Be Careful What You Ask For
Good morning. It is an honor and a real pleasure to be standing in front of you this morning. I realize I have big shoes to fill in preaching behind this pulpit but I trust that God has a word to share with each of you so my prayer before we begin is that your hearts and ears would be opened to hearing the truth that will always set you free.
August 14, 2011
Matthew 7:7-12, Be Careful What You Ask For
Amy Staples, Brewster Baptist Church
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I have to tell you that you are all a first for me. This is my first time preaching to a congregation, the only other preaching experience I have was in seminary school where I preached to a class of at most 15 other students. As I’m looking around I think I’ve already counted 15 people and that is only in the first 2 rows of the sanctuary. So this is new and exciting for me!
Our Scripture reading this morning comes from the Gospel of Matthew 7:7-12. In it Jesus says, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; those who seek find; and to those who knock, the door will be opened. Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”
Now some of you may know that I am an aunt to one of the rowdiest, silliest, most fun loving 2 year olds that you will ever meet, AJ. He is my little man and we always have a great time together. AJ has recently taken to playing hide and go seek and he loves hiding on you…over and over again. It’s as if he doesn’t get tired or bored with the chase. He hides under the covers of the bed only to give himself away because of the squealing and giggling and then when he’s found he only wants to hide again. It’s a constant chase and the game usually ends with Auntie Meme worn out from all the running and finding. Now hide and go seek may be a game you haven’t played since you were a kid but I wonder if some of us view a relationship with God like the rules of this familiar childhood game.
For instance, in hide and go seek there are 2 players; one who runs and hides while the other counts to 10 and then he or she wanders aimlessly around searching for the elusive “hider”. The person hiding does not want to be found so they remain quiet and sit very still. If the game goes on for too long the person who is doing the finding may become frustrated and quit the search all together while the person who has found the perfect hiding spot has maybe fallen asleep from boredom! Is it possible that you and I at times see ourselves as the seekers and God as the one who is doing the hiding? That as soon as we find God it is only a matter of time before He goes into hiding again? Maybe we wonder if He really wants to be found by us…could He really care about my wants, desires, and needs? After all there are billions of other people out there whose problems are greater than mine.
Well I believe that God does want to be found by us. Unlike the hider in Hide and Go Seek I think God is wishing and hoping that we will take notice of Him. We are the crown of His creation and He created us out of love so that we could be in relationship with Him. Just as a human father loves his son and wants what is best for him, God wants what is best for us too. In the best of parent/ child relationships there is a mutual love and communication flows both ways. It is natural that a child depends on their parent for protection, basic needs, love, and care. This is the kind of relationship God wants to have with us. One where we trust Him with childlike faith. And wrapped into this we find Jesus telling us in verse 7 to ask, seek, and knock. Each of these verbs requires something of us. We play an active role and nowhere in this text does Jesus tell us to sit back, relax, and all our needs will be taken care of. These 3 verbs each suggest a different meaning and the manner in which we interact with God may vary depending on the season of life we are in. There may be times when all we are capable of doing is asking…whether it be asking for help, for wisdom, or maybe for healing. This is a season in our lives where we are especially vulnerable and in need. We don’t have the energy or strength to get up and go but we can ask. It’s as simple as that…Jesus says ask and you will receive.
Then there is the act of seeking. This requires more intention, just as I sought after my nephew in Hide and Go Seek, so we may need to be more intentional about our pursuit of God. But He does promise us that if we seek Him we will find Him. God isn’t hiding, he hasn’t left us and in fact He may be closer than we think. Lastly we have the more intrusive act of knocking on a door. If you were to knock on a friend’s door there would be a sense of urgency that couldn’t wait. There is purpose and reason for going to their home. You know this person and trust that they will welcome you in. During the time in which this Scripture was written the people were all very close. Communities were small and hospitality was big. If someone knocked on your door, no matter what the time was you were expected to let them in. It would be very difficult to turn someone away. Jesus promises us that if we knock on the door it will be opened to us. We cannot be turned away by God. But we must be active in our pursuit of Him, whether it be in a season of asking, seeking, or knocking.
Our relationship with God is interactive. The title of this section of Scripture in many versions of the Bible says something about prayer. We communicate with God through our prayer life. Just as any human relationship need communication to grow so does our relationship with God. Our asking, seeking, and knocking shows that we have faith. When a child asks their parent for food they are trusting that the need will be provided for them through that parent. The same applies to our relationship with God. When we go to Him with heartfelt concerns, worries, anxieties, or troubles we are showing that we believe He cares. This my friends is faith in action.
Now what then does this mean? That if we go to God with requests He will grant them for us? Not necessarily, God is not the genie in the sky and if he were to give us all that we asked for we would be in big trouble. I have spent the better part of my life babysitting, nannying, and working with kids and part of why I love this age group so much is that they regularly don’t think before they speak. Now I realize this may be why some of you have a hard time with this population but I find it to be refreshing and hilarious! They are uninhibited and embrace the world around them. They know how to think outside the box and for better or for worse they will tell you what they want and why. But on the flip side they don’t have the years of wisdom that you and I may have. They may ask for things that are unrealistic or ask for things they think they need when in reality it is just a desire or want. Earlier we talked about how God desires good things for his children. If this is true then the problem is that we don’t always view what we have with God’s best for us. I don’t know about you but I happen to think I know it all…just ask my parents if you don’t believe me! And so naturally I think I know what it is I need and when I need it. So of course when circumstances don’t turn out how I’d hoped I become discouraged and frustrated. Maybe you’ve been here before.
Maybe you’ve prayed time and time again for God to heal your loved one. Or maybe you prayed that God would mend a broken relationship. Or maybe there was something you desperately wanted and so you prayed that God would grant your deepest desires. What do we do with these seemingly unanswered prayers? Do we give up hope? Do we feel forsaken by the God who created us? Do we rebel and wrestle with God to find our own answers?
I at times have done each of these things and if I could be so bold, I believe you have too. When it seems as though we’ve done the seeking, asking, and knocking only to find an answer contrary to what we want we have a choice. We can doubt that God hears our prayers or we can trust that His ways are higher than ours. Isaiah 55:8-9 tells us “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Just like a father desires to give his children the best he can give them so does our father in heaven desire to gives us His best. The problem isn’t what we are given but that we don’t always understand what it is that God is doing. We may pray to God for a specific outcome but God desires wholeness and oneness with Him. If He were to grant our immediate desires we may miss the lesson and miss an opportunity to connect with Him. Just as a child cannot get everything they want, it is the same with us. We have a limited scope of understanding and we can only see where we’ve come and where we are. God sees the bigger picture and He knows how our stories will be woven in to the grand scheme of things.
In the book of Luke we find this same account recorded in 11:13 but it is written slightly differently. Here we have Jesus saying, “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” The “good gifts” given in Matthew are understood to be the Holy Spirit in Luke’s account. The Holy Spirit guides us, instructs, us, equips us for all that we will encounter in life. Luke is not saying we will receive all that we want, whenever we ask for it but we are promised that God’s Spirit will always be with us as believers. This gives me comfort in times when it doesn’t seem that my prayers are answered in a way I’d like. I have limited understanding but God promises the Holy Spirit to me.
One of my favorite verses in the Bible is one that Amanda read for us earlier…”For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” This is God’s promise to us. He doesn’t say that we will have everything we want, but He tells us that we can have confidence in knowing that He is near, He wants to be found by us, and He desires good things for His children.
Like my earlier illustration of a hide and go seek game I urge you to not become frustrated and disappointed when it seems like you can’t find God. Be patient and trust that God has good things in store for you. I think sometimes we jump the gun and feel forgotten by Him and when this happens we take matters into our own hands. We may force the outcomes we think we need and what we think will make us happy but God knows what will ultimately bring us peace and wholeness. Continue to pursue God and you will find Him. Bring your requests before Him and He will supply your needs. AMEN
Let us pray…
Mighty God,
We urgently seek you out this hour because we know how much we need you. We put aside our fears, doubts, and frustrations and simply ask for more of You in our lives. With Your Holy Spirit we can face all of life’s challenges no matter what season of life we find ourselves in. Thank you for hearing our spoken and unspoken needs and we trust in You knowing that Your ways are higher than ours. In your loving name we pray, AMEN.