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Advent Productions

Benjamin Ng

Ask, Seek, Knock!

Father in heaven, thank you so much for seeing us safely through this week.

Thank you Lord for watching over all of us.

Thank you Father for taking care of us and thank you for giving each and every 1 of us guardian angels that if we submit our lives into your hands, Lord, they'll watch over us always.

And Father, as we've now come into your Sabbath hours, as we're about to open your word to study, we ask for your presence.

We ask for your Holy Spirit to guide and to lead each and every 1 of us and Lord please speak to our hearts this evening we pray in Jesus name.

Let's turn our Bibles to Matthew chapter 7.

We've been slowly getting through the Sermon on the Mount, that famous sermon that Jesus preached.

There is another long passage that Jesus had in the book of John.

And maybe if we have time, I'm not sure how long this lockdown is going to go for.

And many people seem to be going out and about already, but it's not really totally lifted.

And I'm just asking for everybody that is in Malaysia here to make sure you're responsible so that we don't go into relapse and a longer need for being in a lockdown.

But I'm thankful that we have this opportunity to study together and Matthew chapter 7, Matthew chapter 7.

Matthew chapter 7 and verse, pardon me, verse 7 and 8.

The Bible says, Ask and it shall be given you.

For every 1 that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

There are 3 things that we are asked to do.

The first is to ask, The second is to seek, the third is to knock.

So let's start by looking at that first because it says that if we ask, we'll receive.

And of course, the general thing that we want to be asking ourselves this evening is, what is this purpose of asking, seeking, and knocking, right?

How should we ask so that we can receive?

Let's turn our Bibles to Matthew 21 and verse 22.

Please open your Bibles with me to Matthew 21 and verse 22.

And all things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing ye shall receive.

Friends, I think that some of us when we pray, we probably don't believe.

Because Jesus says here, whatever you ask in what prayer, if you believe it, you'll receive it.

But maybe, I think, some of us, we're not sure whether God will answer it or not.

And how is it that we can pray with such assurance and with such confidence?

Like Elijah, he prayed 7 times before rain came, right?

How could he have such assurance that God would answer?

I mean, if you've prayed for 7 times in 1 day, How can you have that sort of assurance?

But what does our belief have to be based upon?

For God told Elijah, Elijah, go show yourself to King Ahab, and I am going to send rain upon the earth.

And so after the end of Mount Carmel experience, he sent all the people off and he went to pray because God had not sent rain yet, but he knew it was going to come.

Friends, sometimes we ask, but we don't really believe because we don't see the things that we're asking for written in His Word.

Does God say, hey, you should pray for people to be converted and be 1 to my kingdom and to be in heaven?

Yes, with those sorts of prayers, we can have assurance that God will answer.

So the first condition that we see here is when we ask and we want to receive, Because not everybody receives, it's possibly because they, when they ask in prayer, they're not believing.

If we're to ask and we want to receive, how do we do that?

John 14 13, and whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son?

Does that mean whatever we pray for and we end of the prayer in Jesus' name that God will give it?

No, it means that we got to pray in his name, we got to take his name upon us as well.

It means that we must have his character, we got to be willing to follow him in whatever he does and whatever He wants us to do.

Friends, we got to ask in the name of Jesus.

There are some conditions for God to answer our prayers.

Let's start by going to John chapter 15 and verse 7.

John 15, verse 7, and this is very much connected with praying in the name of Jesus.

The Bible says here, if ye abide in me and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

Friends, if we, what, abide in Him, and His words abide in us, then whatever we ask, it'll be done.

It's almost like God is giving us a guarantee, but the condition is we gotta learn to abide in Christ.

Friends, if we are to ask God of anything, we need to ask that His word would abide in us.

It's not simply, 00I do my devotion, I spend time in the Bible, let me read 1 chapter, oh, let me read 10 chapters today, and then so when I pray, God will bless me.

And sometimes we use Him as this little idol to bless us.

God, I spend time with you, you bless me, okay?

For you to abide in me and my words abide in you?

If his words would abide in us, it would begin to change us.

It would begin to change our mind, our thoughts, our character.

It would change the way in what we want to ask because our hobbies will be different, the way we spend our time will be different, our priorities will be different.

Instead of asking for a million dollars, we'll be asking to be content in the little things that we have already.

If we allow his word to abide in us, if we allow Jesus to abide in us, it's not that we are trying to ask favors, we're your friends so you can give us favors, but abide in us so that we can be like you, that you can live through us.

And if Jesus is living through us, and he is in us, the Father will be delightful to answer whatever because it's Jesus that's asking because He's in us.

So that's what it means for His Word to abide in us.

And then let's go to Psalms chapter 66 and verse 18.

This really then is the natural progression.

What other conditions do we have here in regards to asking?

Psalm 66 Verse 18, if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.

Friends, look, there are some prayers that God will always hear.

When you're praying for forgiveness, He will always hear that.

You're praying for a clean heart, He will always want to clean it.

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Ask, Seek, Knock!

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