Turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 7.
We've been working our way through Matthew,
we've been working our way through the Sermon on the Mount,
and here we are in Matthew chapter 7, verses 7 through 11,
and our Lord King tells us about prayer.
Ask, and it will be given to you.
Seek, and you will find.
Knock, and it will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks, receives.
And the one who seeks, finds.
And to the one who knocks, it will be opened.
Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread,
will give him a stone?
Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?
If you then, who are evil,
know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will your Father who is in heaven
give good things to those who ask him?
Well, in this section on the Sermon on the Mount,
Jesus compels us to pray,
to ask, and to seek, and to knock.
He's been calling us, his disciples,
to a righteousness that exceeds the Pharisees.
You can look at that on chapter 5, verse 20.
That is a high call.
But if you look over at chapter 5, verse 48,
you see this call.
You, therefore, my disciples,
must be perfect,
as your heavenly Father is perfect.
And so, before we talk about this call to prayer
Jesus is making on us,
you've got to be reminded
of what he's been calling us to
in this sermon all along.
It's a call to holiness.
Let me highlight some things.
We know we're not supposed to murder people,
but we're not supposed to hate them either.
We're not supposed to commit adultery with people,
but we're not to lust in our hearts for others either.
We know we're not supposed to hate our enemies,
but Jesus calls us to the high call.
We're to love our enemies.
We know we're not to live for the dot
and store up treasures on earth,
but we're to live for the line
and store up treasures in heaven.
We know we're not to be anxious about our lives,
but seek first the kingdom and his righteousness.
We know we're not to be sinfully critical,
ungraciously judgmental of our brothers and sisters.
Rather, we're to take the log out of our own eyes
so that we can take the speck
out of our brother and sisters.
This is high call stuff.
This is calling to holiness,
a righteousness that exceeds the Pharisees,
the very professional religious folk of the day.
This is a call to holiness,
to perfection.
It's beyond us.
Jesus is calling us to the impossible.
Now maybe you got one of these down.
Maybe you're like,
yeah, you know, I'm never anxious.
Never anxious.
Well, how about the rest of the Sermon on the Mount?
If you read through it like most of us read through it,
you're like, no, I cannot do that.
That's beyond me.
That's exactly the point.
The Sermon brings us to an end to ourselves.
It exposes in us our constant need for our God.
Our constant need to depend on our Father
for only what He can give,
the good gift of holiness.
And that's the point of why Jesus
is brought us to this part of the Sermon.
He's bringing it to application.
He's turning us to response.
And the first response He calls us to here
is to pray,
to ask, seek, and knock.
You can't do it, brother and sister in Christ.
You can't do it.
You can't live out the Sermon on the Mount
in your own power.
You can't.
But God can give you the grace you need.
And we must humble Himself, ourselves, and seek Him.
So this morning, brother and sister in Christ,
you need to hear this.
Your Father in Heaven wants you
to come to Him.
He wants you to ask Him
for the good, holy things.
To give you what only He can
to live a life that only He can enable.
And so this morning, in this passage,
I want you to see three things.
We are to pray persistently.
We are to pray with promise.
And we are to pray paternally
with an eye to our Father.
We are to be persistent
in our prayerful pursuit
of perfection,
of holiness.
That's the call.
So let's look at this first point.
Pray persistently.
If you look at chapter 7, verse 7,
ask and it will be given to you.
Seek and you will find.
Knock and it will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks, receives.
And the one who seeks, finds.
And to the one who knocks,
it will be opened.
There are three words of persistence
that you need to understand.
You already see them.
Ask, seek, knock.
And so again, remember,
at this point in the sermon,
this was a sermon Jesus preached.
He's walked us through
the call to holiness
and now He's calling us to respond.
And He's saying, pray.
Pray, ask, seek, and knock
for the very things
I've just called you to.
Call upon your Father.
Here's what I love about Jesus.
He says, okay,
if you've got kind of a lust issue
in your heart,
just don't go work it out.
Call upon your Holy Father.
Ask Him for purity.
Seek Him for a godly life.
Knock on His door
to open ways unto holiness
that only He can.
To be persistent
in our prayerful pursuit
of perfection.
We're never going to be perfect
on this side of glory.
But that doesn't mean we strive.
We don't strive.
We strive.
He's called us to this.
And He is able to
give us what we need.
These three verbs,
ask, seek, and knock,
are commands.
Scholars call them imperatives.
Have you ever seen
a war movie
and there's a commander
and He has His groups
around Him
and there's explosions
and rumbling
and He says to His team,
team, it's imperative
that we get hill number 473.
It's imperative.
It's vital.
It's essential.
It's necessary.
That's what an imperative is.
There's urgency.
And so Jesus is saying,
in light of this call
to holiness,
holiness,
it is imperative
that you call upon
your Father in Heaven
to give you what you need.
It's imperative that you ask.
It's imperative that you seek.
It's imperative that you knock.
In the original language,
these imperatives
are in the present tense,
which means
it has an ongoing force.
And so you could say it like this.
Keep asking.
Keep seeking.
Keep knocking.
Do you know why?
Because the Sermon on the Mount
is a call on us
all the way through
until we see Jesus face to face.
We're to keep asking.
Keep seeking.
Keep knocking.
It's persistent.
Persistent asking,
seeking, and knocking.
And not only do these
three imperatives
have this ongoing force,
they have increasing urgency.
Did you notice that?
We move from asking
to clicking up a notch
to seeking
to clicking up a notch
to knocking.
My youngest daughter,
Mary, embodies this.
Let me show you how.
This is how it works out.
Mary has a particularly strong bond
with my wife, Jenny.
And so Mary's
at the dining room table
and it begins with an ask.
Mom, where are my stretchy pants?
Mom!
The ask.
And it's persistent.
But then when Jenny doesn't respond,
the asking continues,
but it moves into seeking.
Mom!
Where are you?
Mom!
Where are you?
I'm up in my room.
Walk, walk, walk.
Step, step, step.
And if the door is closed,
Mom!
Where are my stretchy pants?
Will you let me in, please?
You know what my little daughter illustrates?
She's pursuing her parent
for what she needs.
She will not be denied.
We, as children of our father,
we ask
and then we seek him
and then we knock on his door
to open up
so that he can provide what we need.
This pursuit,
this persistence,
it's a pursuit
of our heavenly father
who has what we need
for holiness.
He is the object of our pursuit.
He is the one
that gives us
what we need
for holiness.
That's not in the bottom
of a crackerjack box.
Our father gives that.
So if you're anxious
about something
or you're tempted
to be critically judgmental
of someone else,
ask your father.
Go to him.
Ask him for a peace
that transcends all understanding.
Ask him for a humility
that sees your own sin
for what it is
and you can help others.
Ask him.
Seek him.
Knock on his door for that.
Let me ask this question.
What is the need
for the persistence?
Why the ongoing asking,
ongoing seeking,
ongoing knocking?
What's up with that?
Well, I've already alluded to it.
We are to pray persistently
because we are
in persistent need.
Jesus knows us really well.
And the kind of persistent need
we have
is the need
for God's grace
to make us
holy,
holy.
To grow us in holiness.
The fancy word is
sanctification.
The process of being made
more and more like Jesus
in our everyday lives.
We need persistent
for that.
It's a persistent,
prayerful pursuit
of paternal perfection.
Holiness.
We are asking him
for the grace
that he alone provides
to make us like him.
That's why this is a persistent need.
You need it everyday.
God says,
I am holy.
You be holy
for I am holy.
We need his help.
Now,
if you fail to make
the connection
between
what Jesus is calling us
to here
and what has proceeded
in the Sermon on the Mount,
you know what you are
going to ask your father for?
You are going to be
content to ask him
for Green Bay Packer tickets.
You are going to be
asking him for things
that are good things,
but
not the greatest things.
Your father wants you
asking him
for good things
unto holiness.
Throwing Packer tickets,
great.
So,
what we see here
with this persistent
praying
is Jesus
commanding us
to depend
persistently
on our
father.
It's essentially
an act of
ongoing dependence
is what we're being
called to.
It's a call
to ongoing humility.
It's a call
to abiding
in our God.
We need him
in order to live
the life he's
called us to.
Are you seeing this?
Are you seeing
the need?
How do you respond
to what Jesus
is calling you to?
How do you respond
to this?
How do you respond
to this call
to persistent praying?
I can imagine
two kinds of responses.
The first
kind is the way
that I typically
respond to something
like this
and that is
to go into
pragmatic
list mode.
So,
it goes something
like this.
All right,
Jesus is calling me
to pray persistently.
Okay,
I got it.
Check.
Now,
the reason why
I don't pray
persistently
is,
well,
it's a lack
of discipline.
Check.
And so,
what I need
now,
more than anything
else,
is a list
of things
to be praying
for so that
I can be praying
more persistently.
Or better yet,
I need to wake
up earlier
in order to pray
more.
Or maybe even
better yet,
what are the books
on prayer
that I can be
praying so that
I can be more
persistent in my
praying?
What do I need?
Do I need to get
more accountability
in my life?
Do I need to
listen to more
sermons?
What do I need
in order to be
more persistent
in my praying?
A few Sundays
ago,
I preached
a sermon
and I made
an illustration.
It's the difference
between the
Christian life
as a rowboat
and the Christian
life as a sailboat.
And when we
respond to a call
like this by saying,
what do I need
to do more?
It's like
grabbing a
rowboat.
Okay,
I just need
to pray more.
That's not what
Jesus is getting
at here.
The problem
Jesus is putting
his finger on
is not a lack
of discipline.
The problem
that Jesus is
putting his finger
on is a lack
of understanding
our desperate
need for him.
that's where
it starts.
And that leads
me to the
second kind
of response.
The Sermon
on the Mount,
it exposes
our constant
need for God's
grace as his
disciples.
It exposes,
it shows us,
we can't live
this without him.
And so if we
don't need more
discipline,
what we need
more of is
God himself
and the grace
he provides.
That's what we
need.
That's what
we're going
to.
That's where
Jesus is bringing
us to here.
You can't live
this on your
own.
So ask,
seek,
knock,
depend on
your heavenly
father for
this.
Keep asking.
Keep seeking.
Keep seeking
your father.
And then when
you've got that
sense of
desperation in
place,
that's when you
start looking
for books.
That's when you
start looking
for accountability.
That's when you
start looking
for help.
But you need
first to attend
to your heart.
Are you
desperate?
Do you want
holiness?
Are you
motivated to
pursue your
father for the
only thing he
can give you
for it?
Do you want
it?
Do you want
holiness?
Do you want
the sermon on
the mount?
Do you want
that for your
life?
We're to pray
persistently
because we
are in
persistent
need of
God's grace.
We're to pray
persistently.
And the second
point I want you
to see here is
we're to pray
with promise.
promise.
If you look at
verses 7 and
8 you see the
imperatives right?
Ask, seek, and
knock.
But what you
also need to
see is that
every imperative
is met with a
promise.
Ask and it
will be given
to you.
Promise.
Seek imperative
and you will
find promise.
Knock imperative
and the door
will be opened
unto you.
Promise.
promise.
Every imperative
is met with a
promise.
Jesus in
verse 8 is
emphasizing the
certainty of
knowing that
your heavenly
father when
sought for
holiness will
say yes.
promise.
It's his joy to
give it.
Your heavenly
father hears
your persistent
prayers and
persistently
answers them.
He wants good
for you.
He wants you to
share in his
holiness more
than you want
to.
Jesus in
this with these
promises he
wants us to be
certain that if
we are persistent
praying God will
persistently answer.
Did you hear the
word if?
Is Jesus saying
here that we can
ask the father for
anything we want
and we can be
certain that we
will receive it for
anything?
Is he saying
that?
He's not saying
that.
He's not saying
that.
We all know
that's the case.
And we could
probably make an
argument just
from our own
experience.
I'm guessing
you have prayed
for things that
you have not
received.
The issue here
is the kind of
promise that
Jesus is making.
There are
classically two
kinds of promises.
There are
unconditional
promises and
there are
conditional
promises.
The unconditional
promise is when
party A commits
to doing something
for party B
and it has no
bearing on what
party B does.
Party A is going
to follow through.
The classic example
is for us
Christians.
God says,
I will never
leave you nor
forsake you.
Period.
Nothing can
separate you from
the love of God
in Christ Jesus.
Period.
Unconditional
promises.
But a conditional
promise is a
promise that goes
something like this.
Let's say one of
my children wants
to use the car.
And I, as his
father,
knowing that
there's other
areas of his life
to attend to,
says,
son, I would
be glad
for you to
use the vehicle.
I promise
that you can
use the vehicle
if you
clean your
room.
That's a
conditional
promise.
And what we
see going on
here in Matthew
chapter 7,
7 through 8,
are conditional
promises.
Ask.
And it will
be given to
you.
There are
three conditional
promises going
on.
Three conditions.
You may not
see them,
so I want to
draw them out
for you.
You ready?
Condition one
is this.
You've got to
be a Christian.
Condition two
is this.
You've got to
be a Christian
who's actually
asking.
And condition
three is this.
You've got to
be a Christian
who's asking
according to
God's will.
Those are the
conditions.
And God
says,
you meet
those and
I will
give you
what you're
asking for.
You're going
to find what
you're looking
for.
I'm going
to open
the way
for you
to walk
in.
Now,
I want to
help you
see that
more clearly.
So,
condition one,
you've got to
be a Christian.
If you look
at verse
seven,
ask and it
will be
given to
you.
Seek and
you will
find.
Knock and
the door
will be
opened unto
you.
So,
the really
important
question we
need to
answer is
this.
Who's the
you?
And that's
where you
flip back to
chapter five,
verse one.
We have the
answer to that
question.
Seeing the
crowds,
Jesus went up
on the
mountain and
when he
sat down,
his disciples
came to
him.
And he
opened his
mouth and
taught them,
his disciples.
Who's the
you?
His
disciples,
followers of
Jesus.
That's who the
promise is to.
You've got to
be a follower
of Jesus to
be certain
that God
the Father
is going to
answer your
prayers.
you've got to
be a child
of the
Father.
That's the
first condition.
The second
condition is
this.
You need to
be asking.
Did you
notice?
Ask,
and it will
be given to
you.
Seek,
and you
will find.
Knock,
and the
door will
be opened
unto you.
James says
it this way,
James 4,
2.
you have
not
because
you
ask
not.
Does
God know
our needs
before we
ask?
Absolutely.
Does,
is he able
to meet
your needs?
Oh yeah,
he's all
powerful.
He owns a
cattle on a
thousand
ills.
Does he
even want
to meet
your needs?
Oh yes,
he does.
But if
you don't
ask,
he won't
give it.
So why?
What's up
with that?
Our God,
our Father,
wants us
depending on
him.
He wants
us coming
to him.
We are
dependent
upon our
Father.
This past
week,
I have
been asking
myself the
question,
what is it
that I want
that I don't
have?
Because I'm
not asking
for it.
And I
started thinking
about our
church,
and I
started
thinking,
what is it
that I want
to see
happen that
I haven't
been asking
for?
And you
know what
it is?
That God
would add
to our
numbers by
conversions,
by people
coming to
faith in
Jesus through
our corporate
witness of
the gospel,
and they
being added
to our
numbers.
We're so
grateful for
the people
God is
bringing
here.
But we
want God
to bring
people who
have yet to
hear about
Jesus,
they hear
about Jesus
through our
witness,
and they
come to
Christ.
Oh man,
I started
praying that.
What is it
that you
want from
your Father
unto holiness
that you
don't have
because you
haven't been
asking?
Maybe it's
something with
your marriage,
maybe it's
something with
your parenting.
We have
not because
we ask
not.
That's
condition
two.
You've
got to be
a Christian
who's
asking.
Condition
three.
You've
got to be
a Christian
who's
asking
according
to God's
will.
Do you
remember
the immediate
context of
what precedes
this?
Jesus is
calling us
unto holiness.
He's calling
us to
perfection.
And so
when he
says,
ask and
it will
be given
to you.
Seek and
you will
find.
Knock and
it will
be opened.
What's
the it?
A life
pleasing to
God.
A life
lived unto
his name.
Hallowed
be your
name.
Your kingdom
come.
Your will
be done
on earth
as it is
in heaven.
There are
some other
passages to
look at
that make
a case
for God
hearing the
prayers of
obedient sons
and daughters.
I'm just
going to turn
you to one.
If you
would turn
to 1 John
chapter 3
verse 22.
1 John
3
22
says this.
And
whatever we
ask we
receive from
him.
Well that
sounds great.
Whatever we
ask we
receive from
him.
And then
look at the
rest of the
verse.
Because we
keep his
commandments and
do what
pleases him.
Do you
know how
you can be
assured that
God is not
only hearing
your prayers
but is poised
to answer
them?
He's intending
to.
He will.
You walk in
his ways.
You walk in
obedience to
him.
We see the
very similar
thing in
John 15
7.
1 Peter
3 7
talks to
husbands.
Husbands
live with
your wives
in an
understanding
way.
And he
closes it
by saying
if you
don't your
prayers are
going to be
hindered.
So this
third condition
is a
condition in
which
if we
want to be
certain that
God is
going to
answer our
prayers,
one of the
steps that
we take is
to make
sure we're
walking in
obedience to
him.
So three
conditions.
You've got to
be a Christian,
you've got to
be a Christian
who's asking,
and you've got
to be a
Christian who's
asking according
to God's
will.
When these
are met,
you can be
fully confident
that God is
going to give
you what you're
asking for,
above and beyond
what you ask
or imagine.
So what I've
been trying to
say is these
promises are
conditional
promises.
Another way to
talk about it
is this.
When we want
what God
wants,
God's delighted
to give it.
we pray with
promise.
It's a
conditional
promise,
but it's a
promise.
The last
point is
this.
We pray
paternally.
Have you
heard the
word of your
maternal
grandmother?
You're talking
about your
grandmother on
your mother's
side.
Your paternal
grandmother is
your grandmother
on your father's
side.
paternal means
father.
It comes from a
Greek word,
pater, which
means father.
And it's the
word that's being
used in this text
in verse 11.
How much more
will your father
who is in heaven
give good things
to those who
ask?
In verses 9
through 11,
Jesus shows us
why we can be
certain that God
will follow through
on his promise.
If we are going
to him and
asking for things
that are right
along his will,
we can be
absolutely confident
that he's going
to respond.
Why?
Because of who
he is.
His character.
You see,
the case that
Jesus is making
here is ultimately
prayer is
theological.
It matters
what you think
about God.
He's,
Jesus is
grounding our
confidence in
prayer in
God's character.
The very
fatherhood
of God.
Let me just
read verses
9 through 11
for you.
Or which
one of you,
if his son
asks him
for bread,
will give him
a stone?
Or if he
asks for a
fish,
will give him
a serpent?
That's really
kind of
interesting
questions,
don't you
think?
If you
then who
are evil
know how
to give
good gifts
to your
children,
how much
more will
your father
who is in
heaven give
good gifts
to those
who ask
him?
Verses
9 through
11,
and 11 in
particular,
is a kind
of an
argument.
It's called
a how much
more argument.
Jesus is
making a
case for
you to
pray.
And a how
much more
argument goes
something like
this.
If the
Wisconsin
Badgers
defense is
one of the
top ranked
defenses without
their star
linebacker,
how much
more will
their defense
dominate when
that linebacker
is back in
the game?
Did you get
the how much
more argument?
Let me come
in at a
different angle.
If I feel
this good
having lost
five pounds,
how much
more,
how much
more wonderful
will I feel
if I lose
ten?
It's a how
much more
argument.
If we think
our times of
worship are
sweet now,
how much
more will
they be
joy-filled
when we sing
to our Savior
face-to-face?
How much
more argument?
The how
much more
argument Jesus
uses here
touches on
something that
we can all
identify with,
a father
giving gifts
to his
children.
In verses
9 and 10,
he just kind
of sets it
up.
He wants
us to
understand
that even
though we
are sinful
at the core,
we still
have this
ability to
give good
gifts.
So for
example,
he says,
which one
of you dads,
if your son
comes to you
asking for
bread,
will give
him a stone?
And back
in the day,
a stone would
look like a
little kind
loaf of
bread.
Which one
of you guys
would give
your son a
loaf of
bread,
a stone if
he asked for
a loaf of
bread?
And the
answer is
nobody would.
I don't want
my son to
break his
teeth on a
stone.
I don't want
to do that
for him.
Jesus' point,
nobody,
no father
would do
that.
Verse 10,
if your son
asks for a
fish,
you give him
a serpent.
The fish that
Jesus is probably
talking about is
an eel.
I know that
eels probably
don't appeal to
your palate.
Apparently they
did back in
the day.
What Jesus is
saying is,
which one of
you, if your
son is hungry
and asks for
a delicious
eel,
would give
him a
serpent, a
poisonous serpent
instead?
Who would do
that?
Jesus is setting
up his argument
that he's going
to make in
verse 11.
He says
this,
if you
then,
if you
then, who
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?
How much
more?
So this
how much
more argument
is a
comparison.
And it
makes the
point by
moving from
lesser to
greater.
And the
lesser in
this comparison
are earthly
fathers who
have sinful
natures.
We can
still give
good gifts.
I can
give some
awesome
gifts.
But I'm a
sinful man.
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troops to
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How much more is he able to give good gifts to those who ask him?
Jesus is making a case for us to pray based upon God's posture of heart to his children.
His ability aimed at us in love.
He wants good for us.
All right, for the sake of going too far, let me just say this.
Who would give the better gift?
You tell me.
A father who is limited in his knowledge and in his ability and in his resources with a sinful nature
or a father who is unlimited in his knowledge, unlimited in his ability, unlimited in his resources,
and does not have any hindrance of sin.
Rather, he's fully holy.
Which one will give the better gift?
Amen.
Our Heavenly Father.
The good things that our Heavenly Father gives is good things unto holiness, unto godliness.
He delights in that.
He is postured.
He wants you to share in his holiness.
I used to think that holiness was boring.
And then I started to think about God.
And I started to think about how joy-filled God is.
He's the most happy person in the world, in creation.
He's also the most holy.
God wants you to delight in sharing in his holiness.
The good things that we are to ask for are things that pertain to godliness.
So we persistently and with promise persevere in this prayerful pursuit of perfection.
That's what we do.
Jesus is showing us how important theology is to prayer.
If you think God's a jerk, you're not going to want to pray to him.
If you think God is always angry with you, it's going to affect the way you pray with him.
If you think that God spoils his kids, it's going to have an effect the way you pray to him.
But if you think God is a heavenly father who gives good gifts according to his wisdom out of love for you and wanting to share in his holiness,
it's going to affect the way you pray for.
He gives good gifts.
Jesus.
There's one way you can really know that.
Because the greatest gift he ever gave is the guy speaking.
Jesus.
Our father sent Jesus so that we can be brought into his family.
Jesus removed our sin and gave us the right to become children of God.
This use of your father that we see in verse 11,
this is the 11th time in the Sermon on the Mount that Jesus has referenced God as either our father or your father.
Jesus wants us to know that through him, this God is our father.
In his posture towards us is goodness.
Ask him.
Ask him for things unto godliness.
Ask him.
The point of this how much more argument is to compel us to ask.
Ask our holy heavenly father and he will give.
He will give.
There's another how much more argument that I want to make right now.
It's not from Matthew.
It's from Romans.
Romans 8.32.
Listen to this.
He, our father, who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all,
how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?
You hear the how much more argument?
If God gave us Jesus, how much more will he give us everything we need for life and godliness?
God wants you to share his holiness.
He wants you to enjoy his holiness.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, our heavenly father wants to give you good things.
He wants you to ask.
He wants you to seek.
He wants you to knock.
He wants you to persistently, in prayerful pursuit, ask him for things.
Jesus.
The Sermon on the Mount is a call to holiness.
And here Jesus is calling us to respond by asking our father for it.
To ask, seek, and knock for it.
Now, I can imagine that some of us in this room right now are sitting here
and you're saying something like this.
Maybe you're not.
Maybe you just, I just need to put it in your head.
You're sitting there thinking, I'm not sure if I want holiness.
I'm not sure if I want what the Sermon on the Mount calls me to.
How do you respond to that?
Ask for your father to give you a desire for it.
That God would give you a hunger and thirst for righteousness.
That you begin to see the Sermon on the Mount, not as a pileup of to-dos,
but a menu of holiness that you just want to take in.
Could you imagine if our church is praying more and more,
oh God, would you give me these good gifts so that I can be more and more like you in holiness?
What if it's more and more of us are praying that way?
I think we become more and more like him.
Now, you may be sitting here too and you're wondering if you're even a Christian.
You're wondering if you are a child of God.
Well, if these conditions are true, which I pointed you to in the second point,
you have no assurance that your prayers are heard by God on high.
But I'm here to tell you there is one prayer that he will hear.
One prayer that he will hear from a sinner.
And this is it.
It's a prayer asking God to forgive in Christ.
It's simply going to God in prayer and saying,
oh God, I recognize that I'm a sinner.
I do not measure up to anything in Matthew 5 and 6.
Nothing.
It exposes me as a sinner.
I stand condemned.
There's nothing I can do to make me right in your eyes.
And the sinner's prayer is this.
Oh Lord Jesus, I receive you as the gift you are.
Father, God's gift of salvation to me to forgive my sin
and to usher me into the family of God.
Father, would you make me a child?
When you ask God that,
he will give it to you.
He promises to you.
You can bank on that one.
So if you're not a Christian here this morning,
cry out to God.
Ask him to bring you into his family
and he promises he will.
This morning, we have this call to pray.
To ask, seek, and knock
for the good things our Holy Father alone can give.
Let's close and pray together for it.
Father in heaven, we do thank you so much
for sending Jesus on our behalf.
Father, we ask that you would give us
a hunger and thirst for holiness,
that we would want the very thing
that Jesus calls us to,
to be perfect as you, Father, are perfect.
God, we realize that we can't
manufacture that in ourselves.
But that is something that you will gladly do.
And so this morning, we come asking, Father,
we come asking that you would pour out
your grace upon us
to make us more and more like Jesus.
That we'd be like Jesus in our hearts,
in our minds, in our actions.
God, we recognize that
that we have nothing to offer unto this.
Lord Jesus, you are the vine
and we are the branches.
Apart from you, we can do nothing.
I pray, Father, you would make us
humble, dependent people
who pray out of a desperation,
a desperate longing
to be more like our God.
God, would you do a work in us?
And we ask this in the name of Jesus.
Amen.