Hebron church of Christ

Don’t Forget:•Song Service tonight

Welcome to the

Ask, Seek, and Knock

The question: How can I get God to answer my prayers?

Luke 11:9-10

Ask, and it shall be given you…

• “Ask”to request from someone of higher rank for something you cannot get on your own– Matthew 14:7 Whereupon he [Herod]

promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she would ask.

– Matthew 27:20, 58 But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas, and destroy Jesus…He went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus

Ask, and it shall be given you…

• The Holy Spirit did not use erotao, to ask of an equal– Luke 14:31-32 Or else, while the

other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace.

– Luke 7:36 And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee's house, and sat down to meat (cf. verse 39)

Ask, and it shall be given you…

• The way we ask is vital– Matthew 21:22 And all things,

whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive

– James 1:5-7 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord

asking in faith

Ask, and it shall be given you…

– John 15:7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you

– James 4:3-4 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

asking in Christ

Ask, and it shall be given you…

• “And it shall be given you…”not “and it shall be done for you”– I Kings 3:5 In Gibeon the Lord

appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask [LXX—same word] what I shall give thee.

– He asked in faith– He asked in God– But he did not use what God gave

him!

Seek, and ye shall find…

• “Seek”to search for something that is hidden– Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it

is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

– Acts 10Cornelius– Acts 8The Ethiopian eunuch

an act of diligence

Seek, and ye shall find…

• “And ye shall find”God only helps us find if we diligently seek– II Thessalonians 2:10-12 …And for

this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie…[the absence of seeking]

– Ephesiand 3:9 …to make all men see…[literally, to shed light on]

– Ephesians 3:16-19—what we will find if we seek

Knock, and it shall be opened unto you…

• “Knock”—to rap, symbolic of importunity– Ask—to request something you

cannot get yourself– Seek—to search diligently for

something hidden– Knock—the opportunity that has

been asked for and sought for

How do I get God to answer my prayers?

• Ask in faith and in him• Seek diligently for His answer• When you find it, knock on the door

until it opens

Consider During the Lord’s Supper:

I Corinthians 11:23-26 For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.