What a Promise!
- Sep 20, 2024
- 6 min read
Coldplay’s recent record, 'We Pray', is a three-minute song quoting the Bible and mentioning prayer thirty-seven times!
‘We pray’ cries out to the heavens for “someone to come and show me the way”, before concluding: “I know somewhere that heaven is waiting…I know somewhere there’s something amazing…I know somewhere we’ll feel no pain.”
Pete Greig says about ‘We Pray’, it “Captures a moment in time, pointing to a shift in the way that faith is being perceived and held in society today. And significant too because it is in itself a prayer from a generation of people like Chris Martin who might not call themselves Christian yet find themselves praying for help, hope and justice. Surely God hears and his heart is moved when he hears such a cry.”
E.M. Bounds says: "In the three words ask, seek and knock, Jesus, by the order in which He places them, urges the necessity of persistent prayer. Asking, seeking, and knocking are ascending rungs in the ladder of successful prayer."
Some of the most helpful comments Jesus gave on prayer are here in Luke 11. In verse 9 we read this promise, "ask and it shall be given to you; seek and you shall find; knock and it shall be opened to you." Each verb is in the present continuous tense and therefore could read, “Ask and keep asking, seek and keep seeking, knock and keep knocking.” Don’t forget, the context of Luke 11:9-13 is rooted in a Jewish society under Roman occupation. So, Jesus emphasises persistent prayer that simply looks for a divine response. He's kind of saying don’t forget, God’s kingdom is still accessible!
Frederick Bruner says, "Whenever this passage is read with simple faith, it will take one’s breath away. Six different times in six different ways Jesus almost begs us to pray, and promises solemnly that simple asking receives, simple seeking finds, and simple knocking opens."
What’s important is that our focus is on the Giver. So, a person persistent in prayer doesn’t have to pray long prayers. We just need to have developed a wonderful and powerful rhythm in prayer (look at last week!). Such a rhythm allows for not giving up or quitting when we’re finding it so difficult, especially when answers appear to be delayed! We easily quit and miss out on that relationship with the Heavenly Father.
Let me remind you that the text we are looking at is a command.
George Muller said: "It is a common temptation of Satan to make us give up the reading of the Word and prayer when our enjoyment is gone… as if it were no use to pray when we have no spirit of prayer. The truth is that, in order to enjoy the Word, we ought to continue to read it, and the way to obtain a spirit of prayer is to continue praying… the less we pray, the less we desire to pray."
Prayer is our response to a great, amazing open-hearted invitation from Father God. Father God invites us to come and share with Him in prayer. Just stop and consider how wonderful that is!
1 John 5:14: "This is the confidence we have in approaching God, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us."
Ask
It appears that Jesus is not concerned about the content of what we ask. Jesus wants us to know how willing and kind He and the Father are, and have a heart to hear our prayers, answer them and bless us.
It is only by His grace that we can even pray. We don’t just tell God what we want in a demanding way, we simply Ask!
Jesus further explains this process of asking – “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 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 the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (vs11-13).
There’s no end to our asking! John 15:7 says,“if you abide in me and my word abides in you, ask whatever you wish.”
In November 1949, on the island of Lewis, two women, one 84 years old and the other 82, came before God and kept asking Him for revival. A verse had gripped them: “I will pour water on him that is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground.” They were so burdened that they agreed to pray on Tuesday and Friday evenings 10pm – 4am. They challenged the minister and leaders to join them, so eventually nine were praying. The asking continued for a few weeks, then the power of God swept into the parish. An awareness of God gripped the community such as hadn’t been known for over 100 years.
What about it? “Ask whatever you wish!”
John Quincy Adams: “The duty to pray is ours. The results belong to God.”
For the record, once is never enough! Keep Asking!
Seek
What comes to mind when you hear this phrase, “seek and you shall find”.
Perhaps it’s this text,"seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness" (Matt 6:33)? Or Jeremiah 29:12, "When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart"? Many of us probably think we are the one’s seeking God, when actually God is really the one seeking us before we even raise our prayers to Him.
Tim Keller says, “Prayer as a spiritual gift is a genuine, personal conversation in reply to God’s specific, verbal revelation,”
This is the relationship we need to have with God through prayer, seeking God with all our hearts through those meaningful/special conversations.
In Gethsemane, Jesus prayed a seeking prayer, seeking to know God’s will. He said, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” (Luke 22:42). Jesus was seeking, looking for His Father’s will in order to obey Him.
The “one who seeks” is a person who first seeks the LORD - “You will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart” (Deut 4:29); “Seek the LORD while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near” ( Is 55:6 ).
Why not start your prayers this way?
John Stott said, “We seek Him in order to acknowledge Him as the person He is, God the Creator, God the Lord, God the Judge, God our heavenly Father through Jesus Christ our Saviour.”
Paul did this in his seeking prayer (see 2 Cor 12). He said, 'I was given a thorn in my flesh... Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.”'
Three times Paul sought God’s will and God simply replied with a greater blessing, "my grace is all you need.”
Knock
Jesus is teaching us the value of persistent prayer. When confronted with closed doors, hard hearts, tough barriers, it’s necessary to knock in prayer. Now a knock doesn’t mean one tap on the door. It must be repeated! Where and when did you stop praying?
Listen, Revelation 5:8 tells us that our prayers fill heavenly bowls with sweet aroma. Then in Revelation 8, John describes a scene in heaven,“there was a silence in heaven for about half an hour.”
During this time, an angel comes to the altar and offers a golden bowl of incense. Revelation 8:4 says, “The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel’s hand.”
But what is most striking is that powerful actions of God come in response to our prayers. All of heaven has come to a standstill, there’s silence. Why? Because someone’s praying.
All of heaven stops for prayer as every one of them rise before God. They are heard. They matter.
Even now many people are praying and knocking on God’s door for many things. Some of them have been praying for weeks, months, even years!
Hearts seem too cold. Barriers seem too large. But the answer will come.
Prayers uttered by you and I, those prayers of desperation interrupt/ignite heaven and what happens next on earth. Perhaps one more prayer, one more knock and the bowls are poured out.
C.H. Spurgeon said - "Faith asks, hope seeks, and love knocks."
Those that ask will have what they asked for! The one that seeks, will go further and know that they have obtained it. And the one that knocks shall go further still, and wonderful things will be revealed.
Asking, seeking and knocking prayers must be to Him and for His glory, but with the amazing thought we are praying the Kingdom of God into being. Hallelujah!
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