\u00adce; if I stop pray\u00ading, not\u00adhing hap\u00adpens by chan\u00adce.\u00bb Just as par\u00adents know exact\u00adly what their child\u00adren need, our hea\u00adven\u00adly Father knows exact\u00adly what we need. If God ans\u00adwers a pray\u00ader dif\u00adfer\u00adent\u00adly than expec\u00adted, it is becau\u00adse this is bet\u00adter for us than if he were to ful\u00adfil our wish.
\nThe other ful\u00adfilm\u00adent of our wish is not yet such a big hurd\u00adle. But not having our wish ful\u00adfil\u00adled shakes our trust in God. It makes us doubt a good God. Espe\u00adci\u00adal\u00adly when we are per\u00adso\u00adnal\u00adly deep\u00adly affec\u00adted. In August 2017, I recei\u00adved a pho\u00adne call from a fri\u00adend. Joyful\u00adly I picked up, but what he had to tell me pul\u00adled the rug from under my feet. He told me that his flat\u00adma\u00adte, one of my best fri\u00adends, had died in a car acci\u00addent while on holi\u00adday in the USA<\/span>. This news left me in shock. I was deep\u00adly affec\u00adted and sad\u00adden\u00aded. In this situa\u00adti\u00adon, I cried out to God in pray\u00ader. I accu\u00adsed him. I poun\u00added on his door, hoping that he could make this news not true. I asked God to explain to me why. But this has not hap\u00adpen\u00aded until today. To this day, it is a mys\u00adtery to me why my col\u00adle\u00adague died at the age of 24. Many expl\u00adana\u00adti\u00adons end in emp\u00adtin\u00adess. Alt\u00adhough this is the case, I am also con\u00advin\u00adced that God can also say no some\u00adti\u00admes. But this no is no less loving than a yes. This ten\u00adsi\u00adon has to be endu\u00adred. For me, the loss was extre\u00adme\u00adly dif\u00adfi\u00adcult, but I also noti\u00adce how my life has chan\u00adged sin\u00adce then. I have had a chan\u00adge of per\u00adspec\u00adti\u00adve. In retro\u00ads\u00adpect, I was able to reco\u00adg\u00adni\u00adse, even through the pain, what is writ\u00adten in the Let\u00adter to the Romans: \u00abAnd we know that for tho\u00adse who love God and belong to him accor\u00adding to his will, ever\u00ady\u00adthing leads to good\u00bb (Romans 8:28 NLB<\/span>).
\nWhen our asking, see\u00adking and kno\u00adcking does not come true, it lea\u00adves us with unans\u00adwe\u00adred ques\u00adti\u00adons and often hurt. But per\u00adhaps it is also becau\u00adse we are asking for the wrong thing. Micha\u00adel Herbst puts it beau\u00adtiful\u00adly in his ser\u00admon on this pas\u00adsa\u00adge. \u00abLet me try it this way: the pro\u00admi\u00adse Jesus makes does not app\u00adly to ever\u00ady\u00adthing we expect from God! But if we seek God hims\u00adelf, then we shall find him. If we ask him for his near\u00adness, we never ask in vain. When we knock on his door, per\u00adhaps timid\u00adly and for the first time, it is not bar\u00adred to us. God opens the door and we look into a bea\u00adming face. God looks at us and laug\u00adhin\u00adgly calls out to us: \u00abIt\u2019s gre\u00adat that you\u2019\u00adve come! You are wel\u00adco\u00adme! Let\u2019s see what good I can do for you\u00bb.
\nFrom the begin\u00adning again
\nIn order for us to under\u00adstand this call to pray\u00ader, the Our Father must be kept in mind. This always reso\u00adna\u00adtes some\u00adwhe\u00adre. Espe\u00adci\u00adal\u00adly with such dif\u00adfi\u00adcult issues. The\u00adr\u00ade\u00adfo\u00adre, we pray to our Father in hea\u00adven that his will be done, not my will. Jesus intro\u00addu\u00adced this pray\u00ader in the same dis\u00adcour\u00adse. In Luke\u2019s Gos\u00adpel, too, this speech of asking is lis\u00adted. But ins\u00adtead of mere\u00adly spea\u00adking of a good deed, it is per\u00adso\u00adni\u00adfied. \u00abBut if even you sin\u00adful peo\u00adp\u00adle know how to do good to your child\u00adren, how much soo\u00adner will your Father in hea\u00adven give the Holy Spi\u00adrit to tho\u00adse who ask him\u00bb (Luke 11:13 NLB<\/span>). The Holy Spi\u00adrit is good in per\u00adson. He is the hel\u00adper, com\u00adfort\u00ader, sub\u00adsti\u00adtu\u00adte. God as a loving Father does not sim\u00adply take us out of a situa\u00adti\u00adon or lea\u00adve us alo\u00adne in it, but places the Holy Spi\u00adrit at our side. If we find this chan\u00adge of per\u00adspec\u00adti\u00adve dif\u00adfi\u00adcult, we can pray the fol\u00adlo\u00adwing pray\u00ader with Charles Had\u00addon Spur\u00adge\u00adon. \u00abLord, I want to think more of you than of my own pray\u00ader; more of your Son than of my own faith; more of your Holy Spi\u00adrit than of all the rest of your good gifts.\u00bb
\nGod meets us as a loving Father. Such a father wants only the best for his child\u00adren. But this also means that he with\u00adholds cer\u00adtain things from his child\u00adren. He pro\u00adtects them from cer\u00adtain things and allows other things to hap\u00adpen to them so that they learn from them. A loving father is not unlo\u00adving by set\u00adting limits for his child\u00adren. No, he even shows his love for the child\u00adren by doing so. Nevert\u00adhel\u00adess, he does not take every hurd\u00adle out of the way, becau\u00adse other\u00adwi\u00adse the child\u00adren will not beco\u00adme matu\u00adre peo\u00adp\u00adle. God is the same way.
\nIn one sto\u00adry that Jesus tells, the side of the loving Father is par\u00adti\u00adcu\u00adlar\u00adly evi\u00addent. It is the para\u00adble of the pro\u00addi\u00adgal son (Luke 15:11\u201332). This sto\u00adry shows us much of God\u2019s per\u00adspec\u00adti\u00adve and can be a help in lea\u00adving the earth\u00adly per\u00adspec\u00adti\u00adve. A young man wants to see some\u00adthing of the world and the\u00adr\u00ade\u00adfo\u00adre recei\u00adves an advan\u00adce inhe\u00adri\u00adtance from his father. With the money he dis\u00adap\u00adpears and squan\u00adders it all. After the money is gone, so are his fri\u00adends. So he looks for a job and finds one as a day labou\u00adrer. The\u00adre he ear\u00adns so litt\u00adle that he can bare\u00adly keep hims\u00adelf ali\u00adve. In this situa\u00adti\u00adon, he remem\u00adbers his kind father, who tre\u00adats even the most poor\u00adly edu\u00adca\u00adted workers well. He the\u00adr\u00ade\u00adfo\u00adre deci\u00addes to return to him. He wants to work for his father as a labou\u00adrer. So he sets out to knock on his father\u2019s door. For our ser\u00admon topic today, the father\u2019s rec\u00adtion is very exciting.
\n\u00abSo he retur\u00adned home to his father. He was still far away when his father saw him coming. Full of love and com\u00adpas\u00adsi\u00adon, he ran to meet his son, embra\u00adced him and kissed him\u00bb (Luke 15:20 NLB<\/span>). 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 cul\u00adtu\u00adre of the time, run\u00adning was not appro\u00adpria\u00adte for a father. Espe\u00adci\u00adal\u00adly not for someone who owned pro\u00adper\u00adty. Only child\u00adren or workers ran. This puts him on a level with his impo\u00adve\u00adris\u00adhed son. The father recei\u00adves him as a loving father and wel\u00adco\u00admes him.
\nThis loving Father is the same one Jesus spo\u00adke of at the begin\u00adning. He wants to do good to you. Even if this is bey\u00adond your ima\u00adgi\u00adna\u00adti\u00adon. This Father in hea\u00adven is wai\u00adting for you. For you to ask, to seek and to knock on his door. What is stop\u00adping you?
\nPos\u00adsi\u00adble ques\u00adti\u00adons for the small group
\nRead the Bible text: Matthew 7:7\u201311<\/p>\n
\n\tWhe\u00adre has God dis\u00adap\u00adpoin\u00adted you by not acting as you had hoped?
\n\tHow have you alre\u00ada\u00addy expe\u00adri\u00aden\u00adced God\u2019s work in your life? Whe\u00adre has it come out even bet\u00adter than you asked for?
\n\tWhat pre\u00advents you from asking God, see\u00adking Him and kno\u00adcking on His door?
\n\tIs it your turn to knock on God\u2019s door and let him into your life?<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"