Asking and Doing

You may not pray very often. You may feel you pray very badly. You may feel very uncomfortable praying out loud. In fact, you may not even believe in God, but this I guarantee, every single person listening to me today prays at some time. But if we're honest, prayer does not come easily to us because we are, by nature, independent people. We like to do our own thing. I remember seeing a cartoon of a man on his knees praying at the side of his bed saying, Lord, answer my prayer, but make it look as if I did it all myself.

And that's the tension, isn't it? We know we should pray, but so often we do our own thing. Samuel Chadwick said that Satan's greatest aim is to destroy our prayer life. Satan is not afraid of prayerless activity. Satan is not afraid of prayerless churches, but Satan trembles when we get on our knees in prayer. So, we must pray.

We must pray. In the Sermon on the Mount, as we're going through the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus has already spoken about prayer and He's told us how to pray. We call it the Lord's Prayer. It's recorded in Matthew 6 from verse 9, pray then like this, our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name and so on. And I find it very interesting as the Lord has developed various subjects in what we call the Sermon on the Mount, and we're coming towards the end of it as we look at Matthew chapter 7, that Jesus again gives us instructions on prayer. So, in the Sermon on the Mount, in two separate parts, Jesus is speaking about prayer. Prayer is very, very important and I want you to see prayer not as a duty, not as a chore, not as something that you feel you must do as a kind of religious exercise, but rather I want you to regard prayer as one of the greatest privileges we have, that it should be a delight, it should be a joy as we come and pray.

Whether as an individual, whether as a family, and as a church, that prayer must be central. And we're going to learn that God is going to bless you when you pray. So let me read from Matthew chapter 7, verses 7 through 12. If you have a Bible, follow along as has been said when you come to Calvary Church next Sunday, there's not going to be Bibles in the pew, so I want you to bring your own Bible.

Is that too much to ask? Bring your Bible. And we'll hear these wonderful pages being opened. Matthew 7 then, here is our Lord. 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. 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? So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the law and the prophets. Isn't that a fascinating section of Scripture? Given as the Lord sits there, we call it the Mount of Beatitudes and is speaking to his disciples and gives these magnificent words that we have just read. I want first of all to give two reasons, there are many reasons why we should pray, but two certainly that we find in the Sermon on the Mount. And the first reason that we should pray is that it is a command. We are commanded to pray. Matthew 6 verse 9, our Lord says, pray then like this, a command to pray. Look chapter 18 verse 1, Jesus told a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray, here it is, you ought always to pray and not to lose heart. Paul in Ephesians, Ephesians 6 as he describes the spiritual armor that we should put on, he says as he comes to the conclusion of that exhortation in Ephesians 6 verse 18, he says, praying at all times in the Spirit with all prayer and supplication to that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints. That's Ephesians, next book is Philippians, Philippians 4 verse 6, do not be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. After Philippians there's Colossians, Colossians 4 verse 2, here's Paul to the Christians at Colossae continue steadfastly in prayer. The Spirit is saying to us at Calvary Church, other churches, this is what you must do, you must continue steadfastly in prayer being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time pray also for us that God may open a door to us for the word to declare the mystery of Christ on account of which I am in prison that I may make it clear which is how I ought to speak.

After Colossians is what? 1 Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 17, one little verse, pray without ceasing. Throughout Scripture, Old Testament and New Testament as we're reading there is this command to pray. Why should you pray? God commands you to pray.

Jesus commands you to pray. Martin Luther said, to be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing. And God is very pleased when we obey this command to pray. You say what's prayer? Prayer is talking to God. Prayer is worshipping God. Prayer is confessing our sins to God. Prayer is asking God for good things. Prayer is surrendering our will to God's. He commands us to pray. No, prayer is not an optional extra for the particularly dedicated zealous Christian. It's a command to every follower of Jesus.

It is essential. You will not be spiritually strong. You will not have spiritual wisdom. You will fall into sin very easily. You will make some very foolish decisions. Yes you will be defeated by the enemy and you will not be greatly used by God if you do not pray.

That I guarantee. How foolish for the follower of Jesus Christ to try and live for Christ, to try and serve Christ and lack prayer. No, prayer is something that you must do.

Yes it can be a discipline. You have to decide, I'm going to pray. We read the Scripture here from Matthew 7, verse 7. Jesus is saying, ask. That's something you must do. He's saying to you, seek. That's something you must do. He's saying, knock.

That is something that you must do. Let me ask you this. Are you asking God for anything? People sometimes say to me, well, it seems that God is not at work in my life. I just don't feel the presence of God.

Well, how would you answer this question? What are you asking God for? What are you seeking? Jesus has said earlier, seek first the kingdom of God. The Old Testament says, seek the Lord while he may be found. What are you seeking? What's your ambition?

What are you knocking for? Knocking at the door of heaven as it were and as you come to your heavenly Father. How can you expect to see the answer to prayer if you're never praying?

Isn't one of the greatest joys that we have, the humbling joy when we pray and then we see God answer our prayer? Why pray? First of all, obey the command. Pray. As a follower of Jesus, you must pray.

Now the second reason is one that we've already considered. We pray because God is our heavenly Father and Jesus gives this very insightful and very down to earth example, doesn't he, in the verses that we've read. And when Jesus taught us to pray in Matthew 6, verse 9, when he says pray then like this, first thing he says is this, our Father who is in heaven. Don't you find it tremendously encouraging that when our Lord is teaching us on prayer, the first thing he wants us to understand is that when we pray, we come to God who is our Father.

And reflecting on the relationship between God as our Father and we as our children helps us to understand very fully the very nature of prayer I think. You see through the miracle of new birth, we've been born again and we were born into the family of God. Once we were apart from God, once we were doing our own thing in our sin and the miracle of conversion when the Holy Spirit comes and we are regenerated and we are born again and now we are born into the very family of God.

John tells us in John 1, it is to as many as received him who believed in his name, to them he gave the right to become the children of God. And if you've never been born again, you don't know God as your Father in the sense that God is your creator, you're accountable to God, but we who have been born again are brought into this intimate relationship with God that now this almighty, eternal God is my Father. Do you know God as your Father? This is why we emphasize that the Christian faith is a personal relationship.

That we know God through Jesus Christ who is the way, the truth and the life. Who comes to die for our sins, who is buried, who is raised from the dead and calls on us to repent and to believe in him and when we do that in God's grace, we become part of God's family so when I pray I come and say this, our Father in heaven. Yes, we can describe God in many, many ways as we sing about him. He's eternal, he's a rock, he's from everlasting to everlasting but don't you find this tremendously encouraging that our Lord Jesus wants you to understand that when you're praying, you're talking to your Father who is in heaven.

That emphasizes this close, personal, intimate relationship with God. No, God is not remote from his creation. It's true in the beginning he spoke and brought the world into being. Yes, he's a powerful God.

That is true. Ah, but he's a personal God. He is my Father who is in heaven and because of that I can come with confidence, in fact with boldness into the very throne room of God. Why?

That's not presumption. It's because God is my Father. I once worked in an office where one of my colleagues was very, very busy. It was the days before email and he was deluged. He was always on the phone, doing a lot of business on the phone and when he wasn't on his phone he was with clients and if I wanted to speak to him as I joined that office and I had to speak to him about different cases, it was very difficult to speak to him because he was so busy and his clients sometimes complained that they had to wait some time to see him. He was so busy but yet there was one person who from time to time would come into the office without an appointment and it didn't matter whether this man was on the phone or with clients or whatever he was doing, this little boy would just walk right into his office.

Why? He was the son. He had that relationship with his father and therefore at any time he could come into the very presence of his father and his father was never too busy to put his arm round his son. Hebrews says, let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace. Are you sometimes afraid? Do you sometimes wonder if you're going to be received by God or not? Here is the wonderful encouragement to pray. You come with confidence because you have a father in heaven. And Jesus said in Matthew 6 verse 8, we've seen this before, your father knows what you need before you ask him.

That's wonderful isn't it? That God knows my needs better than I know them. Even before I articulate them, he knows my needs but he still encourages us to come.

Why? Because he seeks that love relationship. You understand that. If you're a father, if you're a mother, if you have a friend, this God cares for me. This God loves me and therefore he tells me not to worry. Why are you carrying these burdens?

Give them to me. It's like if you're a father and your little boy is four years old and he's struggling with something and in a minute you can help him. And you think, why are you struggling son?

Let me help you. But sometimes in our pride, in our anxiety, we keep these burdens. And Jesus is saying, no, ask. You're coming into the very presence of your father. And that relationship of father and child is developed through prayer isn't it? You know that if you're a father or a mother.

The more time you spend with your son or your daughter, the deeper that relationship and you'll love that when you, when they come and sit on your knee or ask you for something if they're older. The relationship of father and son. So two reasons then for praying from the passage. First, we're commanded to pray. Secondly, God is our father. Now, but how do we pray?

I want to mention three. First of all, pray sincerely. Why do I say that? Because Jesus says that. Look back in Matthew 6 verse 5, and when you pray, now he's talking to his disciples, when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. Have you ever felt someone praying that they're a hypocrite?

I think we've all had that experience. Sometimes you've thought, someday you say, you're a hypocrite. But are we hypocrites sometimes? They say, what would it be to be a hypocrite? In prayer, to pray to impress others.

Have you ever done that? You sound so, so spiritual. You're just like an angel down from heaven the way you pray.

But your heart is far away. Sounds good from the words, but your heart is far away from God. That's hypocrisy, isn't it? Praying for the praise of people rather than the praise of God.

That's hypocrisy. It's the only time you pray when you give thanks for your food. Do you pray more in your life group? Do you pray more in your Bible study? Do you pray more when you're with people or when you're alone? If you find that your prayers are longer and you're praying more when you're with others than on your own, there may be the seeds of hypocrisy in your heart.

And Jesus, earlier in the passage we looked at it, Jesus discourages mindless repetition. He really, I think, discourages long prayers in public. If you're praying and there's others around, be mindful of them.

Don't take all of the time. Don't pray to impress people. If you're going to pray a long prayer, do that alone.

Jesus says, no, it's, this can be hypocrisy, the mindless repetition. Remember, you're talking to your Father in heaven and he knows your heart. But there's a danger because of pride that we can pray like the hypocrites.

No, pray sincerely. Secondly, pray humbly. Humble people pray. Proud people don't. James says in James 4, verse 6, that God gives more grace, praise him, therefore it says God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.

Do you want to oppose God? Be proud. You want to receive grace?

Be humble. Submit yourself therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God. That's prayer. Draw near to God with his humble heart and he will draw near to you. Verse 10, humble yourselves therefore before the Lord and he will exalt you. Are you trying to exalt yourself, trying to make a name for yourself, trying to force something?

Don't do that. Humble yourself. And at the right time, God will exalt you. Prayer and humility are linked when we're proud, when we are self-willed, self-reliant, independent, and we've had some success in our lives.

We think, I can do this on my own. I don't need God. So can I say, if you're not praying regularly, you are in fact saying, I don't need God in my life. You say, well I never would say that.

No, I know you would never say it, but isn't that the case? You see, prayer is an expression of our dependence upon God. Prayer is an articulation of our utter reliance on the power of God to sustain us, on his mercy to forgive us, on his provision to supply us, on his, for us to be overwhelmed by his glory as we understand more and more who God is and what he has done.

That's humility, isn't it? Saying, I need you. There's a hymn that says I need you every hour. That's prayer, isn't it? That's what Paul is meaning when he says prayer. Pray always that we have this attitude, I need you. Help me with this, Lord. So when you're not praying, you're saying, you say, well I don't have time for prayer.

You've got to understand I've got a very busy schedule. I understand that, but that means that your time and your effort are more important than seeking God's strength, God's wisdom, and God's help. Just think of the decisions you've made, of the things you've done, of the things you've said that have created problems in your life because you didn't pray about it. You acted hastily.

You thought I can, I can handle this, and perhaps impulsively, with a self-reliant, if it were taught, if it were known, a real proud attitude, and you've gone ahead. But when you've humbly come before God, you're recognizing that you can't fulfill God's will and His purposes apart from His help. As we went into COVID-19, I and others met with our elders, and we said we need God's help. We don't know how this is going to develop.

We have a child development center. We have a church where we can't meet. What's going to happen? What's going to happen to the flock?

We just don't know. But what we do know is God's in control, and God is our Father, and let's humble ourselves. And let's say we really don't know what to do here, God. You help us. You guide us.

You strengthen us. Humility is key. You see, we often pray at the end of the situation, we're in a real hole, and we're in a kind of emergency situation, and all of us pray then. But what about praying before you go into that situation? What about praying first, rather than acting and making decisions, and then when things don't come out the way we want, then we pray.

No, pray at all times. It's humility. And we thought when we did the series on the wings of the eagles from Isaiah 40, how do we get that strength from God that all of us need? Isaiah says, well, as you wait on the Lord, that's prayer, isn't it? That's humble waiting on the Lord. As you wait on the Lord, you will be renewed in spirit.

You'll mount up with wings like eagles. You'll walk and not be weary. You're drawing on God's power. Today you're feeling spiritually weak, a bit disillusioned, perhaps you're a bit critical, a bit bitter about situations, and you feel very spiritually weak. You just feel a bit far away from God, and things in your life are not well, and spiritually you're a bit at saving. You may even be spiritually lost.

Are you praying? What about getting on your knees, pouring out your heart to your Heavenly Father, asking Him for wisdom, asking Him for guidance, asking Him for strength. Paul says that God's power is perfected not in our strength, but in our weaknesses. One of our favorite verses of many of us is in Ephesians 3. At the end of that magnificent prayer, Paul says this, many of you know it. Ephesians 3 verse 20, now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think according to the power at work within us. Do you believe that?

We're singing about it. He's able. Do you believe in your life and your family and your situation at Calvary Church in this world that God is able to do far more abundantly, far more exceedingly. Paul is putting superlative after superlative.

He's able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think according to the power at work within us. You believe that, don't you? I believe that.

But notice, often forgotten. Verse 14, Paul says, for this reason, I bow my knees before the Father. Ah, that's it. Yes, you want that power. Yes, you want God to act supernaturally in your life. Yes, you want God to deal with that impossible situation. Yes, that's true. But notice Paul begins by saying, I bow my knees before the Father.

That's it, isn't it? Humbly coming to Him in prayer. You want God to act.

You want God's power in your life, His wisdom. Bow the knees to the Father. Pray humbly. Pray sincerely.

Pray humbly. And then as we come to particular to our passage, pray persistently with faith. Faith is essential in praying. Jesus in Matthew 17 speaks of the faith of a mustard seed, a very small prayer.

You see, I don't have much faith sometimes and neither do I. I think all of us can relate to that. No, it's not so much the mind of my faith. It's the mind of my understanding of how great my God is. It's a little faith in a great God. There are prayers, says Jesus, which move mountains. In other words, God can do things that no human being can do.

And isn't that one of the reasons we pray? A little faith in a great God. Charles Spurgeon described prayer as the grandest power in the entire universe.

I like that. Think of it. What's the greatest power in this universe? Nuclear power, atomic power, political power, economic power?

No. The greatest power in the universe is as prayer as God is at work. And we come humbly, sincerely in faith. We come in prayer to the very throne room of God where we commune with God, where we humbly pour out our hearts to God, believing in faith that nothing is impossible with God. We've been singing about how great our God is. What's the point of singing about it if we don't really believe it? Now, as we look at Matthew 7, verse 7, we see that this faith Jesus is teaching is demonstrated in our persistence in prayer.

And I think this is often where we fail. Notice what he's saying. We are to ask, we are to seek and we are to knock. Note the rising intensity. First I ask, then I seek that stronger and now I'm knocking. Can you sense the urgency? Can you sense the persistence? This is not just a little prayer.

Father, please help me in this situation. And we go and forget it. No, that's not what Jesus is saying. There's persistence here.

And the very verbs here point to that. The point is, if you don't keep asking, you will not be given. If you don't keep seeking, you will not find. If you don't keep knocking, it will not be open to you. Point. When you come to your Father, who loves you, you're praying sincerely, you're praying humbly, but now there is an intensity, there's a persistence, praying in faith. Don't give up. Remember James says in James 4, verse 2, you do not have because you do not ask.

That sets us back a bit, doesn't it? What have I missed? Because I've never asked for it. What's the response? I have to ask. If you don't ask, you won't receive. If you don't seek, you won't find.

If you don't knock, it won't be open to you. That's the whole point, isn't it? I understand there's a mystery of prayer. We have all questions about God's sovereignty and human responsibility, all of that. I understand all of that, but notice how simply our Lord is helping us pray. Yeah, there are difficult parts to understand in the Sermon on the Mind. We've dealt with some of them, but this is not too difficult to understand, isn't it? Because, think of this, verse 11, your Father in heaven gives good things.

Doesn't stop there, does it? To those who ask Him. Therefore, I've to ask. Now you say, what are these good things that I should be asking?

Well, it's a long list, isn't it? But I'm thinking in the context of the Sermon on the Mount, one of the things we should be asking is in response to the teaching of Jesus. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Lord, I need mercy. Blessed are the peacemakers. Lord, I want to be a peacemaker.

I don't want to be a troublemaker. I want to be a peacemaker. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness. Love your enemies, Jesus has been teaching. Seek first the kingdom of God. Are these good things to ask? Yes, yes. Have you ever asked God that you could be a peacemaker?

How our world needs us, how our nation needs it, how our city needs it, how families need it. Have you ever prayed for that? Have you ever prayed to be pure in heart?

All of the dirt that comes into our minds as we live our world. Lord, give me that pure heart. Have you ever come to the Lord asking for your hunger and thirst for righteousness to be increased? Have you ever prayed for God to help you to love your enemy, that person who has hurt you badly? Have you ever prayed, Lord, help me to love my enemy? Have you ever prayed, Lord, help me to seek first the kingdom of God? Because often I'm concerned and I'm worried about these things.

I'm worried about my career and I'm worried about who I'm going to marry and I'm worried about my health. And the Lord is saying, now listen, you've got your priorities wrong here. Lord, help me to have this priority, to seek first the kingdom of God. These are good things. Do you think your Father in heaven is going to give you these things?

Of course he is. These are good things to ask. It's true we can ask for selfish things, but he gives, he responds to his children when they come and ask him for good things.

So what are you asking? And to help us understand, he gives a very practical and down to earth illustration verse 9. Which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, give him a serpent. If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more, an argument from the lesser to the greater, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him?

I love this, don't you? You know this. You know this if you're a parent.

We were earlier this week or last week with our grandkids and our son and his wife up to see the ark in Kentucky and we took two cars. And we see the ark take some time explaining things to our grandchildren and we come out of the ark and I'm trying to help them to understand the meaning of it, the judgment of God and salvation only found in the ark, salvation only found in Jesus Christ. And one of the grandkids sees a stall. They're selling funnel cakes.

I think I've got it right. And he asks, Dad, can we get a funnel cake? Right. Not the top of my list. Is that a good request?

Well, I think after being tired, coming out of the ark, it's not a bad request. And so what does our son do? He gets us to sit down and he buys these several funnel cakes.

As I say, not the most nutritious. I think the grandkids enjoyed them better than I did. And then there was these kind of fried or something Oreos.

I'd never seen them before. The point is, if your children ask you for something good, isn't it a joy for you as a parent to answer that request? And also, think of the persistence of children. We have two of them. Then they change cars.

We have two of them sitting behind us. You've heard it before. Granddad, when do we get in there?

I'll tell you when we arrive. Granddad, how far do we have to go? The persistence of a child, isn't it? Is God irritated by that?

No. Your Heavenly Father loves that. Because you ask in faith. Your Father in heaven is a good Father. He wants to bless you. He wants to give you good things. Therefore, keep on asking, seeking, and knocking. Your Father loves you.

He cares for you. So take advantage of this great privilege of prayer. Why wouldn't you pray? He gives us the pattern. We call it the Lord's Prayer. We understand it's a great privilege. We understand that there is great power received from God when we pray. And we are to be persistent.

And think of this. You as a father, you as a mother, give good things to your children when they ask. Do you think God is a worse father than you are?

No. He's a perfect father. You're not a perfect father. You're not a perfect mother. I'm not a perfect grandfather. God is a perfect father. And not only, and I've experienced this in life and I'm sure many of you have, God is so good to us that often He surprises us with His grace.

Have you ever asked God for something? And He gives you something even better than you asked. When Christopher was about five years old, we were living in Pittsburgh. And I'm not a cook.

I married a very good cook, so that helps me. But Christopher would come down on a Saturday morning for breakfast, which generally was cold cereal if I was in charge. And so he would come down and say, Dad, I want Cheerios or whatever it was. And from time to time, I would say to Christopher, no, you're not getting Cheerios. You're not getting any cereal at all today. He'd say, what's wrong? Is that a good request for a five-year-old boy to ask for a cereal for breakfast?

Yeah, that's a good request. I would say to him, no. You're not getting Cheerios today. Today, you and I are going to go to McDonald's. And we're not going to eat Cheerios. We're going to eat Egg McMuffins.

There it is. I love Egg McMuffins. And my son loves Egg McMuffins.

Yeah, that looks good. I'm feeling hungry right now. His mother and my wife has different taste buds. She's not so enthusiastic about going to McDonald's for breakfast.

Here it is. My son, whom I love, asked me for a good thing. Cereal for breakfast. Christopher, you're going to get something better. You and I, we're going to spend time together. We're going to drive in the car. We're going to go to McDonald's. We're going to get an Egg McMuffin. Yeah, I might even get a hash brown thrown in. I'll have a cup of coffee.

You'll have some juice. And we'll sit down and we'll talk. He thought that was absolutely wonderful.

What has happened? He asked for something good. And I, as a father who loves my son, gives him even something better. Have you experienced that with God?

I have. You say, what view do you have of God? I think sometimes our view of God is that God is some kind of miser, scrooge figure that we're afraid of him.

Yes, we are to fear God. But don't you believe what Jesus is saying? How much more will your father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him? What good thing are you asking God? God loves to give his children good things. So you're asking for good things. James says in James 4 verse 3, you ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly to spend it on your passions.

No, I am to ask for good things, for strength, for help, for guidance that I may bless others and so on and so forth. You know what the good things are. Scripture is full of them.

You know what they are in your life. And you ask God and you keep asking and you keep seeking and you keep knocking and your father who is in heaven loves to give good things to those who ask. In fact, he will surprise you with his grace. Talking about cooking, I mean I prayed for a Christian wife and not at the top. The top one was that she was a Christian.

Very close to the top was she was a good cook. God answered that prayer but also he threw in this beautiful blond Scandinavian. I mean that's God's grace, right? I asked for a good thing. He gives me something even better.

I could never ever have imagined a wife that was going to be my helpmate. God surprises us with his grace. Now, before we conclude, look at verse 12. So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them for this is the law and the prophets. This is often called the golden rule. Someone said the golden rule is whoever has the gold makes the rules. No, that's not the golden rule. And the rule is not do to others bad things before they do bad things to you. That's how some people operate.

No, that's not it. And I thought why would Jesus put this here? Yes, in a sense it's summarizing the Sermon on the Mount.

He's talked about the law and the prophets that he had come not to abolish the law and the prophets but to fulfill them and the law and the prophets is summarized in this wonderful statement. But I also thought of his close relationship to prayer. Don't you agree that how you treat people has a tremendous impact on your prayer life?

That's true. Peter gives an example in 1 Peter 3 and he talks to the Christian wife in the first six verses and then in 1 Peter 3 verse 7 he gives instruction to Christian husbands and he tells us that we're to treat our wives with sensitivity. We're to treat our wives with understanding, remembering that they're equal with us as heirs of the grace of God, heirs of life. And then he says, so that your prayers may not be hindered. In other words, how I as a husband treat my wife has a serious impact in my prayer life but it's greater than that, isn't it? How you treat other people, how can you pray sincerely, how can you pray humbly, how can you pray persistently by faith if you're treating people badly? And one of the beautiful ways, one of the wonderful ways that we commend Christ to others and we display Christ is by doing to others as we wish they would do to us.

Isn't that true? Do you do that in life? You want people to be kind to you?

I do. Be kind. You want some friends? Be friendly. You want people to encourage you? Are you encouraging them? You want people to respect you? You respect them. That's the point.

Here it is again. Whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them for this is the law and the prophets. Yes, it's the law and the prophets. What do the law and the prophets say?

We've been singing about it. The law and the prophets summarized is this. You will love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, with all your strength and you'll love your neighbor as yourself.

Do that and you've fulfilled all the law and the prophets. Here it is in a very cryptic way that I am to treat others as I wish they treated me. Stop being so self-centered. Stop thinking that the world revolves around you, revolves around John Monroe. No, I'm to be concerned about others.

How do I treat them? This commends the Gospel and then when I get down on my knees and speak to my Heavenly Father, I come with a clear conscience, treating my neighbor as I would like to be treated. And as I do that, I am demonstrating the love of God so that James says in James 5 verse 6, the prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. So as you pray, what does it mean to be righteous? Who is this righteous person whose prayer is so effective? One who is obeying Matthew 7 verse 12, obeying the golden rule that he is loving God and loving his neighbor.

And so when he gets down on his knees, he's praying sincerely to his father because he understands this love that he has received from God through Jesus Christ is a love which is to be displayed to others. This week, you have wonderful opportunities to put this into practice in your prayer life and how you treat others. How you treat others on social media is remarkable.

And I mentioned this the other day, it's remarkable how Christians can say such nasty, vitriolic things on Facebook, on Instagram, on social media. Don't do that. You don't like it if someone did it to you.

Don't do it to others. Remember, you're a follower of Christ. And we in a troubled world, yes, a world where there's a lot of hate, a world where there's a lot of turmoil, a world where there's a lot of prejudice, a lot of confusion, how wonderful if we, the people of God, not were just talking about what we believe, but by our very actions we're bringing peace and mercy and love and grace to those around us. Yes, we don't always understand people. Yes, we may sometimes be frustrated with them.

Yes, we may sometimes be offended with them. But this is true that we, as God strengthens us and as I ask my Heavenly Father this, Lord, I want to do to others as I would they do to me. When you do that, you're fulfilling the law of the, the law and the prophets. When you're doing that, your righteousness is exceeding the righteousness of the scribes and the Father.

Pharisees, Jesus is teaching on the Sermon on the Mount. So, keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking for God's grace to be poured on you that you could be an instrument of grace and love to others. Our Father in Heaven, we come humbly to you and ask you will take these words, this reflection, and transform our lives.

We need it. Give us a greater love for prayer. Help us, Father, to be more persistent. And for those who don't know Christ, for those who don't have this loving relationship with Jesus Christ, Father, work in their hearts and bring them to the cross where they see Christ dying for the sins of the world. And now, Father, help us and strengthen us. Guide us as a church even as we go through this regathering next week. Help us to do all to your glory that more and more people will know your love and know your grace and know salvation in Jesus Christ. In his name we pray. Amen.