Transformative Power of Prayer and Divine Relationship
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Prayer is mentioned over 850 times in Scripture, so I believe it's supposed to be a major part of our lives. When we come to know and follow Jesus, he gives us this gift of being able to go directly to the God's throne of grace through him and his authority and what he's done for us. We can go boldly into the presence of God to find the help that we need and the answers to our prayers. We certainly need to learn to focus on our prayer life and develop it and strengthen it over time, but at the same time, we need to keep that innocence of a child praying when we pray and not try to make it a professional thing, but something that's really from our hearts as we speak to the Father. [00:20:22] (45 seconds)
So, he's teaching us when we pray to recognize, first of all, that we are praying, communicating with a loving heavenly father. That's the first thing on the outline today that I want us to really think about. Anytime we pray, it's actually just we're communicating with a father who loves us, who wants only what's best for us. Now, how do we know that about God? All you have to do is read your Bible. [00:27:08] (27 seconds)
All you have to do is look at the record of God's love for his people, of the extent of that love that he was willing to send Jesus here, right, to die for us on the cross. If he would not withhold his only son from us, the Bible says, what would he not do for us that would be good for us, right? There's no limit to his love for us. And what he's willing to do for us, because he loves us, he wants the best for us. [00:27:35] (26 seconds)
And he wants us then to know that even if you didn't have a loving father in the home growing up, even if you're not in that situation right now where you have a loving father in your life here on this earth, you do still have a loving father greater than any other wanting to bless you, care for you, take care of you. You can trust this father to know and want what's best for you. [00:29:09] (30 seconds)
So we know we're praying to a good, loving, caring father who wants only what's best for us. And so that gives us insight into the first few verses here, seven through nine, where he tells us to take action in three ways, right? What are the three action words he uses? Ask, seek, and knock, all right? Three actions that he calls for us to take in prayer. First, we are instructed to ask. Now, the way this is worded in scripture, it's the idea of asking with confidence, because you know who you're talking to. [00:30:44] (38 seconds)
Absolutely no limits to what he can do. This is the God who parted the Red Sea. This is the God who fed all of Israel with manna in the wilderness. He put on human skin and came down here to be one of us and live among us without sin. And he went further than that. He conquered sin and death through the resurrection. [00:32:23] (22 seconds)
But when he says to seek, it's because you know there is something to find and because you know he's a loving God and you know you've asked for what you think would be best. You also know that when you seek from God what you're asking for, you're seeking from a God who loves you enough to answer that prayer in the right way, the best way. [00:34:55] (22 seconds)
Now I want you to understand all of these action words in the original language are in the original language. The Greek has tenses and modes that are different than English. This is the aorist active mode. It means you start and you continue. You ask and you ask and you ask and you seek and you seek and you seek continually and you knock. [00:35:38] (30 seconds)
This is going to your father, having a communication, a conversation with your father that's ongoing. What we have to remember about prayer is it's supposed to be ongoing, not a one and done kind of deal. [00:36:39] (15 seconds)
So the first thing we see here is that we are praying to a loving Heavenly Father. We're in communication with him when we pray. The second thing we need to see from this passage today is this. Prayer then aligns us to God's will. [00:40:05] (15 seconds)
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So, he's teaching us when we pray to recognize, first of all, that we are praying, communicating with a loving heavenly father. That's the first thing on the outline today that I want us to really think about. Anytime we pray, it's actually just we're communicating with a father who loves us, who wants only what's best for us. Now, how do we know that about God? All you have to do is read your Bible. [00:27:08] (27 seconds)
All you have to do is look at the record of God's love for his people, of the extent of that love that he was willing to send Jesus here, right, to die for us on the cross. If he would not withhold his only son from us, the Bible says, what would he not do for us that would be good for us, right? There's no limit to his love for us. And what he's willing to do for us, because he loves us, he wants the best for us. [00:27:35] (26 seconds)
And he wants us then to know that even if you didn't have a loving father in the home growing up, even if you're not in that situation right now where you have a loving father in your life here on this earth, you do still have a loving father greater than any other wanting to bless you, care for you, take care of you. You can trust this father to know and want what's best for you. [00:29:09] (30 seconds)
So we know we're praying to a good, loving, caring father who wants only what's best for us. And so that gives us insight into the first few verses here, seven through nine, where he tells us to take action in three ways, right? What are the three action words he uses? Ask, seek, and knock, all right? Three actions that he calls for us to take in prayer. First, we are instructed to ask. Now, the way this is worded in scripture, it's the idea of asking with confidence, because you know who you're talking to. [00:30:44] (38 seconds)
Absolutely no limits to what he can do. This is the God who parted the Red Sea. This is the God who fed all of Israel with manna in the wilderness. He put on human skin and came down here to be one of us and live among us without sin. And he went further than that. He conquered sin and death through the resurrection. [00:32:23] (22 seconds)
But when he says to seek, it's because you know there is something to find and because you know he's a loving God and you know you've asked for what you think would be best. You also know that when you seek from God what you're asking for, you're seeking from a God who loves you enough to answer that prayer in the right way, the best way. [00:34:55] (22 seconds)
Now I want you to understand all of these action words in the original language are in the original language. The Greek has tenses and modes that are different than English. This is the aorist active mode. It means you start and you continue. You ask and you ask and you ask and you seek and you seek and you seek continually and you knock. [00:35:38] (30 seconds)
This is going to your father, having a communication, a conversation with your father that's ongoing. What we have to remember about prayer is it's supposed to be ongoing, not a one and done kind of deal. [00:36:39] (15 seconds)
So the first thing we see here is that we are praying to a loving Heavenly Father. We're in communication with him when we pray. The second thing we need to see from this passage today is this. Prayer then aligns us to God's will. [00:40:05] (15 seconds)
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