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The Royal Invitation to Spiritual Power: Overcoming Self-Sufficiency through Persistent Prayer (Matthew 7:7-11) · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to the deep dive. Today we are really immersing
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ourselves in one single vital passage from the Sermon on the
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Mount. Matthew 7, verses 7 through 11.
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And this is where Christ gives his famous instruction on
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prayer. Ask, seek, knock.
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Now the simple cadence you know 3 commands, 3 promises is
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without question one of the most frequently quoted sections of
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the Bible. Oh, absolutely.
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Everyone knows it. Everyone knows it, and it's
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also, I would argue, perhaps the most frequently misunderstood.
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I think you're right about that. For centuries, you can see how
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this passage has generated this immense spiritual tension.
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On one side, you have traditions that, well, they interpret this
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as a kind of guaranteed formula, a technique, A technique.
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If you just do the three steps with enough intensity or enough
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faith, God is sort of obligated to provide whatever you name,
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you know, material success, a specific job, physical comfort.
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We call that spiritual consumerism the divine vending
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machine. Right.
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But the reality of life, as we all know, doesn't always line up
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with that expectation. We've all known someone, or
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maybe we've been that person who has asked faithfully, sought
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earnestly, knocked persistently. And met with silence.
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Silence, delay, or just an outright no to the specific
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thing we requested. And that experience, it's so
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often leads to the other extreme despair, the conclusion that
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while prayer must be pointless, or God is distant, or that the
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door you know, despite what Jesus promised, is just
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permanently shut. Right, the promise feels empty.
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So our mission today is to try and cut through that
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misunderstanding. We want to extract the central
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truth here, that Matthew 7.7 is not a technique for controlling
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God. No, it is instead this generous
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inventation to a life of continuous, dependent prayer,
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and is rooted entirely in the trustworthy, generous character
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of God the Father. It's a command that's less about
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getting things and much more about getting God.
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And that tension you described between the blank check and the
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despair, that's really the only honest way into this text.
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Well, we have to place Matthew 7.7 right where Christ put it,
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near the end of the Sermon on the Mount.
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The sermon, which runs from Chapter 5 all the way through 7,
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isn't just a collection of helpful sayings.
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No, it's a single coherent argument.
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It is. It's Christ's definitive,
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authoritative explanation of what Kingdom righteousness
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actually looks like. The real deal.
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The real deal Jesus is detailing the kind of righteousness that
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has to flow from a heart that God has renewed, a standard that
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has to completely exceed the superficial external rule
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keeping of the scribes and Pharisees.
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He says that explicitly in Matthew 5.20.
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He does. The problem with the Pharisees
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wasn't that they failed to follow the law, it's that they
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only followed on the outside. They avoided the act of murder,
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but their hearts were, you know, still full of anger.
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They avoided adultery, but their hearts were full of lust.
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And that's where the sermon stops being a nice guide and it
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starts to become an instrument of conviction.
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Jesus takes the law and just presses it down right into the
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core of human desire, human motive.
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He's basically saying if you're angry without 'cause, you're
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guilty of murder. If you look with lust, you're
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guilty of adultery. You can't just keep the letter
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of the law and think you're off the hook.
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Exactly. And the initial impact on an
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honest listener is, well, it's devastating.
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You feel the impossibility of it all.
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And then Christ delivers the final crushing blow in Matthew
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5.48. You therefore must be perfect,
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as your heavenly Father is perfect.
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That demand for perfection, for complete moral integrity, it
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just immediately exposes our spiritual bankruptcy.
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No one, absolutely no one, can meet that standard in their own
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strength or with their own resources.
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It's designed to crush self righteousness.
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It is so if the sermon has done its job.
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The disciples left to the end of Chapter 5 feeling convicted,
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exposed, and spiritually empty handed.
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And that's where a passage comes in.
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That is precisely where it comes in Matthew 7.7.
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The command to ask, seek, and knock is the theological answer
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to that impossible ethical demand.
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It is the lifeline He throws to us.
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If the Kingdom demands perfection, the only way forward
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isn't to try harder. It's to run immediately to the
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Father for the grace and the help we so clearly lack.
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OK, so let's look at this whole section then, because we can't
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afford to read 7.7 in a vacuum. It's nestled in this much larger
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body of teaching that defines what Kingdom dependence actually
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looks like. It's part of shaping disciples
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who live in a posture of constant reliance.
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And the rejection of self-sufficiency.
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Totally. We have to remember that Jesus
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already spent a good deal of time telling his followers how
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not to pray back in Matthew 6. Right in verses 5 through 15.
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He was rooting out flawed motivations and flawed methods.
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He condemned 2 specific errors there that are frankly still all
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over the place today. First, hypocritical prayer,
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praying on street corners, in the synagogues, all designed to
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win applause from men. Prayer as performance.
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Prayer as performance focused on yourself.
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And Jesus said their reward was the applause they got and that's
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it. Nothing from the Father.
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And second, he condemned Pagan verbosity.
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This is the idea that if you pile up enough words, or repeat
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yourself enough, or pray with enough intensity, you can
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somehow force God's attention or change his mind.
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Like a magic spell? Exactly.
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The disciples were being taught the prayer is relational, not
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transactional. You don't have to force the
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Father's ear. He already knows what you need
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before you even ask Him. And the Lord's Prayer, which
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comes right after those warnings, then gives the
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positive foundation. It sets the right relational and
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moral tone. Prayer for disciple is addressed
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to our Father and starts with reverence.
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Hallowed be your name. It's serious, but it's also
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familial. Yes, and crucially, the model
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prayer establishes the proper orbit.
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It circles first around God's name, God's Kingdom, and God's
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will. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be
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done. Only after establishing those
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priorities does it turn to human needs, daily provision,
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forgiveness, deliverance from evil.
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So when we finally get to Matthew 7.7 and we're commanded
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to ask, seek and knock, we are building directly on that
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foundation. It's not a fresh start.
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Not at all. The assumption is that the
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disciples heart has been shaped by the Lord's Prayer.
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The requests aren't centered on themselves, but on the Father's
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glory and their own holiness. If your prayer life is all about
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showing off or using some complicated spiritual technique,
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you've missed the core relational instruction.
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And this brings us back so powerfully to the content of
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what we're asking for. We have to hear the verb seek in
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7.7 in harmony with what Jesus already said in Matthew 6.33.
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Right seat first, the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.
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This link is so insightful because it means prayer isn't
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detached from the pursuit of holiness.
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If prayer is disconnected from 6.33, it just becomes spiritual
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consumerism, asking for stuff to make us comfortable.
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But when it's tied to 6.33, prayer becomes the means God has
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appointed for disciples to actively pursue the Father's
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Kingdom agenda. It's the fuel for obedience.
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Absolutely, and think about the immediate context text right
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around 7.7. Jesus encourages this persistent
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prayer right after his warnings about being judgmental, about
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hypocritical self-assessment and casting pearls before swine.
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So verses one through 6. Verses one through 6A listener
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to the sermon might walk away from that section thinking it is
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impossible to pursue holiness without being a hypocrite or
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being judgmental. I'm failing all the time.
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And Jesus's answer isn't, well, just try harder.
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His answer is ask, seek, knock. Don't try to live this life in
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your own strength. The command to pray is the
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practical application of the need for dependence that the
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ethical standard creates. And the flow continues on the
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other side too, right after this encouragement to pray.
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In 7.12, Jesus summarizes the entire law and the prophets.
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The Golden Rule. The golden Rule, Yeah, Do unto
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others as you would have them do to you.
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The structure of the argument is really clear.
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It is how can a disciple who is convicted of sin and burdened by
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this command for perfection actually fulfill the law of
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love? The answer is communion with the
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father. Right.
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The disciple has to ask the Father for grace, for wisdom,
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for deliverance. And that very communion shapes
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them into the kind of person who is equipped and motivated to
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live out the Golden Rule, not through moral straining, but
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through the continuous supply of grace they get from the Father.
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And this contextual placement, it works like a guardrail
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against two big errors. First, it prevents presumption.
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The invitation to ask is not permission to baptize our lusts
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or our selfishness with religious language.
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If we are praying outside the framework of seeking the Kingdom
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and loving our neighbor, we should probably expect the
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answer to be no. And on the other hand, it
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prevents despair by placing the command to pray firmly within
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the context of the Father child relationship, your Father who is
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in heaven. It assures the disciple that God
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is not indifferent. We're not orphans.
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We're not orphans left to tackle the impossible demands of the
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Kingdom all by ourselves. Matthew 7.7 is pastoral.
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It's saying as you walk this narrow path, keep coming to the
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Father because the door is open. OK, let's move now to the
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precise wording of the command itself, Section 2, the famous
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threefold rhythm. Jesus says ask, seek, knock, and
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assures us of the results it will be given.
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You will find it will be opened. And this triad, it's not just
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three synonyms for the same thing, is it?
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It's more of a subtle but deliberate escalation in effort
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and intensity. It is.
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It's portraying A continuous posture of spiritual
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earnestness. Ask is the simplest level.
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It's a verbal petition. It's admitting I have a need.
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Then Seek takes it a step further.
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It implies active pursuit, movement, vision.
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You're actually up and looking for something that might be
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hidden. And it all culminates and knock.
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And that's the image of persistence in front of a
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barrier. You're standing before a closed
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door and you just refuse to walk away.
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It suggests an enduring commitment a.
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Commitment to the request, even when entry is delayed.
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Jesus is painting a picture of a disciple who maintains A
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dependent, earnest and resilient posture before God.
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And this is where the Greek grammar, I understand, is just
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absolutely crucial for shutting down that idea of impulsive
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spiritual shopping. It is.
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It's so critical. The verbs used here, a tight
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zootite and crewette, are all present imperatives.
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And in Greek, the present imperative carries the clear
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meaning of continuous, ongoing action.
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OK, wait. Let's pause there, because that
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is a heavily technical point, but it it changes everything.
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If Jesus had used a different verb tense, say an aorist
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imperative, it would have been a command for a single decisive
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action. Like ask once.
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Ask once, but by using the present imperative, he is
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commanding A continuous lifestyle.
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Precisely. The grammar forbids us from
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treating prayer as a one off attempt.
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Jesus is commanding. Keep on asking, keep on seeking,
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keep on knocking. It's a lifelong habit.
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A lifelong habit of dependence. This just completely counters
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the modern temptation to ask God for something quickly, and if
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the answer isn't immediate to get frustrated, conclude God
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isn't listening and just walk away.
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So persistence in this reading, It doesn't flow from panic or
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desperation. No, not at all.
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It flows from settled confidence.
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We keep asking because we trust the character of the one who
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promised to hear us. And let's look at those verbs
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again. Through that lens, ask is the
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confession of need. It's the necessary humbling step
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of renouncing the illusion of self-sufficiency.
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Prayer begins when the soul stops pretending it can supply
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itself with what it needs to live the Kingdom life.
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Then seek adds direction to that.
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It makes sure our asking isn't just self-centered complaining.
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We are actively pursuing the Giver, making sure our desires
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line up with God's Kingdom agenda.
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And that guards against a kind of fatalism, the mistake of
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thinking we just sit passively and wait for God to drop things
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into our lap without our active participation in seeking
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righteousness. And finally, knock adds that
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essential element of endurance. The image of knocking implies
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that some doors do not swing open instantly.
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It acknowledges the, you know, the inevitable reality of delay
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in the Christian life. Delay in sanctification.
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Delay in Providence. Delay in answered prayer.
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All without surrendering hope. The disciple keeps knocking, not
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to wear down a reluctant God, but because persevering prayer
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is the very path of faith appointed by God Delay.
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In this view, it becomes an instrument in the Father's hand
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for training us and deepening our trust.
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Now, what about the corresponding assurances in
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verses 7 and 8? Given, found, opened.
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There's a subtle but really key detail there in how the action
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is attributed. It will be given, and it will be
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opened. Use passive verbs, and most
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interpreters recognize this as the divine passive.
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Right. It's a respectful way of
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indicating God is the primary actor without naming him
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directly. The action belongs to God.
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God gives, God opens. But the middle 1 you will find
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that's an active. Verb it is, and that dynamic is
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incredibly balanced. It communicates that the
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disciple has to genuinely participate.
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They seek and they find, but the decisive action and the final
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result belong entirely to God. So this keeps prayer safe from 2
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theological ditches. It prevents that passive
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fatalism, the idea that since God has sovereign, we can just
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sit back and wait. And it prevents autonomous
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achievement, the idea that our efforts can somehow force a
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divine result. We act, we seek, we knock, but
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God provides the result. We pray because God is the
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giver. And that leads us to the
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universal scope of the promise in verse 8.
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For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and
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to the one who knocks, it will be opened.
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The language there, on its face is just sweeping.
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It's meant to produce great confidence.
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It is. But let's go back to that
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listener objection we raised at the start.
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If it says everyone, what about the person who prayed diligently
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for a spouse and didn't receive 1?
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Or for the healing of a loved one that didn't happen?
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How do we reconcile everyone receives with legitimate
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heartbreaking, suffering and unanswered requests?
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Doesn't that just cancel the promise?
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It doesn't cancel the promise, but it requires us to place that
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everyone back into the specific context of the sermon.
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Jesus is addressing disciples, people who are pursuing Kingdom
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life, who have been convicted by 5.48, who are described as poor
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in spirit, meek, hungry for righteousness.
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The assurance is that those who genuinely come to God as their
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Father through the relationship established by grace are heard.
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The door is not barred. They will receive.
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But what they receive? But what they receive is
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precisely what we need to discuss next.
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It's defined by the Father's goodness, not by the child's
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specific temporal request. This everyone assures disciples
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that they are not dealing with a distant or indifferent God, but
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with a listening, loving Father. That sets the stage perfectly
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for Section 3, where Jesus anchors this promise not in our
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performance but in his character.
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A command is meaningless if you don't trust the integrity of the
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one giving it, right? So Jesus immediately pivots to
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an argument from the lesser to the greater, what the rabbi's
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called kwal wahomer. He moves from the impossibly
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high demands of the Kingdom down to the familiarity of the
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kitchen table. Would a human father, when his
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son asks for bread, give him a stone, or if he asks for a fish,
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give him a serpent? The illustration is just so
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brilliant. It's designed to define divine
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hearing as a commitment to the child's welfare.
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Eliminates the possibility of cruel deception.
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A. Stone looks a bit like a loaf of
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bread. And a serpent might look a bit
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like a fish, but no decent father would play that kind of
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trick, offering something that looks helpful but it's actually
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harmful or deadly. So that establishes the
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baseline. When God hears our prayer, He is
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committed to giving us what is truly good for us.
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But the argument takes a really startling turn in verse 11.
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A this is where Jesus makes a frank assessment of human
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nature, even of his own followers.
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He says if you then who are evil Poneroy know how to give good
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gifts to your children. And that one word, Poneroy,
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evil, it's devastating. He's speaking to his disciples,
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people dedicating their lives to following him, but he
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characterizes their nature as fundamentally corrupt.
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This is a clear confirmation of the doctrine of total depravity,
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which is so central to our tradition.
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It's a very strong confirmation. He doesn't use a soft word like
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imperfect or flawed. He uses Poneroy, which refers to
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inherent vadnais and active inclination toward malice and
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harm. So it's not just that we do bad
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things. No, it's that our nature since
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the fall is not just sick, but corrupted in its entirety,
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tainted and inclined towards sin.
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This just instantly confronts any humanist idea that man is
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innately good or neutral. But here's the theological
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genius of it. Jesus uses this depraved nature,
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our own human evil, to make his point about God's perfect
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goodness. He does.
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The diagnosis serves a crucial function in the argument.
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It acknowledges that even sinful, finite human fathers who
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have a Poneroy nature still retain a remnant of natural
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instinct, a desire to preserve and provide good things for
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their children. And that instinct, that ability
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to tell the difference between a nourishing gift and a harmful 1,
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is a testimony to God's common grace.
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Yes, it's an echo of the original created order still
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present in the fallen world. Even these fundamentally evil
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men with limited wisdom and mixed motives can provide decent
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care. So the argument is based on
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contrast, not just comparison. It is if a lesser good, the
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desire to do good, is found even among evil men.
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How much more is the greater good found in the perfectly holy
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God? The conclusion is inescapable.
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Your Father in Heaven is the utter antithesis of Poneroy.
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He is never confused by our requests, never distracted by
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his own desires, never selfish, and never, ever manipulative.
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This whole argument is designed to dismantle the disciples
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natural suspicion of God, that fear that he might be reluctant
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to answer, or that he might be tricky, or that he's easily
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annoyed by your persistent knocking.
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And that's the fear we all struggle with, isn't it?
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It is we come to a Father who is infinitely pure, wiser and more
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reliable than the very best of human fathers.
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Think about the practical application of this.
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Many believers carry around the suspicion that God is holding
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out on them, or that he might give them something harmful to
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test them. Like a serpent masquerading as a
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fish, Jesus addresses that head on.
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The goodness of the Father is what justifies continuous,
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dependent prayer. If you struggle to ask, seek,
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and knock, the problem is usually not your discipline.
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It's your suspicion of the Father's character.
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And that clarity about the Father's character is so
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necessary because it leads us directly into Section 4, which
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defines the precise boundary of the promise.
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God gives good things, right? This phrase, Good things,
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Agatha. It's like the interpretive fence
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around the whole passage. The promise it will be given to
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you is strong and absolute, but the gift itself is measured
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exclusively by God's standard of goodness, not by the child's
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immediate appetite or perceived need.
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And this is the point that fully reconciles the promise with the
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reality of delay and refusal. A child you know, driven by
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limited perspective, may cry out for what would ultimately harm
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him. A truly good father, precisely
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because of his goodness, refuses that request.
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So God's yes, God's no, and God's weight are all expressions
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of perfect, committed, fatherly care.
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Exactly. So how do we define these good
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things more clearly? If we line this idea up with the
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broader teaching of Scripture, following the analogy of faith,
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we get some really crucial clarity.
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We have to immediately turn to the parallel passage in Luke 11,
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points 13. Luke quotes Jesus as saying, If
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you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your
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children, how much more will the Heavenly Father give the Holy
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Spirit to those who ask him? And that, Luke in parallel, is
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the definitive scriptural clarification.
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It is the primary good thing that the Father delights to give
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is not material prosperity or relief from pain.
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It is the Holy Spirit himself. Which means the good things are
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mainly spiritual necessities, the graces we need to live the
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Kingdom life Jesus described in the sermon, Gifts like wisdom,
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patience, love for our enemies, holiness.
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God promises what we need to glorify Him and successfully
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walk that narrow path. And this definition provides a
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direct correction to the distortions we see today,
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specifically what's called the prosperity gospel.
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Oh. Absolutely.
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If the goal of prayer is the Holy Spirit and the
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righteousness He produces, then God's goodness is not prudent by
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our bank account balance or by how easy our life is.
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It's proven by His wise, generous and sanctifying work in
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US. Right.
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Sometimes the good thing God gives is not the thing we asked
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for, but something better. It might be restraint from
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temptation or a redirection away from a catastrophic path, or
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endurance and strengthen faith through the suffering.
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You might withhold a quick promotion that would just lead
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to spiritual arrogance, choosing instead to give us protection
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from ruin. And this brings us to the
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critical doctrine of divine refusal.
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Because the Father is good, he withholds what would harm us or
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what we would misuse. We are often asking for serpents
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dressed up as fish. We are maybe a relationship that
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would compromise our spiritual walk, or a success that would
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lead directly to pride and self-sufficiency, which is the
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very sin Jesus is confronting in this passage.
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The command to persist is not meant to be a test of willpower
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to wear God down until He finally gives in.
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It's meant to train us to trust His goodness and wisdom when His
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Providence seems slow or His answer is a definitive no.
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So we are persistently submitting our wills to His.
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Believing that whatever he gives is ultimately better than what
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we asked for. This brings us naturally into
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Section 5 and to the great theological question that often
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causes confusion, especially for those of us in the Reformed
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tradition. The sovereignty question.
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The sovereignty question. If God is absolutely sovereign
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and has eternally decreed all things, including the outcome of
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every event, why pray at all if the outcome is already written?
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Isn't asking, seeking and knocking basically pointless?
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And that's a vital question. Reformed theology addresses it
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head on, rooted firmly in the Westminster Confession.
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We pray not because God is ignorant of our needs, or
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because he's reluctant and needs convincing right.
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We pray because He has ordained prayer as an appointed means,
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what we call a secondary cause, but which He brings to pass what
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he has eternally purposed. So the command to ask, seek and
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knock doesn't compete with divine sovereignty.
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It actually assumes it. The certainty of the promise
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rests entirely on the Providence of God, who has chosen to work
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through the means of our asking. God has ordained the end, and He
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has ordained the means to that end.
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Exactly. If we neglect the means, which
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is prayer, we shouldn't expect the end the result.
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So this makes prayer just central to the disciples
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identity. Yeah.
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The Westminster Confession rightly treats prayer as a chief
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part of religious worship and an ordinary means of grace.
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It's relational and it's covenantal, grounded in the
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adoption that makes God your Father who is in heaven.
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So the command to keep asking isn't a demand to earn access.
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No, it's an invitation to use the access you already have.
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The access already granted by Christ's grace.
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We're not begging for attention. We're using a family privilege.
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And when you view the triad ask, seek, knock through that lens of
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systematic theology, you see how each verb reflects a proper
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posture that lines up with Kingdom living.
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Asking confesses need, which is an act of spiritual humility.
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Independence seeking pursues Kingdom priorities, which
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connects directly to the third use of the law, the role of the
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law in guiding the grateful obedience of a believer.
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We don't pray haphazardly. We pray for what lines up with
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God's revealed will. And knocking perseveres,
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recognizing that God's timing is wise and formative.
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Christ builds that necessary perseverance right into the
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grammar of prayer, right? God is not simply dispensing
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gifts, He is shaping the relationship itself so that our
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faith becomes steady, our hope becomes resilient, and our
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desires are progressively conformed to His will.
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This is why we pray submissively.
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Thy will be done. Because God's will is not only
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sovereign, but perfectly good, wise, and holy.
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And this systematic view, it helps us correct those three
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major errors we talked about earlier.
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First, against merit based religion or moralism.
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Prayer is not an employee's negotiation.
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It's not wages earned by discipline or performance.
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It is a child's request to a father relying solely on need
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and the father's goodness, not on the child's leverage or moral
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success. This relationship kills both
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pride and panic at the same time.
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Second, against technique driven pragmatism, right?
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Jesus forbids the belief that spiritual results can be
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engineered through intensity or the right words or some special
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declaration. Prayer is sonship, not a method
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for manipulating outcomes. We're not asking how do I unlock
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the blessing. We're asking, do I trust the
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Father behind the door? And third, against passivity or
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fatalism. Some will hide behind
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sovereignty as an excuse for unbelief, saying, well, if God
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wants it, he'll do it, so why bother asking?
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But Jesus, knowing the Father's will perfectly still commands us
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to ask. Divine sovereignty is not the
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enemy of prayer. It is the very reason we can
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pray with hope and certainty if Jesus commands asking, precisely
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because God is the sovereign giver who chooses to work
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through the means of our asking. That brings us to Section 6,
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which is maybe the most essential theological bridge.
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We've heard the command to pray with boldness, and we've heard
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the diagnosis that we are by nature evil.
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Conroy That tension is terrifying, but it is the gospel
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that resolves it. How can evil people approach a
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holy God with confidence? Right, the imperative, the
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command, has to be grounded in the gospel indicative.
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The objective reality of what God has done, the fatherhood
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that grounds our confidence, is not generic.
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It's a covenant access secured entirely by the finished work of
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the Son. Acceptable prayer is offered
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through the mediation of Christ, who alone brings sinners near.
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We approach not as strangers or beggars, but as children who
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have been reconciled to God. We have to explicitly connect
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the persistence Christ commands to His finished work.
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The truth is, the door of mercy is open to us only because it
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was first shut against the true Son of God.
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What do you mean by that? We have to recall the agony of
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Gethsemane and the moment of the cross.
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In those hours. The ultimate Son knocked.
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He cried out, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
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And the Father was silent. Jesus was shut out into the
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outer darkness of judgement, bearing the full weight of our
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Poneroy nature, so that the door of the Father's house could be
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ripped off its hinges for us. In mercy He was given the stone
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and the serpent, so that we could receive the bread and the
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fish. And that is the difference
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between true access and false technique.
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When disciples pray in Jesus name, we're not using a magic
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formula or a spiritual buzzword. We are declaring that we stand
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in union with Christ. We're confessing that our right
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to be heard is his righteousness, his infinite
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merit alone. The Father hears us because he
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hears the Son in us. This radically transforms the
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nature of our knocking. We are not begging for entry, we
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are claiming a birthright, a blood bought family privilege.
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The barrier of sin has been removed.
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The way into the Holy of Holies is open, and to live a life of
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self-sufficient prayerlessness after that price was paid is,
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well, frankly, it's an insult to the cross.
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And that reality has to lead to concrete daily application.
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Matthew 7.7 isn't meant to just be analyzed.
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No, it has to be practiced as a rule of life, a continuous
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posture of humble dependence, Kingdom directed desire and
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persevering faith. So first to ask is to practice
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specific, admitted prayer. We have to mortify the
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widespread sin of self-reliance. Think about the modern disciple.
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When you're faced with a problem, your first instinct is
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often to run to human strategy, to Google, to the phone, to
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planning to. Anything but prayer.
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And only later, if at all. To the Father, asking requires
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genuine humility, naming sins plainly, admitting fears
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honestly, bringing concrete requests without exaggeration or
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self pity. If your prayers tend to be
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general statements or angry speeches, let ask train you in
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childlike simplicity and honest dependence.
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Second, to seek is to actively let prayer reorder your desires.
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Seeking is the pursuit of God's Kingdom and righteousness so
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that your requests are shaped by His priorities, not just your
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comfort. We have to repent of self
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centeredness, that tendency to use prayer to sanctify our pre
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made plans instead of using prayer to genuinely surrender
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our plans to the Father. This looks like habitually
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praying through the Lord's Prayer and praying scripture,
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letting the Word of God correct your natural, often selfish
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instincts. Before you ask for an open door
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in your career, seek the holiness you need to walk
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through that door in a way that honors God.
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And 3rd Tanaka is to establish ordinary rhythms and persevere
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when answers don't arrive on your human timeline.
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Knocking assumes the door doesn't always open immediately.
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Jesus intentionally builds waiting and delay into the
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discipleship process. Because that is where faith
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becomes durable and refined, right?
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We have to intentionally refuse to interpret delay as neglect or
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to draw cynical conclusions about God when Providence seems
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slow or painful. So practically, what does that
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look like? Practically, it means
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establishing ordinary rhythms of daily prayer, morning evening,
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corporate prayer, and sticking to those rhythms even when you
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feel no emotional uplift or immediate result.
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The sins we have to mortify here are unbelief, bitterness toward
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God, and prayerless resignation, that silent belief that God just
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isn't worth the trouble of waiting for.
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The message is anchored in the Father's perfect character.
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He gives good things, communion, holiness, endurance, protection
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from the serpents we crave, not just consumption or ease.
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When Christ commands us to ask, seek, and knock, He's extending
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an invitation to a settled assurance that we are dealing
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with a Father who is both able and perfectly good.
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And we should not dishonor the price Christ paid by living as
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spiritual paupers when the treasury of grace is unlocked
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and open to us. The disciple, knowing the Gospel
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indicative, is called to knock with holy boldness, resting in
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the certainty that the Father is waiting, ready to give what is
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truly good Himself in the means to glorify Him.
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So this deep dive really forces us to conclude that Matthew 7.7
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isn't a technique for manipulating God.
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It's an invitation to trust the character of the Father who
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provides what is truly good, measured by his standard, not
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ours. And that good thing is primarily
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the grace, wisdom, and Holy Spirit necessary for
30:38
sanctification and the strength to meet the impossible demands
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the Kingdom. It's communion with the Father,
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not just consumption of his gifts.
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So if self-sufficiency is the central sin, Christ confronts
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with this command the arrogance of planning and living without
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consulting the Father. What specific daily task or area
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of life where you currently rely only on human strategy or
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technique must you now repent of and begin to approach with
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persistent asking, seeking and knocking?