When my father and my mother forsake me, Then the LORD will take care of me.
— Psalm 27:10 NKJV

For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD gives grace and glory; He withholds no good thing from those who walk with integrity.
—Psalm 84:11 New American Standard Bible

Throughout the Sermon on The Mount Jesus sets a high standard for His followers. How can we possibly reach the high standard Jesus has set for us?

Prayer.

Prayer is fundamental to living the life Jesus calls us to live. Jesus has talked about prayer earlier (Matthew 6:5-15 Principles for Powerful Prayers Part 1 and Part 2)

Prayer is not about us manipulating God, but rather about strengthening a personal relationship, among other things. Jesus's key point in this portion of the Sermon on The Mount is that prayer to a loving Father is effective.

Unlocking the Power of Prayer: Ask, Seek, Knock

7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
— Matthew 7:7-8 NKJV

Jesus presents no requirements for us to come before Him except that we experience a need, a hunger, and a thirst for His mercy, His help, and His counsel. Our asking signifies that we recognize our need, so we ask in faith, believing that He hears and answers. Jesus does not lie, His promises never fail. We should not be shy about asking for what He has promised us. God is merciful and compassionate, if we feel our need of Him that is sufficient grounds to come before Him. You do not have to be holy, you only need to desire to be purified by Him and cleansed from all iniquity.

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
— 1 John 1:9 NKJV

However, we should understand that Jesus’ promises are not presented in a vacuum. Jesus’s original audience would recall his teaching in the Model Prayer (Principles for Powerful Prayers - Part 2) in which one insists that God’s will be done (Matthew 6:10).

Often our prayers are not answered as originally desired because we do not share God’s perspective in knowing what is ultimately a good gift for us. We are especially tempted to think of the values of this world (e.g., health and wealth) rather than spiritual values.
— Craig Blomberg, Matthew, vol. 22, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992), 130.

The “good gifts” God gives include everything pertaining to seeking his kingdom and its righteousness (Matthew 6:33 Navigating Anxiety: Unpacking Jesus' Message on Worry). They do not necessarily correspond to everything we ask for. This is important to highlight because when we seek God’s will it does not necessarily make life easier.

If we want God’s best for ourselves and others, but others resist God’s will, then they will oppose us. We are salt, and salt stings the open wound. We are light, and light exposes dirt.
—Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 30.

When God gives you victory over sin, setting you free from previous addictions and harmful habits you might find yourself alone. If your circle of friends is made up of people who partake in self-destructive behavior you may no longer have much in common with them. Some of them might resent you since your new behavior shines a light on their poor behavior and selfish choices. You will find that friendship with God is enmity with this world, remember that the world also hated Jesus (John 15:18-25).

A Closer Look at The Text

• The commands of Matthew 7:7–8 are in the present tense, suggesting persistent prayer over a period of time. In other words, keep asking and it shall be given. Keep seeking and you shall find. Keep knocking and it will be opened. The tense used speaks of continual action. When you don’t know what to do, keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking. (Jon Courson, Jon Courson’s Application Commentary (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2003), 42.)

• “It” in v. 7 is somewhat misleading. The word does not refer to any particular thing requested but forms part of a divine passive construction that means ask and God will give you [what he deems best]. (Craig Blomberg, Matthew, vol. 22, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992), 130.)

Notice also that Jesus says “Ask, and it shall be given you.” Jesus does not say lent you, not sold you, but given you; and what is more free than gift? Whatever you pray for, according to the promise, whatever you ask, shall be given to you. As I clarified above, you will receive the answer if/when God sees it fit for you to have it. What else could you possibly want? I guess you could want what God does not want you to have, but do you want what God does not want you to have?

Remember Genesis 3 (Paradise Lost Part 1)? The world was perfect, and Adam and Eve lived in paradise. God withheld from them the knowledge of evil. They did not know pain, shame, or death… When they ate the forbidden fruit, they experienced what God did not want them to. This is important for us to remember. We should never desire what God has not seen fit to give us. 

We do not have to worry about bothering God by our asking because He is the one telling us to ask!

You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.
— James 4:2-3 BKJV (bold mine)

 Jesus invites us to ask, to seek, and to knock! This should be a way of life. As we long to live better lives, help others, and be a blessing, we recognize we cannot do it on our own. So we turn to God and ask Him to bless us for His honor and glory. God says that He will be found by us, and if we have God, what else could we possibly need?

And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
— Jeremiah 29:13 NKJV

We should not seek only blessings, we should be seeking God. The great news is that God is also seeking us. Do you desire a blessing? Seek God, and refuse to give up. You know that it is His will for you to find Him and to receive His blessings.

‘For thus says the Lord God: “Indeed I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out.
— Ezekiel 34:11 NKJV

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
— John 10:27 NKJV

The Love of a Parent

9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If you then, being 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!
— Matthew 7:9-11 NKJV

God’s love, tenderness, and goodness, far exceed that of any human parent.

When my father and my mother forsake me,
Then the Lord will take care of me.
— Psalm 27:10 NKJV

Story Time

My father was walking down a busy street on a warm day. He was away from home, traveling for business. It was lunchtime, and he was looking for a place to eat. He found a restaurant and sat down to eat. There was no a/c in the restaurant, but it had big doors that remained open and ceiling fans. My father sat close to where the street was. His food came, and as he ate, he noticed a street dog that was skin and bones sitting watching my father eat his food. As he ate, he felt compassion for the dog. He finished eating a chicken leg and there was still a little bit of meat left along with the nerves attached to the bone, so my father decided to throw it to the street dog.

To my father’s surprise, a little boy smacked the bone in the air hitting towards the ground. He picked it up and brought it to his mouth before the dog could get to it. A waiter came by to yell at the boy and my father stood up and asked the boy if he would like to eat. He brought the boy in and set him at his table and ordered him as much food as he could eat and then some extra for him to take to his family.

Although this young boy was not my father’s son, my father was moved with compassion for him. I imagine that all of you reading this would have reacted similarly. You would not have gotten angry at the boy for being hungry and needing help. Even though we are sinful and selfish, we help those in need, especially children, especially our own children. So, how can we doubt God’s willingness to help us?

Easy! (you say to the computer screen as you read this) Perhaps you can easily begin to rattle off all those who are suffering, family members, co-workers, friends, not to mention strangers. You can point to some who passed away recently and those who continue to struggle with disease or relationship challenges, mental health difficulties, or challenges finding appropriate employment. Globally you can point to those affected by wars, hurricanes, fires, diseases…

So how can both be true?

I do not have enough time to tackle this topic, but if you want to explore it further, I recommend two books: Theodicy of Love and Why We Pray. Both were written by John C. Peckham, who does a much better job of tackling these topics.

Here goes my attempt at a short answer. Regarding those we were praying for healing but they died.

“Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.””
— Revelation 14:13 NKJV

The dead are no longer suffering. Can we trust God to know the best time for someone to rest in the sleep of death as they await His return in the clouds? We suffer as we miss our loved ones, and I do not want to downplay anyone’s grief. What I want to point out is that the person who died is resting and no longer suffering.

What about those struggling while praying for God to help? I recently wrote about Elizabeth (God’s Unexpected Ways) who waited a lifetime for God to answer her prayer. We also have Abraham and Sarah (A Promise Fulfilled) who had a similar experience. Not to mention David who was anointed king but did not have a smooth path to becoming king (Of Kings and Men). Then there’s Elijah who asked God to take his life (The Depressed Prophet), God did not allow Elijah to die and 2 Kings 2:11 tells us that God took him to heaven alive. Talk about getting a “NO” for an answer. Even Jesus Himself prayed and received a “NO” for an answer.

He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”
— Matthew 6:39 NKJV

We know the story, Jesus died a horrible death. Jesus suffered a lot! It was not because God was upset with Him, not because Jesus had done anything wrong. But because Jesus went through all that we can now have the assurance of salvation and eternal life. We now better understand the heart of God. Reflecting on the cross the Apostle Paul wrote the following words:

He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
— Romans 8:32 NKJV

In summary. I don’t always understand what God is doing. I don’t know why He answers some prayers with a “yes” and others with a “no,” but I recognize that I am not God and I am humble enough to accept that I do not always know what is best for me and for those around me. Therefore I come to God trusting that He will answer my prayers. I come to God regularly, daily, and I trust Him to answer according to His will. He decides how and when He will answer my prayers. But I trust that He will answer and I continually come to Him asking, seeking, and knocking. This is how I navigate life.

We often ask that of God which would do us harm if we had it; he knows this, and therefore does not give it to us. Denials in love are better than grants in anger; we should have been undone ere this if we had had all we desired.
—Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994), 1644.

I believe that prayer is God’s appointed means of obtaining what we need, especially grace to obey the instructions He gave us, some of which are so disagreeable to flesh and blood.

Here’s how Matthew Henry interprets Jesus’ words:

• Ask, as a beggar asks alms.” Those that would be rich in grace, must betake themselves to the poor trade of begging, and they shall find it a thriving trade.

• “Ask; represent your wants and burdens to God, and refer yourselves to him for support and supply, according to his promise.

• Ask as a traveler asks the way; to pray is to enquire of God (Eze. 36:37).

• Seek, as for a thing of value that we have lost, or as the merchantman that seeks goodly pearls.

• Seek by prayer, (Dan. 9:3).

• Knock, as he that desires to enter into the house knocks at the door.” We would be admitted to converse with God, would be taken into his love, and favor, and kingdom; sin has shut and barred the door against us; by prayer, we knock; Lord, Lord, open to us.

• Christ knocks at our door (Rev. 3:20); and allows us to knock at his, which is a favor we do not allow to common beggars.

• Seeking and knocking imply something more than asking and praying.

We must not only ask, but knock; we must come to God’s door, must ask importunately; not only pray, but plead and wrestle with God; we must seek diligently; we must continue knocking; must persevere in prayer, and in the use of means; must endure to the end in the duty. (Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994), 1644. (Paraphrased))

Luke also recorded Jesus’ words regarding prayer and if you wish to go deeper I strongly suggest studying Luke 11:1-13. In Luke’s record of Jesus’ words “good gifts” ir replaced with “the Holy Spirit.” Since there is no better gift we can receive from heaven.

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
— Luke 11:13 NKJV

I would like to close with the words of a devotional called Lift Him Up.

Jesus has said: “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 he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”

… Be sincere; be relentless. Present the promise of God, and then believe without a doubt. Do not wait to feel special emotions before you think the Lord answers.

Do not mark out some particular way that the Lord must work for you before you believe you receive the things you ask of Him; but trust His word, and leave the whole matter in the hands of the Lord, with full faith that your prayer will be honored, and the answer will come at the very time and in the very way your heavenly Father sees is for your good; and then live out your prayers.

Walk humbly and keep moving forward.

— Lift Him Up (Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1988), 129. (paraphrased)