May it please Almighty God to
bless us together this morning as we meditate in his word. Let
us turn to the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 7, and we'll read verses
7 and 8. The Gospel of Matthew, chapter
7, and reading verses 7 and 8. Ask, and it shall be given you. Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened
unto you. For everyone that asketh receiveth,
and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall
be opened. It's wonderful for us today to
realise that the Lord Jesus, when he was on the earth, preached
such a glorious sermon with so much detailed instruction for
us. And we know that the Word of
God is very precise and yet very full in everything that it speaks. And so here, the Lord Jesus is
directing the people about prayer. Perhaps we might just refer to
the 6th chapter where he speaks about prayer. And in the 6th
chapter of this same Gospel from verse 5 we read, And when thou
prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are, for they
love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners
of the streets that they may be seen of men. Verily I say
unto you, they have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest,
enter into thy closet. When thou shut thy door, pray
to thy father which is in secret, and thy father which seeth in
secret shall reward thee openly. When you pray, use not vain repetitions
as the heathen do, for they think that they shall be heard for
their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto
them, for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of before
ye ask. Well, it's a great blessing to
have instruction from the Lord. And then he comes and tells us,
which I'm sure we're all familiar with, what we refer to as the
Lord's Prayer. And it's a very full prayer.
And it's a very simple prayer. And you young people, I'm sure,
are familiar with it. I hope you are, anyway. And this
is what it says. The Lord tells us, after this
manner, therefore, pray ye. Our Father, which art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be
done. in earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we
forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and
the power and the glory forever. Amen. Well, that's not a long
prayer, is it? It's a short prayer. and yet
it has a tremendous amount in it. Read it carefully and think
about it and think what this little prayer contains. It contains
really everything that you and I need. And therefore we should
realise that the Lord graciously has given us instruction. And now as we come on to this
same sermon and later on in this chapter we read the seventh chapter
and this seventh and eighth verses. And he directs us. Really in
three things. First of all, to ask. Secondly, to seek. And thirdly,
to believe that it will be, to knock rather, and to believe
it will be open unto us. So we have these three points,
ask, seek, and knock. And the Lord then says, everyone
who asketh, receiveth. and he that seeketh findeth and
him that knocketh it shall be opened well I'm sure these are
very encouraging words and they should be encouraging words for
all of us young and old and to realise that we come to a God
who has spoken these words for our encouragement and for our
direction it's very simple words aren't they? And yet, you see,
there is a secret really. We're not just to utter such
words, such requests, and yet not receive, not believe that we shall receive
any answers. The Lord tells us that we are
indeed to Ask in faith. When James wrote his little epistle,
and there's very many good words of instruction in the little
epistle of James, and he tells us in the first chapter, he tells
us this in the sixth verse. He says, let him ask in faith,
nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like
a wave of the sea driven with a wind and tossed. For let not
that man think that he shall receive anything in the Lord.
A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. So when we come
to God in prayer, we should believe, and you young people remember
this, you should believe that we come to a God who does hear
and answer prayer. But here again, we need to remember
the instructions that God gives us, and he gives us instructions
in the fourth chapter of James, and he tells us this. In the
third verse he says, ye ask and receive not. You may think, well
I have prayed for this and I have asked and I haven't received
an answer. Well, James tells us, ye ask
and receive not because ye ask amiss. That means you ask wrongly,
that you may consume it upon your lusts. That means that if
God answers that prayer, it won't be for his honour and for his
glory It'll be for your or my honour and my glory. So, as we perhaps have prayed,
and perhaps we've all prayed, for things that God has not answered,
you may need to just think, well, why did God not answer that prayer? Well, it may be because you've
asked in a wrong way. Because you've asked for things
which would only benefit you and it wouldn't bring any glory
to God. And as I often say, our lives
are for the glory of God. That's the vital thing. So to
realise these words of instruction, these words of encouragement
to us. There are many prayers in the
Word of God, It's a very long prayer of King Solomon. When
the temple was completed and Solomon came and prayed before
all the congregation, it was a long prayer. We won't read
it and we won't even refer to it this morning, but it's just
worth remembering. And it was a long prayer and
it was a good prayer. But I thought I might just mention
another very good prayer. And that's a prayer of Daniel.
I'm sure you remember about Daniel. He was a man of God, and of course
he was delivered gloriously out of the lion's den by the goodness
and the grace of God. But we read in the ninth chapter
of Daniel his prayer, and we're told this from verse three. and supplication with fasting
and sackcloth and ashes. So he was here in a right way. He prepared his heart to seek
unto the Lord. And he tells us this, and I prayed
unto the Lord my God and made my confession and said, O Lord,
the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them
that love him and to them that keep his commandments. I always
think it's a very good introduction that when we come to God, we
should acknowledge his greatness, acknowledge what he is. We shouldn't
rush into his presence, like the Bible tells us, an unthinking
horse into the battle. I know the Lord is very gracious
and sometimes we have a great need and we have to cry out perhaps,
Lord help me. Nothing wrong in that. But when
we come, as it were, in an organised way to God in prayer, we should
come acknowledging how great he is and what he is. And so
that's just what the prophet or Daniel did here when
he came and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keep
in the covenant and mercy to them that love him. Because what
it does, it first of all focuses our mind on the greatness of
God. Sometimes we tend to almost demand
of God things. And yet you see, we are to ask,
we are to come in a right way. And here is a right way to come
to God, recognizing how great he is. And so he tells us, I prayed
unto the Lord my God and made my confession and said, O Lord,
the great and dreadful God, keep in the covenant of mercy to them
that love him and to them that keep his commandments. And then
you see, we see this confession. And that's always good to start
like this. We have sinned. He was, of course,
speaking with the people. But you and I come individually,
we should come and say, I have sinned, and have committed iniquity,
and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from
thy precepts and from thy judgments. You see, acknowledging our sinful
condition, not coming to God in any way that justifies ourselves,
but coming and bowing down. And then he says, neither have
we hearkened, sorry, let me say, we have sinned and committed
iniquity and have done wickedly and have rebelled even by departing
from thy precepts and from thy judgments, neither have we hearkened
unto thy servants the prophets. You see, again, in that day and
age, of course, there were the prophets. In this day and age,
we're blessed to have preachers of the Gospel. And we come to
hear the preaching of the Gospel. And we come to be directed through
that preaching. And therefore, what does Daniel
say? Neither have we hearkened. Well,
many people come and hear the Gospel preached. They don't really
listen because it doesn't just fit in to what they think should
have been preached and therefore they turn a deaf ear. Well, here
Daniel confesses, neither have we hearkened unto thy servants
the prophets which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes,
and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. It's good,
isn't it, to have very gracious instruction. It's good that the
Lord is so kind, isn't it? Because we're fallen creatures.
and left to ourselves, we're almost like the Pharisee. We
may be like the Pharisee, we pray to ourselves. We don't really
pray to Almighty God. Well, we could go on, we won't
go on, but you might like to go home today. And it's Daniel,
the ninth chapter, and read this prayer that he speaks of. It's from the third verse down
to verse 19. And it is very, instructive and
very good to be able to ponder that Lord has left on record,
very careful, a pattern for us to remember today. It's not there
just to pass over. Lord has recorded these things
for our gracious instruction. Well then, coming back to this,
seventh chapter in Matthew, and he comes and he says, ask, ask. Well, again, that's a good thing,
isn't it? Daniel, you see, he commenced
in that way and then he asked. And we are to come to our God
and we are to ask. I remember an account of Mr Ranspotter
preaching and he told a little account there was a prayer meeting
and there was a man who started praying and wandered on in his
prayers and went all round the mulberry bush and the lady stretched
out her arm and pulled his coat and she said, ask! it's a good
word of instruction isn't it? people do sometimes wander round
in prayer you don't have to repeat things The Lord knows all about
us. The effectual fervent prayer
of a righteous man evadeth much. So if we can indeed come in a
right way, acknowledging who God is and what he is, how great
he is, and then come very simply and ask, and ask in faith. And that means we come believing. that God will hear and answer
our prayers. Now, if we don't come in faith,
that's because we don't believe that God will answer. Perhaps
we come just with a mere form of words, some religious phrases
that we may use, and it's not truly praying to God, and it's
not really asking. we can come very simply and ask. And you see the word of God tells
us, ask and it shall be given you. We do need to come and ask
in a right way. Again, as I've said, it's not
so that we might glorify ourselves. You see, when God hears and answers
our asking, We are humbled before God to realise that Almighty
God, and it's always good to realise Almighty God, has condescended
to hear and answer our prayers. And that is really an amazing
thought to think that you and I as sinful men and women, boys
and girls, can come and speak to Almighty God. What a wonderful
blessing it is. And let me just interrupt there
in this asking and remember that we come to God through the Lord
Jesus Christ. He is, as the Bible describes
it, as a mediator. He stands between us and our
Father in heaven. And it is as we come to our Father
in Heaven that our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, takes our
prayers and presents them to His Father and our Father. And
we are accepted, not because of our prayers, but because of
the Saviour, because of what He's done in presenting our prayers
unto our Father. He is indeed our wonderful High
Priest. I've spoken about the High Priest
sometimes to you. We can follow that through, can't
we, in the epistle of Paul to the Hebrews, where he reminds
us of what happened in the Old Testament times. There was a
High Priest and the people came to God through that High Priest.
But now, today, we have a greater High Priest. And the greater
high priest is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. So it's good if we can really
rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ. And again, I'll give you some
more reading. And if you read in Hebrews, chapters
nine and 10, particularly, you'll find that very instructive with
regards to coming unto our Father, through the merits of our Lord
and Saviour, Jesus Christ. So then, the Lord says, ask. It's very simple, isn't it? Ask. And if we ask in faith, and if
we ask in accordance with the will of God, again, it's always
necessary to remember that, that Lord has a perfect will. Our will is often wrong. We have a sinful nature. But
you see, the Lord's will is always perfect. And we can always ask,
seeking that if the Lord will, he will do this or do that. And come believing that this
great God is able to hear and is able to answer our prayers. And so, let us remember this
gracious invitation, ask. It's wonderful to think of, that
you and I, as utterly unworthy sinners, who have no right, naturally,
as a unholy being, to approach unto the majesty on high, And
yet we can, for the merits of the Saviour. It's a wonderful
blessing, a wonderful privilege, and it's a great mercy when we're
able to come to our God. Because what it really is, it's
casting our burden, casting our care upon the Lord. We have this
need, whatever it may be. It may be a need in our natural
lives, And more importantly, it may be a need in our spiritual
life. But what a blessing it is if
we can come to our God then and ask, ask properly. And the Lord says, remember what
the Lord says is true. And it shall be given you. So if we've come in a right way,
with living faith, For God's honour and glory we can believe
it shall be given us. And perhaps we haven't come in
a right way, perhaps we've come in a wrong way. And if we have,
sometimes God says no. We don't like that sometimes, do
we? We perhaps want something and we want it in a specific
way. and we dictate to God how that's
going to happen well sometimes God thankfully realises that
we are but dust and ashes worms of the earth and he knows all
about us and therefore he answers us but he says no we should take
heed to that we should recognise that And so the Lord says, ask
and it shall be given you. And then following on the same
asking, he says, for everyone that asketh, receiveth. It shall be given and we shall
receive. But there are those provisos
in following out the truth of God's word. The Lord is good
and kind and gracious and he does that for us, which is good
for us and which is for his honour and for his glory. Now, if we
are truly asking in accordance with his will, we shall be seeking
an answer to that prayer. We won't forget it. We won't just carry on as though
nothing had occurred. But if God has given us true
prayer, in accordance with his will, to ask for something, we
will then be seeking an answer. And seeking how the Lord will
answer it. Because sometimes he doesn't always answer it in
the way that we expect. Sometimes He may answer it, not
only as I've said in answering no, but sometimes He may answer
it in a better way. Because the Lord knows all that
we need, He knows the future. And you and I don't always know
these things. And so to realise that we are
to be amongst those who are seeking. And so here we're told, and everyone
that asketh receiveth. And then we seek, we watch, we
wait for the answer. We don't forget. So often, you
know, prayers are offered and five minutes later, we forgot
what we prayed for. It's a good thing, isn't it,
when we are seeking then. for answers to those prayers.
We're watching. We're waiting. We're pleading,
perhaps, to come on to with the next point. It's not something
which is just irrelevant. True prayer comes from the heart,
and true prayer waits for answers. Sometimes answers are needed
urgently, Sometimes God gives answers urgently in the case
of David, in his life. But were there situations, you
know, when he had the enemy before him and he prayed, shall I pursue? He was asking God, shall I pursue? Sometimes God said, pursue? And sometimes he said not to
pursue. And when God answered, David
knew what he should do. And he was then able to go in
the strength of the Lord, realizing the Lord was with him. Again,
even in that situation, he didn't always get the answers that perhaps
he expected. But nonetheless, the Lord's will
was worked out. So we can ask for everything
in times of our need, whatever need that may be, and then to
seek. Seek and ye shall find. We won't be disappointed if we
ask in the right way. We shall find, because as the
next verse tells us, and he that seeketh findeth. It's a confirmation,
isn't it? First of all, he shall find,
and secondly, he that seeketh findeth. It's a confirmation
for us in our lives. So it's a poor thing, isn't it,
if we pray and forget what we prayed for. But it's good if
we truly seek the Lord's favour and blessing and seek after it. And then, the third point, we
have knock. Well, I'm sure you and I know
what it's like Knock on a door if you go and want to visit somebody
and there's a door, and you want them to know you're there, you
knock on the door. You can ring a bell, but you
can knock. The bell may not work, but knocking will always be heard.
So you can knock on the door. And sometimes, of course, a person
may not hear initially, and you'll have to knock again. Sometimes
you may have to knock several times until that knocking is
heard. Well, the Lord tells us here,
and knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Well, we are to knock
then. We are to seek the Lord to be
with us. and the Lord will direct us,
and the Lord will speak to us. Knock, and then as we read in
the eighth verse, and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened. And so really we have here some
very important directions for us to ask, to seek, and to knock. And to believe in those three
points are that we shall receive, and it shall be open. Now then, when you and I pray, we have
many things, no doubt, to ask for. But let us never forget
that in our lives there is one thing needful. One thing needful. And what is that? That is really
the salvation of our souls. You see, we all have many things
that we want to happen, we want to receive in our life. But all
those things that God may be pleased to answer our prayers
with, whatever that may be, one day we shall have to leave all
those things behind. But the one thing needful is,
to know the Lord Jesus Christ as our saviour. To know the Lord
Jesus Christ has died to take away our sins. To know the Lord
Jesus Christ has redeemed our soul. You see, these things are
eternal. They're not passing. These things are the one thing
needful. And what a blessing it is if
you and I are asking to God that he will reveal to us that we
are one of his children, that we are one of those for whom
he came into this earth to die for. We are one of those who
he has redeemed. Now if that's a true prayer, You'll be waiting for answers. You'll be seeking. You'll be
watching. You won't have prayed and forgotten. You won't have just prayed in
an abstract way. You'll have prayed because you
have a need. You will have asked God from
your very heart to remember you. Remember. When the Lord Jesus
Christ was crucified, there were those two thieves and there was
that one thief who prayed and asked. And what did he ask? Lord, remember me when thou comest
into thy kingdom. He wanted the Lord to remember
him. There were no doubt hundreds
or thousands of people around the cross at that time, but he
had a need and he asked the Lord to remember him. Well, I wonder,
I wonder this morning, you young people, if you've asked God to remember you, to remember you and you come
believing that God can and that God will answer and that he will
come and remember you and visit your soul with his salvation
now then you see if that has emanated from your heart and
if it's emanated from your heart it's because God has put the
prayer there. That's very wonderful, isn't
it, to think of that. It's not because of your ability.
It's not because you thought, well, it's about time I started
praying. It may appear like that, but
it's because God has put prayer into your heart. Well, it's a wonderful thing
then, if you can look back in your lives to a time when, for
the first time perhaps, you asked God to remember you. You asked God to speak to you. You asked God to confirm to you
that you were one of his children. What a blessing, isn't it? to
have a God who answers. Because this is what it says,
ask and it shall be given you. Well, that's a great blessing,
isn't it? To ask God to show you that you're one of his children. To ask God to show you that your
sins are forgiven. To ask God to show you that one
day, you will be with him in glory. Like the dying thief,
had that wonderful answer, didn't he? The wonderful answer to his
prayer was, this day, shalt thou be with me in paradise. Well, perhaps that won't be like
that in our lives, but nonetheless, what a mercy of God does, give
us a confirmation that one day we shall be with him in paradise. That's a wonderful answer to
prayer, isn't it? We can't really ask for a greater
blessing than to be told by God, from God's own lips, that he
has loved us with an everlasting love and with loving kindness
will draw us to himself. Ask. and it shall be given you."
Well, again this morning, God knows whether we are amongst
those who are really asked of God. And it hasn't just been
a traditional prayer, just mere words which we've forgotten about
as soon as we've spoken them. But they've emanated from our
heart because God has put there a real need with regard to our
eternal soul ask and it shall be given you for everyone that
asketh receiveth you see words like this are very encouraging
to us should be very encouraging to us as indeed we may be a true
one who is seeking after the great things of God in the prophecy
of Ezekiel. We read, and it's in chapter
36, this is what we read. Words of good instruction. Thus saith the Lord God, I will
yet, for this being inquired of by the house of Israel, to
do it for them. The Lord will be inquired of.
We are to pray. We are to ask. We are to seek
for God's blessing. You know, the the prophet goes
on and says the word of the Lord. I would increase them with men
like a flock. to be increased and blessed then
in our spiritual life. What a mercy that would be. Well,
here we have this word then, ask and seek and then knock. Well, I believe sometimes it
means that you and I may ask, we don't seem to receive an answer. Well, it means that we are then
to come and we are to knock. We're to come to our God. There's a door. May that door be open to give
us access to our Father and it's through the merits of our Saviour,
the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord says, I am the door. He is the door. And may we come,
perhaps, if we don't seem to have any answers. We're never
to give up. Again, the Lord tells us this.
Your time is always, but my time is not yet. So don't be discouraged
if, when you've asked, you haven't received. But knock, but knock,
comes the Lord. Explain that you have asked,
and you do need an answer. Plead that he will look upon
you. He won't cast you off. He will indeed open to you, because
that's what we're told. And him that knocketh, it shall
be opened. And again, we must all must be
aware that God's timescale is not like our timescale. But God's timescale is perfect. And you may say, well, what does
that mean? What it means is this. God has his timescale. We need to realise that you and
I are just a very small individual. in the vast plan of Almighty
God. And God is moving, and all things
are working in accordance with his will. In your life and my
life, if we are his children, form is just one very small part. There are no doubt very many
other parts which have to work together to bring this to fruition. And so don't be disappointed
if you say, well, I have asked and I haven't received an answer.
Knock. Knock. And knock again. Don't give up. Don't give up. Because the promise is. It shall
be given unto you. The promise is, you will receive. But the reality is, God tests
the reality sometimes of our prayers. Sometimes our prayers
may be half-hearted. They may not really come from
the innermost desire. It may just be something we think
we should ask for. You see, when the Lord works,
when he touches our heart and reveals to us our sinful condition
before a holy God, it's then when we realise we do have a
need, a real need. And then it is, when we do then
ask with all our heart. It's not just some theory, it's
reality. And then you see when the Lord
answers in his time, oh, what a blessing it is. How we rejoice. The Lord has
heard our prayers. He has heard our request. He has answered. And his name then receives the
honour and glory. You won't be able to say, well,
it was because of my magnificent prayer. No, it'll be because
the Lord looked upon you and showed his mercy and showed his
love and showed his grace. You rejoice in a God who hears
and answers prayer. Well, this morning, these are
very simple words, aren't they? Ask. Seek and knock. Don't forget them. Ask and it
shall be given you. Seek and you shall find. Knock and it shall be opened
unto you. For everyone that asketh receiveth,
and he that seeketh findeth, and he that knocketh, it shall
be opened unto you.