The Audacity to Ask: Matthew 7:1-12 - Fifth Sunday after Epiphany

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On my first day of vacation, I took a ride down to Barnes & Noble. I had gift cards and a goal to read at least two books during the week.

For about twenty minutes, I searched the shelves in search of the books I wanted but did not find them. Even though it wasn’t a busy day, I wasn’t inclined to go to the information desk and ask for help. That’s not my style. But as I repeatedly circled the store, I began to look less like a shopper and more like a shoplifter. So, I asked for help, and the salesman located the titles I wanted within seconds without even searching on the computer. Ask and it shall be given to you.

But asking is not my style. I don’t like asking for things, period. Maybe I’ve learned the American virtue of self-sufficiency a little too well. In the end, though, I’m too proud.

So how much do you ask of God?

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Jesus says, “Ask, and it shall be given to you. Seek and you shall find. Knock and the door will be open to you.” Unfortunately, that’s not as easy as it sounds.

We know that it isn’t right to ask God for things we don’t need, like for a private jet or a Ferrari. Over the years, I’ve known Christians who don’t feel right praying for anything for themselves, thinking it’s only proper to pray for other people. Some are afraid that if they ask for something God does not want them to have, God will punish them by making their bad situation even worse.

We’ve all asked God for things we did not receive. When you face a situation that appears hopeless, you may think, what’s the point? If God has said “no,” should I accept it, and stop asking?

Think about it: when you pray and do not receive what you’ve prayed for, how do you interpret that? Do you take it personally, thinking that God is rejecting you or punishing you? Do you blame yourself—or other people—for not praying hard enough or with the proper words or the proper motives?

One of the worst mistakes you can make is assuming that you know the mind of God,

Such talk is not of the Spirit. It is of the devil—because nothing is more toxic to your faith than fear, shame, and doubt. And nothing will frustrate your prayers more than fear, shame, and doubt. It’s a big victory for the devil when you do not pray. The devil wants you to think God has rejected you, so that you stop praying. But when you do not pray, you are rejecting God. When you do not ask. When you do not seek. When you do not knock.

Overall, I believe most Christians ask far too little of God. We don’t take the time to pray, and when we do, we pray with low expectations. And we give up too easily. I chose to read today from the New Living Translation because it better captures what Jesus was really saying: keep on asking. Keep on seeking. Keep on knocking. And never stop.

Don’t think of prayer as a task. It’s not a tool or technique to get what you want from God; it’s not a skill to be mastered or a prize to be earned. Prayer is relationship. It is an invitation to dwell in the throne room of God and pour out your soul before him.

Prayer is not all about you! It’s not about you getting everything you want from God, but you receiving what God wants for you, so that the life of Jesus Christ may flourish within you.

As a sinner, you’re going to ask things of God that you shouldn’t, but don’t let that stop you. If you find yourself questioning if something is appropriate to lift in prayer, pray about it anyway—because the Holy Spirit will teach you what you should be praying for. God will answer your prayers by changing your heart.

When you ask of God, and it becomes clear God’s answer is “no,” remember Jesus, who prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane for God to take from him the cup of his suffering. God did not take it away, but strengthened him to drink it, so he would conquer sin at the cross and destroy death at the empty tomb.

When you pray, and God answers, “no,” it is because God has something eternally greater for you to receive and for you to accomplish.

No matter who you pray for or what, God’s desire is for the love of Christ, the righteousness of Christ, and the life of Christ to flourish in you. God delights in giving good gifts to those who ask. God answers every prayer. Much of the time, God’s answers to prayers come not in the form of miracle cures and quick-fix solutions, but by turning fear into faith, despair into hope, compassionate concern into action. You find strength to accept the things you cannot change and courage to change the things you can. You stop dwelling on all that is wrong and behold God’s wondrous acts of love all around you. God opens the door to opportunities for you to grow and live out God’s purposes for your life.

Asking, seeking, and knocking is half the power of prayer. The other half is receiving, finding, entering, and going, and serving.