asking boldly

Effective Prayer

7 "Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.8 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.
9 "You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead?10 Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not!11 So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.

matthew 7

we kind of learned this this past week at rock harbor. we were in luke, though, and we were learning about the widow who kept on asking. see, the parable Jesus tells in luke is about this old widow who keeps asking for justice from this corrupt judge. he keeps on putting her off until he's finally so sick of her asking for him to do something that he finally does it! then Jesus tells His disciples that if a corrupt judge will grant this widow's needs, how much more will our loving, heavenly Father give us justice! this kind of goes along with this teaching. Jesus asks the parents in the crowd about their own families. He asks them if they would give their children food when they asked for it! and He goes on to say, if you earthly parents love your children and would give them what they need when they ask for it, how much more will God, the Father, give us when we ask!

a very important thing that we have to note is asking. we were talking about at rock harbor if we have ever gotten to that point in our lives where we just stopped hoping for things to happen. where we're so tired of asking that it's better not to get our hopes up. where we've felt like it's better just not to ask God for what we need because we're scared He won't come through. it's tough. how do we keep on asking with so many unanswered prayers? how do we keep faithful? what does Jesus say? keep on asking. keep on seeking. keep on knocking. He doesn't say ask for a while and then give up. if it's something that we truly need, God will answer. to not ask then, would be us losing faith in God. to not ask then, would mean that we don't think God can come through. maybe that's what we need to pray for then. that God would restore in us the hope and faith to believe that He still answers prayers. mike erie was sharing with us the story of a family who was praying for their sick son for about 10 years and they still haven't stopped praying because they truly believe that God is the God of miracles. he shared about how he still prays for his son who is diagnosed with down syndrome because he truly believes that God is the God of miracles. because to not ask, would mean that God simply isn't the healing God. and we've seen miracles happen, amazing ones. we've seen lives changed, diseases and illnesses healed, because people trust in the Lord. the reason we pray is because the kingdom is here, and the reason we keep on praying is because the kingdom is coming. prayer is about waiting and humility. two things, as humans, we're all not very good at. it's about teaching us these things, saying, "God, I need You, I can't handle this on my own, I know that You hear me. Do what You will." but at the same time, Jesus tells us to be shameless in our requests. pray boldly. be shamelessly persistent, because you know that God will answer your prayer, whether it's a yes or no. just remember that this isn't the end. there will be a day when He will wipe the tears from our eyes, when all suffering ends, no more weeping, the day the kingdom is finally here. and what a beautiful day that will be. =]