Special Study 13/10/2014
CHRIST’S PROMISE FOR
SEEKING GOD BY PRAYER
Matthew 7:7-11
These statements from the lips of Christ are simple and sublime.
These are not words to hurriedly read through and forget. They are words that
open our eyes to heaven’s provision; and they disclose the great storehouse
from which all our needs for spirit, soul and body are supplied. Learning from
the Lord on prayer as declared in these verses and living as He has taught,
practising the precepts without turning to the right hand or the left hand will
bring the supernatural into our natural lives and open both the windows of
heaven and the gate of heaven to us. These verses will make the present and the
future much brighter than the past, however bright the past has been.
Praying to God has been a common practice since the creation of
man. Both saints and sinners have always prayed. However, prayer had become a
ritual among the heathen and a religious duty among the Israelites (Matthew
6:5-8). Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, the Light of the world, now throws
light on the great privilege of praying. He clears the way to the Father and
removes all misconception concerning prayer. He lifts us up from the dark lane
of beggars pleading for crumbs to the blessed presence of the Father,
confidently asking for promised blessings. He has taken away the seat and the
place of an intermediary and He beckons us to come directly to the Father. He
gives each of us a special place in the family and now we can all ask, seek and
knock.
1. ALL-EMBRACING PROMISES TO SEEKERS OF GOD WHO PRAY
Matthew 7:7,8; 2
Chronicles 7:14; Jeremiah 29:11-13; Ezra 8:21-23;
2 Chronicles 20:1-4,14-24;
Daniel 9:3,4,20-22; Psalms 34:10-19; 69:32-36; 77:1-12; Zechariah 8:21-23.
“Seek, and ye
shall find. He that seeketh findeth.” Seeking is used in the sense of
praying as the Scriptures quoted above show. Praying in ignorance is like
seeking for a precious, hidden object in the dark. We must turn on the light so
we can see clearly while we seek diligently (Luke 15:8,9). Ignorance of the
promises of God, the Fatherhood of the merciful and loving God, the
faithfulness of God as Father, the relationship of sonship to the heavenly
Father, keep us from seeking with faith that cannot be denied (Romans 9:31,32).
God’s promises for all true children of God who pray to Him, seeking His face,
are all-encompassing. The promises are many and varied; they provide for both
our natural and spiritual needs. Our common needs as well as special or
peculiar needs are all provided for. Early in life or late in life, when we are
young or when we are growing old, even at death when changing our earthly
address to an eternal residence, appropriate promises abound. In company or in
solitude, in the family or in widowhood, sick or healthy, weak or strong, in
adversity or prosperity, in all situations or circumstances, God’s promises are
ours to experience. Circumstances should not embitter our lives when God is our
Father and He has thought of all things we would ever need in our pilgrimage
until we see Him face to face in heaven. Read the Bible and see the promises.
Note the conditions attached to the promises. Keep those conditions as patients
keep to the doctor’s prescription. Believe God as much as you believe a loving,
faithful, earthly father. In fact, you ought to believe God more than any human
friend or father. Trust God implicitly without any shadow of doubt. Seek and
you will find; pray and God will answer.
2. ALL-CONSUMING PERIL FOR NOT SEEKING GOD IN PRAYER
2 Chronicles
16:7-13; 1 Samuel 28:3-8; 1 Chronicles 10:13,14; 2 Kings 1:2-4;
Isaiah 8:19,20;
31:1-3; Jeremiah 10:21;2 Chronicles 25:14-16,20; 33:9-13;
1 Chronicles
15:12-14.
All men feel their
insufficiency and see the need to ask for help at different times in their
lives. Being ignorant of who the true God is and what He has made adequate
provision for, unbelievers seek and pray to gods who “have mouths, but
they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: They have hands, but they
handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their
throat” (Psalm 115:4-8). Others sell themselves, spirit, soul
and body, to Satan through a covenant. They “seek unto them that have
familiar spirits, and unto wizards”; they seek a “hiding
place” in a “refuge of lies” (Isaiah 28:15-20; 8:19,20;
47:11-15). Even sinners and unbelievers who seek help, healing, power,
protection, prosperity and any other thing from evil spirits and Satan are
severely judged and punished for doing so (Deuteronomy 18:9-12). Our seeking of
any blessing must be from only the true God, the God of heaven, the Father of
our Lord, Jesus Christ and our Father. It dishonours God when any child of God
forsakes Him and looks up to Satan or Satan’s messengers for help. It exalts
the power of Satan above that of God. Such a person who belittles God in his
heart and by his action magnifies Satan is worse than an atheist. The danger
and damnation of such a person is a million times greater than the pain or the
problem he is trying to overcome.
3. ALL-INCLUSIVE PROSPERITY FOR SEEKERS OF GOD IN PRAYER
Matthew 7:7,8; 1
Chronicles 16:11-29; Job 5:8,9; 8:5-7; Psalm 63:1-5; Lamentations 3:22-25; Isaiah 55:6-13; Hosea 5:15;
6:3; 10:12; Luke 11:9-13.
Prosperity is a
desirable thing if it is all-inclusive. Those who are rich in gold but who are
not rich in grace, godliness and goodness cannot have complete happiness and
fulfilment. “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper
and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth” (3 John 2). That is true
prosperity and that is what the Lord has promised and provided. This is what we
can seek with great, unshakeable assurance. A life that is rich in faith and
faithfulness will be fruitful, fulfilled, full and flourishing. His soul will
not know the plight of spiritual famine and his body will not experience the
pain of economic drought. As he abounds in the fruit of the Spirit, so will he
have abundant fruit in the work of his hand. Those who pray and seek God with
the whole heart will not seek Him in vain. “I said not unto the seed of
Jacob, Seek ye me in vain”
(Isaiah 45:19). All who truly seek the Lord “shall be abundantly satisfied with the
fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy
pleasures” (Psalm 36:8). The provision of God is so abundant and
inexhaustible that none of us ought to lack spiritually and in any area of our
lives. We can be holy, healthy and happy now and throughout our lives. “Seek,
and ye shall find”.
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Congregational
Song:
SWEET IS THE WORK, MY GOD, MY
KING
1. Sweet is the work, my God, my King
To praise Thy name, give thanks and sing;
To show Thy love by morning light,
And talk of all Thy truth at night.
2. Sweet is the day of sacred rest,
No mortal cares disturb my breast,
O may my heart in tune be found,
Like David’s harp of solemn sound!
3. My heart shall triumph in the Lord,
And bless His works and bless His word:
Thy works of grace, how bright they shine!
How deep Thy counsels, how divine!
4. And I shall share a glorious part,
When grace has well refined my heart,
And fresh supplies of joy are shed,
Like holy oil, to sheer my head.
5. Then shall I see, and hear, and know,
All I desired or wished below;
And every power find sweet employ
In that eternal world of
joy.
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