Matthew 7:7-11 A Call to Pray
The godly bishop J.C. Ryle wrote a tract, "A Call to Prayer” in which he said:
“I once thought, in my ignorance, that most people said their prayers, and many people prayed. I have lived to think differently. I have come to the conclusion that while many people say prayers, but few really pray.”
In this work, Ryle makes a sharp distinction between ‘saying’ prayers as a formal, empty routine and ‘true praying’ which is an honest, heartfelt communication with God.
The Puritan Thomas Watson noted:
“Christ went more readily ad crucem (to the cross), than we do to the throne of grace.”
In this section of the Sermon on the Mount addresses this aspect of the Christians life.
Many people think of this sermon as being inspiring, uplifting or even moving. If that is all it does there is a major problem. Jesus is putting all our lives under his spotlight and if that does not make us feel a bit uncomfortable, something is wrong. He talks about hatred of people, imaginary adultery, and our judgment of others. Jesus is trying to help us be honest with ourselves saying:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:3
It is because Christians want to live to please the Lord that we pray, asking for his help to know and live so as to please him. Yet, as J.C.Ryle discovered, many Christians do not seriously pray. They say:
“Why bother, I’ve tried but it makes no difference!”
“Is God really listening, does God really care and answer our prayers?”
“I feel as though my prayers just bounce off the ceiling.”
Jesus has something important to say to us:
Prayer is effective
Jesus gives his followers these promises which are about prayer:
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7
Jesus is promising us that prayer is effective. Yet still there are many who are not so sure! Could it be that God only listens to some Christians? Look at the next verse where the same three verbs are repeated but it says ‘everyone’:
“For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” Matthew 7:8
Jesus is encouraging all of us to pray and promises that results will follow. We have his word on this.
Yet there are still many who are unconvinced. Jesus knows our doubts, this is why he id addressing them. He wants us to trust him so he has more to say.
Alfred Lord Tennyson said,
“More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.”
Our Heavenly Father is generous
Jesus asks his hearers two questions:
“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?” Matthew 7:9-10
Jesus point is obvious, no normal father would treat his son so badly. Note that Jesus is still talking about prayer, about asking our heavenly Father for what we need:
“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!” Matthew 7:11
There is something shocking in what Jesus says here:
“. . . though you are evil”
He assumes that we are all evil! When many are asked today,
“How are you?”
They unthinkingly say, ‘I’m good’. This unfortunate phrase has come from America. What is usually meant is ‘I am well’. Goodness is a moral quality that none of us naturally have. Do you remember the rich young man who approached Jesus with these words:
“‘Good teacher,’ he asked, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’
“Why do you call me good?’ Jesus answered. ‘No one is good – except God alone.” Mark 10:17-18
The Bible repeatedly says that we are all naturally evil in God’s eyes, although the expression of this in society is restrained much of the time:
“But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.” Isaiah 59:2
“There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” Romans 3:11-12
“. . . for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” Romans 3:23
This whole sermon shows that God knows the state of our hearts. We all naturally turn against our maker and that is evil.
Why did Jesus say this? Although we are evil, we are still capable of kindness to our children and to others. If we sinners can be kind, how much more can our perfect heavenly Father not give generously to his children he loves?
We followers of Christ are God’s children. Jesus taught us to pray:
“Our Father . . . “
Islam does not include ‘Father’ in its 99 names for Allah.
We can think that we somehow have to prize things out of God through prayer. We forget how much he loves us.
Does God really love us?
Isaiah recognised that God sometimes seems absent:
“Truly you are a God who has been hiding himself,” Isaiah 45:15
Our knowledge of God’s love is not found in our feelings. We have to look at what God has already done for us. What has he done?
God’s response is. Firstly, ‘Look at the evidence of creation’:
“For this is what the Lord says - he who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it; he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited.” Isaiah 45:18
Secondly God says, ‘Look at what I have said’.
“I am the Lord, and there is no other. I have not spoken in secret, from somewhere in a land of darkness; I have not said to Jacob’s descendants,
‘Seek me in vain.’
I, the Lord, speak the truth; I declare what is right.”
The reason God seems to be missing is because we have not bothered to seek him. Jesus also emphasised this need for us to seek God:
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7
God has not gone AWOL, it is we who have deserted him. When we go our own way and build our own idols we will be disgraced, but in contrast God’s people will be saved for eternity
“All the makers of idols will be put to shame and disgraced; they will go off into disgrace together. But Israel will be saved by the Lord with an everlasting salvation.” Isaiah 45:16-17
We can learn all we need to know about the relationship god wants with us from what he has told us. Isaiah continues to remind us of what God has said:
“I, the Lord, speak the truth; I declare what is right.” Isaiah 45:19
“Who foretold this long ago, who declared it from the distant past? Was it not I, the Lord?
And there is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Saviour; there is none but me.” Isaiah 45:21“. . . my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked.” Isaiah 45:23
We can see the effect a real relationship with God will have on us:
“But all the descendants of Israel will find deliverance in the Lord and will make their boast in him.” Isaiah 45:25
The 1973 version of the NIV translates this:
“Bit in the LORD all the descendants of Israel will be found righteous and will exult.”
All God’s people, those who seek a relationship with him and long to please him, will be ‘found righteous’, we will be delivered from sin’ and we will be thrilled to speak about our Saviour.
We are reminded that to reject the relationship our creator and heavenly Father longs to have with us is crass stupidity.
We know God loves us all, not through our feelings but because he sent his one and only Son to this earth to become the ultimate sacrifice for our sin:
“ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
What about unanswered prayer?
It is not uncommon for people to say that their prayers seem to make no difference. But Jesus reassures us:
“. . . how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” Matthew 7:11
The Father will give us ‘good things’ when we ask him. If a son asks his father for a stone for lunch or a serpent for dinner, would he give that to him? What would any loving father do. He would say ‘No’. The loving thing to do would be to refuse.
When we ask our heavenly father for things we never know the whole story. We are warped and twisted by nature, our prayers can be self-centred and would not be either for our good or for the good of others. A loving father will not give us what he knows will hurt us or is not for the benefit of the family or, most importantly, is not for his glory. He does know what is for the best.
But what about when we pray for those who are in pain or suffering in some way and there is no obvious result? What we do know is that God is greater than us and that we can trust him. He works for the good even when we cannot understand why. What we do know is that in eternity God will take away all pain and suffering that is the result of sin and he wants us to have this hope at the front of our minds.
Why pray at all if God is all powerful?
Why can’t we just leave everything to God and not get involved? That is fatalism! The obvious answer is that God has chosen us to have a relationship with himself, so not to talk issues over is clearly wrong. Furthermore, Jesus has set us the example of a man who prays and he has told us to pray. We must repeated express our dependance on him. The sovereign lord has decided to involve us in bringing him glory and he will achieve this end in response to our prayers. Jesus reassures us that our prayers are effective.
What should we pray for?
Jesus tells us to ask for ‘good gifts’. This does not mean that we should pray to win the lottery, ask for an easy life or ask to win a match at sport. Scripture is clear what is ‘good’. In this sermon we are reminded that having a loving rather than a hateful, critical attitude is good. It is good to ask for help to keep the priorities of the Lord’s prayer. It is good to be consumed with heavenly priorities and not seeking earthly treasure. Jesus has given us a good summary of what we should ask for. He knows we will tend to worry over earthly priorities
“So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:33
We have a Father in heaven who really does care about our basic needs. What he asks of us is to be concerned and pray about seeking his glory.
Dare we pray like this and act for his benefit. Are we willing for our lives to be marked with these characteristics.
Ask him!
Notice how this short passage begins and ends with the same demand:
“Ask and it will be given to you . . .” Matthew 7:7
“How much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!’ Matthew 7:11
Jesus is not just wanting to improve our theology of prayer - he wants us to learn to pray and experience the power of God at work and keep on praying. We are assured that the problem is not with God. We have a perfect heavenly Father who loves us deeply. He has promised that he does hear our prayers and answers in a way that is for the best. He asks us to keep on praying. He has already taught us in the previous chapter not to put on a show but to genuinely share what we know our Father cares about.
“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” Matthew 6:5-8
Three times Jesus assumes that his people will pray. The presence of prayer is a good test of the relationship with the Lord. A poor relationship is sin.
John Bunyan noted,
“Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to cease from prayer.”
To seek the Lord has always been man’s priority
These are some examples of Old Testament teaching
1. David recognised that our greatest need is for the salvation that only the Lord can give us:
“But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who long for your saving help always say, ‘The Lord is great!’ But as for me, I am poor and needy; come quickly to me, O God. You are my help and my deliverer; Lord, do not delay.” Psalm 70:4-5
2.. David’s son, Solomon, reminds us how God thinks:
“I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me.” Proverbs 8:17
Jesus repeated this idea when he said about a relationship with God:
“Seek and you will find . . .” Matthew 7;7
3. Isaiah recognised that man’s responsibility is to seek a relationship with the Lord and he has made this very clear:
“For this is what the Lord says - he who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, . . .he says: “I am the Lord, and there is no other. I have not spoken in secret, from somewhere in a land of darkness; I have not said to Jacob’s descendants, ‘Seek me in vain.’ I, the Lord, speak the truth; I declare what is right. “Gather together and come.” Isaiah 45:18-20
4. Jeremiah delivered the same message from God. When God’s people were experiencing the problems of exile in Babylon they are reminded them that there is a future for them:
“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 on 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. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord.” Jeremiah 29:11-14
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