Persist: Go for it.

Matthew 7:7-8 "...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..."

Luke 11:5-10 "...And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. And I tell you, 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..."

Context:

- Jesus had been talking about our relationship with others.

- we are to avoid judging others.

- we are to serve others without being hypocrites.

- we can't do these things without divine grace.

- we need help.

Who receives what they need from God?

- everyone who asks.

How should we Ask?

- are we informing an ignorant God?

- are we begging from a reluctant God?

- we aren't prevailing upon God, we're prevailing on ourselves to submit.

- prayer is God's designed way for us to express our need of Him.

James 4:3 "...You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions..."

1 John 5:14 "...And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us..."

Who finds what they need from God?

- the one who seeks.

How should we Seek?

- people can receive creative gifts without seeking from God: material blessings like air, rain, food.

- people receive redemptive gifts by seeking from God: spiritual blessings like forgiveness, peace, faith, love.

- are we seeking the things with the greatest value?

Isaiah 55:6 "...Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near;..."

Jeremiah 29:13 "...You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart..."

Who gets through the closed doors?

- the one who knocks.

How should we Knock?

- as one who desires to gain entry?

- are we willing to persist until the knocking brings a response?

We ask (simple petition) for what we wish. We seek (earnest search) for what we miss. We knock (persistence) to get through obstacles or to gain access to what we're separated from.

What does the Luke account add to the context?

- persistence in asking, seeking; knocking.

Matthew 7:9-11 "...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!..."

Luke 11:11-13 "...What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!...”

Does God always give us what we want?

- the Israelites got their meat and it led to death.

Numbers 11:31-33 "...Then a wind from the Lord sprang up, and it brought quail from the sea and let them fall beside the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and a day’s journey on the other side, around the camp, and about two cubits above the ground. And the people rose all that day and all night and all the next day, and gathered the quail. Those who gathered least gathered ten homers. And they spread them out for themselves all around the camp. While the meat was yet between their teeth, before it was consumed, the anger of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord struck down the people with a very great plague..."

Does God know how to give good things?

Does God know how to give us what we need?

- Jesus for our justification.

- the Holy Spirit for our guidance.