The Gospel Of Matthew Chapter 7 Part 4 The Confident Prayers Of A Christian

Blessings from God come when we pray as Jesus taught us to pray.

Matthew 7:7-8  Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8)  For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. 

Jesus instructed His disciples to come in prayer and ask God to supply their needs, to seek His face every day and to knock or be persistent in praying.

The promise is that when the believer in Christ does these things, heaven shall be opened to us, meaning that God is attentive to our prayer.

Each person that asks of God according to His will, will receive an answer.

Each person that seeks the LORD shall find Him and those who knock at the door of His throne shall find it opened.

Now our Lord followed this teaching with some practical application of this truth so that we might see what it means to ask, seek and knock.

No earthly Father would give his son a piece of rock when his son asked for bread.

Matthew 7:9  Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? 

Christ effectively used rhetorical questions connected with real life scenarios that anyone could understand.

In this case, the rhetorical question is this: "If your son asks you for bread are you going to give him a stone?"

The answer required by this question is "No, I would never give my son a stone when he asked me for bread!"

No earthly father would give his son a snake when his son asked for fish to eat.

Matthew 7:10  Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? 

A second question is very  similar to the first one.

"If your son asks you for fish to eat will you give him a venomous serpent?"

Again, the father would reply "I would never give my son a snake instead of fish because he would be in danger!"

Jesus asked these two questions in order to teach us a very profound truth about prayer and our Father in heaven.

If evil men can give good gifts, how much more will our Father in heaven give them to us?

Matthew 7:11  If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? 

Here is the contrast Jesus makes. 

We are born sinners and even when we are regenerated by the Spirit of God, we still have our old nature.

Yet, though we have this evil within, we still will give good things when our children ask us.

Therefore, we can have great confidence that our heavenly Father will give good things to us, for He is holy, righteous, full of love, mercy and grace. 

What a wonderful truth Jesus gave us to help encourage us to pray to our Father, who will always do what is right and best for us.

Our Father will never rebuke us when we come to Him in prayer, asking, seeking and knocking.

James 1:5-8  If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. 6)  But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. 7)  For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. 8)  A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. 

James exhorted Christians to pray to the Father and to ask Him for wisdom to make right decisions and choices.

Notice what the apostle said. Our Father will give wisdom to all who ask liberally so that we are blessed with a heavenly perspective.

Our Father is never annoyed when we come to Him in prayer and He will never turn us away or rebuke us for praying to Him.

However, our prayers must be grounded in faith, believing that what we are asking is in accord with His revealed will.

Otherwise, we will have wavering hearts that are like a ship tossed about by surging waves during a tempest at sea.

James tell us that a double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

Therefore, when we pray we must remember that without faith it is impossible to please God (See Hebrews 11:6).

Our heavenly Father of lights always does what is right, good and perfect.

James 1:17  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. 

Whether of nature, providence, or grace, spiritual gifts are given to all who are in Christ (See Ephesians 1:3) All spiritual blessings are in Him and every such gift from our Father is best for us.

Good gifts from our Father are better than those temporal things which relate to the present life.

His gifts are perfect and complete to meet our needs, such as the gifts of righteousness, remission of sins, adoption, regeneration, and eternal life. 

God is the Father of lights. 

The visible light of the sun and the heavenly bodies is from him. 

He said, Let there be light, and there was light. 

Thus, God is at once represented as the Creator of the sun and in some respects compared to it. 

The sun is always functioning and shining though it may be obscured from our sight by clouds. 

It rises and sets with amazing color and beauty that is never the same, yet the changes we observe in the sun are due to the earth's rotation and the sun's own orbital motions. 

Through all these changing conditions on earth that may block it the sun still gives out its blazing light.

In like manner, the Father never changes. He is immutable and unchangeable.

If there is any shadow between our Father and us, it is usually due to our sin, for He is always the same (See Hebrews 13:8). 

Thus, we must learn to confess our sins regularly so that our fellowship with the Father is not interrupted. 

James also told us that the fervent, effectual prayer of a righteous man avails much at the throne of grace (See James 5:16).

King David's beautiful Psalm of prayer, praise and communion with Jehovah.

Psalm 63:1 -11 A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah. O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; 2)  To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. 3)  Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. 4)  Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name. 5)  My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips: 6)  When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches. 7)  Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. 8)  My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me. 9)  But those that seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth. 10)  They shall fall by the sword: they shall be a portion for foxes. 11)  But the king shall rejoice in God; every one that sweareth by him shall glory: but the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped. 

King David wrote this beautiful Psalm of prayer and communion with God.

The king got up early each morning to seek God in prayer and he developed a deep longing, a hunger and thirst for the things of God.

For King David, prayer was a time of refreshing much like a weary nomad wandering in the desert when he finds a oasis of cool water, shade from trees and fruit to revive his strength.

When he prayed David was overwhelmed by the goodness and lovingkindness of God.

His inner man blessed God by praising Him with all his being.

At night David cast his cares and burdens upon the LORD and found consolation and help in his times of need.

Through prayer and meditating on the scriptures King David had a passion such that he followed hard after his God and this should be our goal as well.

Prayer takes time, a focus of our mind and spirit, and energy. 

Prayer should reflect a passion and hunger for the things of God.

May these words from Jesus help us to pray with energy and passion and dedication.

God is for us not against us because of the propitiation and atoning work of His Son, Jesus Christ.

We are encouraged to not be afraid or lax in praying to our Father.

Bob