When Parents Pray | Part 2

We'll be right back. Give good things to them that ask Him. God is good all the time. Welcome to Love Worth Finding, featuring the dynamic teaching and practical biblical insights of trusted pastor and author Adrian Rogers. In part one of today's program, we learned that nothing will bring you to your knees in prayer like having children. It also gives us a clearer picture of how God the Father provides for His children if only they would ask. In Matthew, chapter 7, Jesus shows us how to pray.

If you have your Bible, turn there now as Adrian Rogers shares what happens when parents pray. Matthew, chapter 7, verse 7. Jesus says, ask, and it shall be given you.

Seek, and ye shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened.

Or what man is there of you? Whom, if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?

If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father, which is in heaven, give good things to them that ask Him? Now, there are three key words in the passage that I've read before you. They are ask, seek, and knock. Ask, seek, and knock.

They're all found in verse 7. Look at it. Ask, and it shall be given you. Seek, and ye shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Now, these are three little words, but I want to tell you a big door can swing on little hinges and open up into a vast room where there are multiplied treasures. So, I want us to think about these three key words in getting prayer answered.

Now, remember, this is not some theoretician speaking. This is Jesus, and this is a rock-ribbed, iron-clad promise from the Word of God. Ask, and ye shall receive. Seek, and ye shall find.

Seek, and ye shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Now, I submit to you that's either true or it's not true. It is true, and therefore, we need to learn about prayer today, and especially if we're parents, but not only if we're parents. Now, three things I want to lay on your heart today. Number one, when we ask, desire is expressed. When we're asking, it's the things that we want, we desire. Now, may I tell you that the greatest problem that we face is not unanswered prayer.

It is unoffered prayer. Jesus said that we are to ask. The devil cannot keep God from answering, so what he will endeavor to do is to keep you from asking, to keep you from asking. Jesus said, ask, and it shall be given you. Well, you say, I've asked, and I haven't received.

Well, he's not finished yet. Read the whole verse. First of all, when we ask, a desire is expressed, but now secondly, when we seek, direction is explored. Now, sometimes we don't know what to ask for, and sometimes we ask for the wrong thing, and so we have to find direction in our prayers. We have to seek, and asking is always linked with seeking. Ask, and it shall be given you.

Seek, and ye shall find. The idea of seeking is that there's something that's lost, and we need to find it, or there's something unknown, and we need to understand it, and so what is it that we seek when we pray? Well, first of all, we may be seeking the purpose of God. We may be seeking the will of God.

Go back to the passage in James. Remember what James says, you have not because you ask not? And then he also said, and you ask and receive not because you ask amiss, that you might consume it upon your lust. You might be asking God for the wrong thing. Now, God is not going to give you the wrong thing, no matter how many times you ask him. You ask and receive not because you ask amiss, you ask wrongly that you might consume it upon your lust. Now, we can ask for personal needs, but we cannot ask for selfish needs, and so it may be that when we seek, we're trying to find the will of God about a matter. I can, God's not just some glorified bellhop that I say, now God, do this or do that.

No, no. No, I can ask, and it'll be given me, but that asking is linked to seeking that I may find. It might be the purpose of God that I'm trying to seek for. It might be the presence of God that I'm seeking when I pray.

James in this same fourth chapter goes on, he's talking about prayer, and he says in James 4 verse 8, draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, she sent us, and purify your heart, she double-minded. Be afflicted and mourn and weep, and let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he'll lift you up. It just might be that God's very presence is what you need to seek.

You know the gift without the giver is bare. Or it might be that it's the power of God that you need to seek. James goes on to say in James 5 verse 16, confess your faults one to another and pray one for another that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. So when I pray, I ask. I ask, I say, here God, here's what I need, here's what I want.

The answer doesn't come. Then I begin to seek. Lord, what is your purpose? Lord, where is your presence?

Lord, what about your power? And I begin to seek these things with all of my heart. Now, first of all, I ask, and that's a desire expressed. And then I seek.

That is direction explored. I'm trying to find the will of God. Prayer is not bending God's will to fit our will. Prayer is finding the will of God and getting in on it. And so that's the reason we must seek God in prayer. But then thirdly, thirdly, look, first of all, asking is desire expressed. Seeking is direction explored. But then thirdly, when we knock, determination is exerted.

What is the idea now? It's not just saying, Lord, here's what I want, or Lord, show me your way. It is saying, oh, God, I need this door opened.

And remember, it's present tense. It is knocking and keeping on knocking. There may be closed doors. There may be barriers. Prayer is a battle.

The devil, we're up against all the minions of hell. And indeed, we sometimes have to knock. It is present tense. Keep on asking. Keep on seeking.

Keep on knocking. Let me tell you something about how prayers are answered. Sometimes prayers are direct. The answer to prayer, you just ask God for something, and he gives it to you.

Have you ever done that? How many of you have just simply said, God, I want this and such, or let me do this and such, or do this and such, and just ipso facto immediately, God has answered your prayer. You ask and you receive. Sometimes the prayer is so direct, it is unmistakably the hand of God. That's one way God answers prayer. But another way God answers prayer is not only is the answer direct, it is different. He doesn't give us what we ask. He gives us something better than we've asked. You know, if he doesn't give you what you ask, he'll give you something better if you're asking in the will of God and asking in the right spirit.

We know not what we should ask as we ought, but the Spirit himself makes intercession for us. So sometimes the answer is direct, and sometimes the answer is different. Sometimes the answer is denied. He just says no.

Why? Because what you're asking for is wrong. You ask and receive not because you ask Him is. God's not going to give you something that will harm you or hurt you. And so sometimes the answer is direct, sometimes different, sometimes denied, but sometimes delayed.

Sometimes delayed. And that's the reason the Bible says not and it shall be opened unto you. And again, I remind you, it is present tense. Keep on knocking, keep on knocking, keep on knocking, keep on knocking. Don't quit praying. Over and over again, the Bible teaches that we are to continue in prayer.

Now, let me give you an illustration of this. We're in the Gospel of Matthew. Just turn over to Luke. Luke 11, verse 5, Jesus is speaking. And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves. For a friend of mine in his journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him. And he from within shall answer and say, trouble me not.

The door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot rise and give thee. I say unto you, though he will not rise and give him because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity, that is his persistence, he will rise and give him as many as he needeth. And I say unto you, Ask and it shall be given you, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and he that knocketh, it shall be opened unto you. I'm so glad that Jesus gave this parable because it so illustrates what I'm talking about, keeping on knocking.

Now, you have to understand the background here. In Bible times, there were no motels and hotels, and there were no convenience stores and all of this. And one of the greatest sins that a person could commit would be to fail to show hospitality to a stranger, much less a friend. So here's a man, and it's late at night.

Here's a friend on his journey, his other friend. He comes, it's about midnight, and says, can we spend the night here tonight? The man said, oh, you're so welcome in our home. Come on in, sit down, get comfortable. We'll give you a little something to eat before you go to sleep.

I know you've been journeying all day. He says, his wife, he says, fix something for our friends. She said, there's nothing in the house. There's no food. He says, just a minute.

We'll have something for you. Just sit down there. She says, go ask the neighbors.

That's midnight. He goes over to the neighbor's house. Who's that? Be quiet. You're going to wake up the kids.

Who is it? It's your neighbor. It's John. I've got to have some bread. You got any bread, man?

Look, man, go back. You're going to start the dogs barking. If you wake up these babies, I'm telling you, you see, everybody, the houses were small. They kept the animals under the house many times. And up top is where the people slept. The rooms were very small. Sometimes they'd all be in one bed, the babies and everything there. The locks were very complicated, not just a key like we have.

To get a door open was very difficult. He says, look, go away. The man says, I said, go away. He says, what do you want? He said, look, man, I have got to have some bread.

I've got a friend here. I've got to feed him. He says, all right. If you just stop that knocking, you just stop.

Just be quiet. I'll get up and get some bread for you. That's the parable that Jesus is telling. He says, look, my babies are in bed with me. It's night, so forth, but the man won't quit.

He just keeps on. Now, that's the illustration Jesus gave to illustrate this text. Ask and it shall be given to you.

Seek and ye shall find. Knock and it shall be opened unto you. Is he saying that God is like that man in bed doesn't want to be bothered with us? No, that's not what he's saying. What he is saying is that asking is very much like knocking on that door. That is what he's saying. Over and over in the Bible, God gives us illustrations of people who just persisted in prayer.

Let me give you another one. You and Luke 11, just fast forward to Luke 18. And he spake a parable unto them to this end that men ought always to pray and not to faint, that is not to quit praying, saying there was in a city a judge which feared not God, neither regarded man. And there was a widow in that city, and she came unto him saying, avenge me of mine adversary.

And he would not for a while. But afterward he said within himself, though I fear not God nor regard man, yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. And the Lord said, Jesus said, hear what the unjust judge saith, and shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear along with them. Now, again, God is not saying that I'm like an unjust judge.

What God is saying is get the idea this woman won't stop asking this judge, and so he finally says I'm going to get her out of my hair, whatever that she wants. I'm going to get rid of her. I'm tired of her. I'm weary with her. Now, notice in verse 7, and shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear along with them. I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Now, you can find this over and over in the Bible.

I can't explain it, but I'm telling you that delays are not denials. Ask, seek, knock, keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking. I was reading last night just before I went to bed about Elijah. Elijah was praying for rain.

You could read about it in 1 Kings 18, I believe. And he's praying for rain. There's been a drought in the land three and a half years, and he goes, he sits down, he puts his head between his knees and begins to pray. And he says to his servant, go look and see if there's any rain. See if you see a rain cloud. He went and said, nope, no rain cloud. Elijah prays some more.

He said, go look again. No rain cloud. Prays some more. He says, go look again. No rain cloud.

No rain cloud. He prays some more. He says, go look again. Seven times he sent his servant. On the seventh time, the servant said, I see a little cloud about the size of a man's hand. Elijah said, all right, get up.

I hear the sound of abundance of rain. You just keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking. Whether you understand it or not, whether you agree with it or not, there is a principle and it is a wonderful principle that even though it seems that God is delaying, he is not denying.

Well, that brings a real question. When should you stop asking? When should you stop seeking? When should you stop knocking in a particular matter?

Three times. Number one, you stop asking when you have what you ask for. If God gives it to you, you don't have to keep on asking.

Number two, you stop asking when though you don't have the answer in your hand, you have the answer in your heart. I have a very big prayer that God gave me in my heart one time. And God said, now, Adrian, you're asking me to do something I'm not going to do, but what you really need is this, and I've heard your prayer. I didn't have it in my hand, but I had it.

And time has shown me that I did have it. You just stop asking. You say, thank you, Lord. That's it.

Thank you. Now, when you already have it in your hand, or else when you have it in your heart, or thirdly, you stop asking when God says no. He just may say no. Paul was asking God to take away a thorn in the flesh.

And he said, three times, I asked him. And God says, I'm not going to do it, Paul. My grace is sufficient for you. And so sometimes God just simply says no. Now, parents, we need to pray for our children.

What is the assurance that God will hear our prayers? Notice how Jesus concludes this. Look, if you will now, in verse nine.

Or what man is there of you? Whom, if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father, which is in heaven, give good things to them that ask him?

Why do we have the assurance of answered prayer? Well, in these couple of verses, three reasons. First of all, because God is good. You know, we're not good. We're imperfect.

But we love our children, don't we? Imperfect as we are. If you, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father in heaven give good things to them that ask him? God is good all the time. And number two, not only is God good, God is wise.

God knows what we need. If we ask a fish, he's not going to give us a serpent. God is not capricious.

But I'm going to tell you something else. God is so wise, if you ask a stone, he'll not give you a stone. And if you ask a serpent, he'll not give you a serpent. The Lord thy God is a son and a shield. The Lord will give grace and glory.

No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. He is too wise to make a mistake and too good to be cruel. So God is good, God is kind and wise. And last of all, we know that our prayers are going to be answered not only because God is good and God is wise, but God is able. Look, he speaks of your Father, which is in heaven. Now, in the sixth chapter of Matthew, Jesus taught us to pray, our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. He concludes that prayer by saying, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Our Father is in heaven.

Now think about it. Your Father is a king. Thine is the kingdom. I can say to my heavenly Father, Lord, yours is the kingdom. You see, when I pray, I have a Father who will hear me and I have a King who can answer me.

Isn't that great? A Father who will hear me and a King who will answer me. Do you know what I have together when I pray? I have the sympathy of a Father and the sovereignty of a King. Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. That's what Jesus is saying. How much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

No one should ever try to be a mother or a father who doesn't know how to pray. Learn to pray. Ask, seek, knock. When you ask, that's desire. When you seek, that's direction. When you knock, that is determination.

Just like that man saying, look, get up and open this door. I need some bread. I'm telling you, God will hear your prayer. You'll learn how to pray as Jesus teaches us to pray.

prayer wall. There you'll find the option to submit a prayer request or pray for others. This resource is one of our favorite ways to keep the ministry and the community praying continually for one another's needs. We can't wait to hear from you today. Now, if you'd like to order a copy of today's message in its entirety, you can call us at 1-877-LOVEGOD and mention the title, When Parents Pray.

You can also order online at lwf.org slash radio, or write us at Love Worth Finding, Box 38600, Memphis, Tennessee 38183. Adrian Rogers said, learn to pray, ask, seek, knock. When you ask, that's desire. When you seek, that's direction.

When you knock, that is determination. We're so glad you joined us for our study in God's Word today. Tune in next time for more timeless truth from Adrian Rogers, right here on Love Worth Finding.

We were so encouraged by a Facebook friend who wrote this about Adrian Rogers recently. He was a great man of God and discipler in our generation. You know, at Love Worth Finding, our great hope is to continue Pastor Rogers' work in introducing people to Jesus and share what it means to follow Christ fully. That's why when you donate to the ministry right now, we want to send you a copy of the book, Discover Jesus. Though written for new believers, Discover Jesus is also a resource that pastors, teachers, soul winners, and encouragers of the faith can use to motivate others to grow and mature in Christ. Request a copy of Discover Jesus when you call with a gift right now at 1-877-LOVEGOD, or you can give online at lwf.org slash radio. And thank you for your generous support of Love Worth Finding.