Comunidad y discipulado

Unopened Door (Matt 7:7~11)

2017.02.12Stephen Cha

Prayer is not merely getting things but knowing God as our loving Father. He promises to answer every prayer, and he invites us through asking, seeking and knocking to live out his calling.

Prayer begins with knowing our Father (vv. 10-11)

Jesus reminds us to check how we approach God: he is our good, loving Father who is ready to hear us. A stranger who asks a wealthy CEO for $50 gets refused, but his grandchild who asks for money gets it. Too often we come to God only to get something, acting like orphans instead of children. What keeps us from experiencing his answer is that we do not know him well enough. We are invited to come just as we are, weary and confused, and meet the God who accepts us. He is also a wise Father who gives what we truly need.

Keep your eyes on the God who loves you

Pastor Ed Dobson, diagnosed with terminal cancer, went to healing services seeking to be healed. He came to see that what matters most is not whether we receive physical healing, but keeping our eyes on the God who loves us and gives ultimate healing. The speaker's son Christian, who needed a walker and was tone deaf, sang out loud at the Christmas concert once his eyes met his parents'. Prayers often go unanswered because we do not know how much God loves us and wants to hear us. As we grow in knowing and worshiping him, our prayer life deepens.

Seven promises rest on being his children (vv. 7-8)

These verses hold seven promises that God will respond to prayer. This is no exaggeration, because the promise rests on our relationship with the Father. When his children ask for tuition or a new phone, a father does his best to give it, not because of what they have done but because they are his own. God gave his only Son, and in Christ we are adopted as his children. Everyone who prays gets a response, whether quietly, loudly, with songs or on a walk. His answer may be yes, no, wait, or 'you need to grow up,' and all of these are included in his promise.

Answer God by praying back what he says

Prayer is a conversation, and a baby learns to speak by hearing 'I love you' thousands of times. In the same way, we learn to respond to what God has been saying to us through his Word. Eugene Peterson titled his book on the Psalms 'Answering God.' George Mueller recorded more than 50,000 answered prayers while caring for thousands of orphans. He could not pray more than 30 minutes until he began each day meditating on Scripture and praying back what God had spoken to him. That changed his prayer life.

Ask, seek and knock to live out God's calling

The Sermon on the Mount tells us how to live as God's people, and we cannot do that on our own, so Jesus says to ask. Seeking means starting the car and driving, asking at each step, 'Lord, is this what you want?' Knocking means persisting at a door that seems closed, knowing that God has brought us there. Asking, seeking and knocking are not just about getting things but about our own story. Dr. Bill Bright gave Korean Campus Crusade a blank check marked Matthew 6:33, and it led to a gathering of over a million people praying for Korea. Entering the narrow gate, we find it widens as God works through our prayers.

Apply to Life

  • Let us come to God as children come to a loving Father, just as we are.
  • Let us grow in knowing God's character and love and worship him more.
  • Let us pray back to God what he has said to us through his Word.
  • Let us keep knocking on the door where God has called us, trusting him to answer.
  • Let us step out in obedience, asking and seeking God's leading for the mission he has given us.

This summary was made automatically from the sermon's captions and may differ from the sermon.

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