Ask and You Will Receive

Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for bread, will give a stone? Or if the child asks for a fish, will give a snake? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him! Matthew 7:7-11

This was the text of the sermon I heard this past Sunday in Princeton, MN. It sounds too good to be true. I’ve always wrestled with this text and the numerous places where the Bible in essence says, “Look, all you have to do is ask and I (God) will give you whatever you ask for.” There is something very attractive about this, but also something just doesn’t seem right. Plus, many of us have experienced this text not holding true. We’ve asked; God has denied our request. We’ve asked for healings for our friends, another child, the sale of our house, etc., but what we’ve seen so far is silence . . . or so it seems.

The insecure pastor in me wants to show you I can explain this text. I want to prove to you there is a logical explanation for God’s behavior and for how we should interpret these words of Jesus. I’ll start there but I also want to address the emotional part of this challenge as well.

I am finding myself to be less than reliable. I am more and more aware of my inability to “handle” life. I am becoming increasingly aware of my shortcomings and less confident of myself. That’s breeding within me an increased sense of insecurity which at rare times is reflected in humility. (That’s good but very rare.) I just don’t feel as sure of myself as I used to. I am not so fond of this feeling, but nevertheless, I believe it is one of the places where God’s at work. How does this paragraph explain the text in Matthew, you may be wondering by now?

Here goes. I just don’t trust my prayers much. I don’t think I really know what to pray for as confidently as I did before. My default in prayer is me. I pray for what I want. I pray for what I think I need. I come before God most often with a request for my will to be done. I think it is a good will. It is usually for the benefit of others and me. BUT, I am becoming aware that my default prayers tend to be exceedingly selfish. I ask for what I want. But isn’t this what Jesus tells us to do? It seems like it, but something inside of me tells me otherwise. Thankfully, it is not only the inside of me that struggles. I believe the Bible confirms my wrestlings.

I don’t believe you can interpret this text appropriately without looking at the whole of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). This text comes near the conclusion of this collection of sermons. But to see this text clearly is to see it through the lens of Matthew 6:5-15. “Pray in secret.” (6:6) “Don’t heap up empty phrases.” (6:7) Pray this way, Jesus says. “Hallowed be your name.” “Your Kingdom come.” “Your will be done.” (6:9-11)

What I ought to want is God’s will to be done and God’s Kingdom to come. What I ought to pray for is just that.

Emotionally, that is just downright hard. We WANT good things to be done for others. We want cancers to be cured, slaves to be set free, wars to end and peace to reign. We want the lost to be found and the loneliness to end. We ought to always pray for these things. But they must all be requests we make embracing the truth that more than anything else, we hope and pray that God’s will is done. So cancers may take lives. Wars may continue. Slaves may remain slaves and the lost may remain lost . . . for a time.

Because we believe in God’s perfect will. We believe He knows what is best and will work it out in the end. We trust Him more than we trust our senses, our desires, our emotions. We trust Him.

For He has promised that in the end (or maybe the new beginning) there will be no cancers, no slaves, no wars, no lost, no loneliness for those with Him. That WILL come to pass because it is His WILL.