Part 3.2 – Requests and the Golden Rule
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SCRIPTURE
Matthew 7:7-12
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REFLECTION & PRAYER
When thinking of God and his relationship with us, we must remember that:
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He is benevolent and loving toward his children
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The entire Law of God is summed up in loving him and other people
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We need to be proactive, seeking God by constantly knocking at his door
through prayer
Father, we pray for true understanding of how undeserving we are of Your kindness as well
as how willing You are to provide it. We often picture You falsely and forget about Your
desire to bless Your children. We pray that we will love others as You have loved us. We love
You and ask for Your continued grace in our lives. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
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SUMMARY
Asking questions, in any form, involves communication. Words must be transmitted
from one brain to another through a median in order for someone else to receive a question
and answer it. This same line of reasoning applies to Jesus’ reference to knocking at a door.
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No one opens a door without someone knocking first. They have to know that I’m there.
God, obviously, knows that we are here. However, if we want Him to answer a
question, we have to ask it. If we’d like Him to open a door, we need to knock on it. God is a
willing giver of good things to His children, but if we’re not asking and knocking, we must not
desire the answer that much. We have to remember that our relationship with Christ is just
that: a relationship. No relationship exists in which only one party takes any action. For
relationships to work, both parties must relate. Our relationship to God and His relationship
to us comes from the Word and prayer. We therefore must be proactive in constantly seeking,
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knocking, and asking Him for the blessings that we would like to have.
God does indeed give “good” things to those who ask Him (7:11), but He doesn’t just
distribute whatever we ask for – He always has His children’s well-being in mind. Like Ralphie
in A Christmas Story, we may desire a BB gun, but God won’t give it to us if He knows that it
will only bring us unnecessary harm. We’ll shoot our eyes out. God gives the gifts that are
ultimately beneficial to us and those are precisely the gifts we should be asking for.
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REAL LIFE – The Friend at Midnight – Luke 11:5-13
In Luke 11, Jesus’ disciples explicitly ask Him to teach them how to pray (11:1). In
response, Jesus first provides the “Lord’s Prayer,” unpacking for the disciples the proper
attitude of prayer and what to pray for. He then reveals the urgency that should accompany
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our prayers. Jesus doesn’t tell us how often to pray; He simply assumes that we will pray.
Jesus gives His disciples a hypothetical situation in which the disciples are instructed to
picture themselves as a man whose desperate friend comes at midnight to borrow three
loaves of bread to provide for a guest. (The friend is desperate and really wants to provide
food for his guest.) However, the man is already in bed with his family, and getting up would
probably wake them. The main point of the story comes in verse 8, “I tell you, though he [the
man] will not get up and give him [the knocking friend] anything because he is his friend, yet
because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs.” The word translated
as “impudence” means that the friend is shameless and bold. It’s the sort of boldness that has
no regard for time, person, or place. The man gets up and gives his friend the loaves, not due
to their friendship, but because of his boldness. Here are a few lessons from this story:
1. Pray Earnestly. V.8 – Keeping in line with Jesus’ story, the man who knocked at
midnight wouldn’t have gotten anywhere had he casually tapped on the door, politely
requested some bread, and modestly walked home empty-handed. It was his boldness
that got him the bread. God wants us to pray earnestly, deeply hoping and expecting
for Him to answer in our favor. Earnestness and boldness reveal a deep and heartfelt
desire. God, being the passionate God that He is, wants that same passion to flow
from us in our prayer lives. We ought to be beating unrelentingly at God’s door with
reverence, yet with hopeful expectance.
2. God Gives Good Gifts. V.13 – If a human neighbor will give a gift solely because of
impudence, how much more so will God? This truth is the same as found in the Sermon
on the Mount. Christ exhorts His followers to seek and knock, reminding them that
God gives good things to those who ask. Jesus specifically identifies the good gift as
“the Holy Spirit.” When we take Christ’s instruction on bold prayer and abuse it for
material possessions, we are unlikely to get what we want. Material things aren’t
good gifts – good gifts are eternal. The guidance and fellowship of the Holy Spirit in
a believer’s life is the ultimate gift, and that is exactly what God promises to provide.
APPLICATION FOR YOU
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Is the picture of God presented in this passage different than what you have
traditionally thought? If so, in what ways is it different? What does your prayer life look like?
Are you approaching God as a timid peasant, fearful of the wrath of the unapproachable
sovereign? Or are you boldly knocking at the throne of God, absolutely certain that it is His
mission and desire to shower you with good things?
APPLICATION FOR THE CHURCH
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Why do you think it is important to present bold prayers to God as opposed to the
timid or selfish requests that you have previously presented? In what ways can you and your
group pray boldly on behalf of the church universal and for Vintage? How can you
encourage other Christians to begin to pray with bold expectance as well?
APPLICATION FOR THE WORLD
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How does this passage’s picture of God being the joyful Giver of good things that He
is differ from the outside world’s perception of Christianity? What are some things that you
and your group could boldly present to God that would benefit the outside world?
DIRECTED PRAYER TIME
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For You: In what ways can your CG pray for you? (Specific needs, areas, etc.)
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For Vintage Church: In what ways can your CG pray for Vintage?
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For the World: Who can your CG pray for? (Unbelievers: work/school/family,
spiritual awakening in NOLA, missionaries, believers overseas, persecuted believers/
in jail, the Church at-large, nations, etc.)
RESOURCES
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“Pray Throughout the Day,” by John Piper, found at: http://www.youtube.com
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“Ask,” Sermon by Matt Chandler 9, (from 8-23-08) found at: http://
fm.thevillagechurch.net/sermons?
type=sermons&page=1&match=any&kw=&topic=&sb=title&sd=asc