“ASK and It Will Be Given”

Bible scholar D. A. Carson and others have rightly pointed out that many people who are initially attracted to the message of the kingdom after a season of enthusiasm tend to get discouraged and fall away from the path of discipleship. Carson gives two primary reasons for this that we should take to heart.

First, those who stop following Jesus lack persistence. They quit when it gets tough and it always gets tough! We live in a world where people seek their own interests and follow after the dominant culture in an effort to find personal happiness. To follow Jesus is counter-cultural right from the start. I would suggest that if we have chosen to follow Jesus as his disciples then we need at least the persistence of a salmon swimming upstream for the current is against us.

Second, Carson suggests that the disciple who becomes discouraged and quits has forgotten the first Beatitude (Matthew 5:3). He has missed the point that God blesses the person who is “poor in spirit” and acknowledges their own spiritual bankruptcy, not the person who has it all together in their own strength and wisdom.

“Instead of seeing his own spiritual bankruptcy by the light of the Sermon on the Mount, he sees the beauty of the light itself; and therefore instead of turning to God and asking for the grace, mercy, forgiveness, acceptance, and help which his spiritually bankrupt state requires, he merely turns over a new leaf. Small wonder he is soon discouraged and defeated.”[1]

The Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5-7) is filled with challenges that will overwhelm our meager ability to live out the values of the kingdom of heaven. It is designed to humble us to depend more upon Jesus to make possible in our lives what is impossible for us to perform on our own. R. Kent Hughes comments that “In Matthew 7:7-11 Jesus describes the way a man or woman prays who understands what the Sermon on the Mount is all about.”[2]

ASK God for what you lack (v. 7-8)

  “Ask, and      it will be given    to you;

  seek, and you  will find;

knock, and      it will be opened to you.

  For everyone who asks receives,

    and the one who seeks finds,

and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

While asking, seeking, and knocking are used together to convey the idea of persistence in prayer, I think there is something unique that is added by each term.

• Asking for what we don’t have and can’t have on our own. (James 1:5-6) “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.”  Jesus doesn’t slap us for asking him to help us. In fact, he encourages us to keep asking…being persistent in prayer. The Sermon on the Mount should humble us and this passage tells us what to do from there.

• Seeking the One who makes a difference and who invites us to “Follow me!” (Matthew 4:19-21). It is written, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13) Seeking seems to communicate a greater level of involvement than just asking and hints at the relational aspect of prayer. So why would we seek the Lord if we are unsure about how he will treat us when we find him? Let me tease this idea out a bit. When we find God will we be found to be pleasing to him? Well, what pleases God? Hebrews 11:6 gives us a place to start. It makes it clear that “Without faith, it is impossible to please God”… but what does that mean? It means that (1) We must believe that he exists. (2) We must believe that he rewards those who seek him (i.e., trust in his goodness) or we wouldn’t be motivated to seek him. In fact, this is why many don’t seek Jesus’ help, they have been conditioned to think that he gives bad things. Cultural concepts such as the lament, “only the good die young” and insurance companies that label every natural disaster an “act of God” have taken their toll.
• Knocking with confident humility (Hebrews 4:15-16). While confident humility sounds like an oxymoron or contradiction of terms, I think that it is an important nuance to embrace. Knocking humbly recognizes that we are not God, and we cannot presume to enter his presence casually or flippantly and that we need his permission to come close. Yet, we pray with confidence because in Christ we have access to the “throne of grace”—where we receive the good that we don’t deserve—because Christ deserves it. (Hebrews 4:16).

I use the acronym ASK to remind me of all three elements of a disciple’s persistent prayer—Asking, Seeking, Knocking. We need to keep on doing these things in prayer and God will certainly answer! This passage makes it very clear that there is a response to such prayer. But this verse is often ripped from its context.

• A Caution against taking this out of context. (James 4:2b-3)

“You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” We need to remember that Matthew 7:7-8 is in the context of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and should be taken as asking for spiritual growth and the ability to live out kingdom values in the midst of a fallen world…not as a genie in a lamp. But when we ask for what we need to follow Jesus, what does our heavenly Father give us?

“How Much More?” (v. 9-11)

    Or which one of you,

 if his son asks him for bread,

                          will give him a stone?

    Or if he asks for a fish,

                          will give him a serpent?

  If you then, who are evil,

     know how to give good gifts to your children,

               how much more

                          will your Father who is in heaven

                                give good things to those

         who ask him!

This is a classic a fortiori argument, which means, “If this [small thing] is true…then how much more will this [big thing] be true?” Jesus uses the culturally acceptable First-Century metaphor of a father giving what is good and necessary to his son as the small thing that was true. “How much more” will God do, since he is wholly good? He not only gives good things (v.11) but James 1:16-17 says,

Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.

 Every good    gift and

 every perfect gift is from above,

coming down from the Father of lights 

    with whom there is no variation

                                    or shadow due to change.

So God gives good things…in fact every good thing, but what is the best thing? The parallel passage in Luke 11:13 replaces “good things” with “the Holy Spirit” by whom all good things are supplied. The result is God with us and in us. In the Old Testament, the Spirit would “come upon” temporarily for a specific task or moment, but in the New Testament, the Spirit comes and indwells believers on an ongoing basis. As a result, he…

• Comforts us (Acts 9:31)
• Teaches us (John 14:26)
• Convicts us (John 16:8-11)
• Guides us (John 16:13)
• Empowers us (Micah 3:8; Acts 1:8)
• Reminds us that we have a Heavenly Father who loves us. (Romans 8:16)
• Intercedes for us (Romans 8:26-27)

A Fresh Glimpse of the Golden Rule (v.12)

“So whatever you wish

                                that others would do to you,

                                                            do also to them,

     for this is the Law and the Prophets.

We have all heard the “Golden Rule” at one time or another, but have we ever thought about it in its context of persistent prayer? How do we want others to pray for us? That is how we should pray for them…persistently and passionately!

We can’t live kingdom lives without being persistent in prayer for ourselves and for others. The Sermon on the Mount humbles us, and, if we understand it, find that it drives us to our knees. If we end where we started, poor in spirit and mourning over sin, then we are blessed indeed.

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[1] D.A. Carson,  Jesus' Sermon on the Mount and His Confrontation with the World: An Exposition of Matthew 5-10. [Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1999] 116.

[2] R. Kent Hughes, The Sermon on the Mount: The Message of the Kingdom. [Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2001], 233.

King of the Mountain? (Matthew 7:1-6)

In a recent sermon, Logs, Dogs, and Hogs, from Matthew 7:1-6, I referred to judgmentalism as a type of spiritual king-of-the-mountain game, where we try to climb to the top—the supposed place of God’s favor—by criticizing and judging others. At best such behavior is merely an emotional sleight-of-hand for certainly, God’s kingdom doesn’t play by such rules. I mention this here because if we are going to truly help others and work for a peace and justice that pleases God, we have to start by humbling ourselves and considering others as inferior no longer (2 Cor. 5:16) but as equals or betters (Philippians 2:3). Why can't we learn to help each other climb the sand dune of circumstances together as advocates, not adversaries?

Matthew 7:1-6 

                                     “Judge not,

             that you be not  judged.

2                 For with the judgment you pronounce

                    you will be  judged,

                  and  with the measure  you use

                        it will be   measured to you.

3                                     Why do you see the speck

                                that is in  your brother's eye,

                          but do not notice the log

                                that is in  your own       eye?

4                            Or how can you say

                                          to  your brother,

                                             ‘Let me take the speck

                                     out of your                eye,’

                               when there is the log in

                                               your own        eye?

5 You hypocrite,

                                       first take the log

                                    out of  your own        eye,

                    and then you will see clearly

                                          to take the speck

                                    out of  your brother's eye.

Mature disciples are not judgmental towards others (v.1-2)

Matthew 7:1 is one of the most misquoted verses in the Bible. If you google it you will find that it makes most of the top-whatever lists. It is thrown at us anytime we address personal or systemic sin in our communities. “Don’t judge!” Yet the context of the passage says something very different.  Several verses in this chapter require a discerning judgement—v. 5, 6, 15, and 20. This makes it clear that contrary to popular opinion, this passage does not forbid confronting sin.

Proverbs 26 contains the classic case of a contextual paradox that will help us here.

Answer not a fool according to his folly,
    lest you be like him yourself.
Answer       a fool according to his folly,
    lest he be wise in his own eyes. (Prov. 26:4-5)

There are times when you shouldn’t answer a fool and other times when you should. This kind of instruction frustrates us because we want clear guidelines and policies but that is not the way of the mature disciple. We actually have to discern the difference.

In the Hobbit Trilogy, the dwarf king Thorin Oakenshield, when told he has no right to enter the Lonely Mountain and disturb the dragon and possibly bring ruin on many, answered, “I have the only right!” Just because we have a log in our eye doesn't mean that we don't try to use it as a shield as well. We too think we have the only right to decide our own fate and destiny. Even if we acknowledge the Lord Jesus as the Righteous Judge, in a practical sense we set ourselves up in that high position to judge all around us: “He is stupid, she is rude, and they are crooks…” it goes on and on. And we will find ourselves held to the same standard by the One who alone sees clearly. Mature disciples are able to make clear judgments but are not judgmental.

Judgment comes with a warning label. There is reciprocity to judgment, for “with the measure you use it will be measured to you.” (A proverb Jesus used in three different contexts, v. 2; Mark 4:24; Luke 6:38). This means that,

• In condemning others we bring condemnation on ourselves (Romans 2:1-8)
• In judging others we can forget that we will be judged (Romans 14:10-12)
• In judging, we may be usurping God’s position (James 4:11-12)

Mature disciples are not hypercritical (v. 3-4)

We all know the devastation that is brought to many families by drunk drivers. Those who are caught as charged with DUII (Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicants). I think Jesus was getting at something similar here in this passage. That something I am calling “JUII” or  Judging Under the Influence of Intoxicants. We think we judge others fairly, but we don’t. We have a judgment that is impaired by the intoxicants of pride (self), prejudice (social biases), and perversion (sin). Right now I have to confess to being proud of that double alliteration. Please forgive me!

One of the best ways to keep from being hypercritical is by doing what Jesus said in verse 5, “First take the log out of your own eye.”  We must learn to judge ourselves first (v. 5, 1 Peter 4:17). Yet even as we seek to remove our own logs, we must have a right view of God. While being the Righteous Judge, that is not the primary way in which he relates to his children. Primarily he is the Lover of our Soul who seeks to redeem and heal his children. We must learn to respond to his love in kind. When we are confident in Christ’s love for us, we become more generous in sharing love and mercy with others. We relate lovingly as brothers and sisters in the family of God, not as competitors trying to climb and keep or place on some sandy mountain.

Mature disciples are discerning (v.6)

        “Do not give dogs what is holy,                          A

   and do not throw your pearls before pigs,                   B

                 lest they trample them underfoot                   B’

                         and turn to attack you.                       A’

This last verse involves judgment…but not one aimed at tearing down another but on survival and stewardship. In Jesus’ day dogs were unclean and vicious. Dogs rarely come across that way in our culture, so think more along the lines of the hyenas in The Lion King or red-eyed wolves in some fairy tale. They represent those who are treacherous, unclean, just want to feed their ego by tearing you apart. 

Hogs were also unclean, and also insensitive to the value of the message. Pearls are of no value to a pig who just wants something to eat. They serve only their appetites and have no spiritual aptitude.

So, how do we know who is a “dog” or a “hog”? It is usually apparent if we engage them in polite conversation, but if you really want to know… you will have to read the rest of the chapter (Matthew 7:7-29). Enjoy!