Title: Do it / Matthew 7:7-11
Do it if you want it / Matthew 7:7-11
I don't feel good when someone looks at me and says, "If you have to do it, do it!" No matter how true the words are, even if they are for my sake, they are not well received. He is my teacher and so is my parents.
Martin Luther, the Reformer, said that true Christians are the people who crucified the saying why. It means that you should not respond negatively to ‘why’ when God speaks. The word ‘why’ comes from the root of rebellion. The 66 books of the Bible contain the words ‘do’ and ‘don’t’. If you do what you are told you will be blessed, and if you do not do what you are told you will fail and suffer. No one can understand and accept all of God's Word. It is not understandable, but those who do what they are told are beneficial and lead a blessed life. Whether you understand it or not, whether it feels good or bad, he says, “If you have to, do it.” Commands always require obedience. God is responsible for the outcome of the command.
1. Save.
“Ask, and it will be given to you.” The word ‘keep on asking’ here means ‘keep asking’, ‘keep asking’, ‘keep asking’. This means that you don't stop after asking a question or two and charging it, but rather hold on to it and hang on to it. It's like asking systematically. It is persistently stinging. It is asking over and over and asking without ceasing.
It's been a long time since we met and talked with friends we had been close to when we were young, and the story of our children came up. “It’s difficult to raise children because it costs more money. When I was young, I asked for a doll, but when I was a little older, I asked for a bicycle. Can you not buy me one? bought it Now he's going to college and he's asking me to buy a car. Are you not like that?” Hearing this, my friend said, “I wish I had a child like you who asked me to buy something. He died in a car accident two years ago. A dead son asks nothing.”
What are you not asking for? The Sardis church had the name of being alive, but it was dead (Revelation 3:2). The dead cannot be saved and therefore cannot be received. You didn't save it until now, but save it from now on. “… … Because you do not have, you do not ask; you ask and do not receive, because you ask erroneously, to spend it on lust” (James 4:23). What am I doing wrong? “Whatever you ask in prayer, believing and asking, you will receive” (Matthew 21:22). To ask the wrong way is to doubt and ask. Hannah prayed and had a son and named him Samuel (1 Samuel 1:20). It means that this child was obtained by asking God. We must all have something we have sought and obtained from God.
Casting out demons is also prayer. He took the demon-possessed son to Jesus' disciples, but he could not be healed. He took him to Jesus and healed him. The disciple asks the Lord. “Why were we not able to cast out the demon? Jesus said to them, "This kind cannot come out by anything but prayer." (Mark 9:2829).
Verse 11 says, “If you, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him?” What is good? The answer is here. Luke 11:13 says, “If you, though evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?” That's what you did. The Holy Spirit is good. The Holy Spirit is a mysterious and powerful force. It is the power to live. Invigorating with vitality. “The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17).” If you are filled with the Holy Spirit, you can enjoy intention, peace, and joy together. “Everyone who asks receives... … (Verse 8).” Please save it and get it.
2. Find it.
“Seek, and you will find.” He told me to find it first, but this time he told me to find it. Finding is more intense than seeking. If seeking is a sit-down job, seeking is a standing up-and-running job. Much more active than seeking.
In Luke 15, there is a story of finding what was lost. “If a man had a hundred sheep and lost one, would he not leave the ninety-nine in the field and search for the lost one until he found it? After we find it, we will have a party because we like it.”
“If a woman has ten drachmas and loses one, won't she light a lamp and sweep the house to find it diligently? When they find it, they will gather together their neighbors and have fun with me, and they will say, ‘I have found the lost coin.’” is the story of Jesus. Those who seek must have the will to find them. Then you turn on the lamp and use it as rain to search for it, and eventually you will find it.
When Mother Teresa was raising money to build a camp to house and treat AIDS patients, she went to the renowned attorney Edward Williams. When the lawyer heard that Mother Teresa was coming, she was unwilling to participate in it, so she made a polite refusal and was thinking of sending her back. Mother Teresa came into the office and asked for financial assistance for the camp for the treatment of AIDS patients. As already prepared, he politely refused, saying he could not do it.
Then Mother Teresa said, “Let's pray together,” and bowed her head. Attorney Williams also bowed his head. After praying, I requested financial support with the same words as I said in prayer. The lawyer once again politely declined. Still, Mother Teresa did not intend to go, and bowed her head a second time, saying, “Let's pray together.” Attorney Williams felt he lost. After the prayer, they promised to support the work for AIDS patients. Mother Teresa did not stop despite being rejected over and over again. I kept asking and got it. I hung on persistently. The cause of failure is lack of persistence.
Calvin Coolidge, the 30th President of the United States, wrote: “There is no substitute for persistence in the world. Talent cannot replace persistence. Because there are many people who do not succeed even with talent. Genius talent cannot replace persistence.” So is education. Only persistence and determination have the power to accomplish anything. The slogan of “push forward” has been and will solve all human problems in the future.
There was a pool in Jerusalem called Bethesda, where a 38-year-old man was sick. When Jesus looked at him, knowing that he was ill, he said, “Get up, pick up your bed and walk.” He said it (John 5:8). Successful people never give up. The word of the Lord to keep on looking here means to keep looking to the end. “Seek, and you will find.”
3. Knock.
He said, “Knock the door, and it will be opened to you.” Knocking means to bump and collide. It means to surprise and impress. To hit or hit several times to make a sound. Knock on the door when calling someone from outside the house.
Here is what Jesus said while teaching prayer. A traveling friend came to visit me in the middle of the night. But somehow, there was nothing to eat in his house. Reluctantly, he goes to the neighbor's house and knocks on the door and begs. I'm sorry, but I only ask you to borrow three loaves of bread. “My friend came over on a trip, but there was nothing to eat,” he says and keeps knocking on the door. It's annoying for a sleeping person. “The door has already been shut and the children are lying in bed with me, so I cannot get up and give you bread.” “I tell you, though he will not rise up and give him because of his friendship, he will rise up and give him whatever he needs because of his persistence (Luke 11:8).”
Gangcheong is an unreasonable request. It is a strong tone of strangulation and a request. In the joint translation Bible, it was translated as annoyingly strangling Kang Cheong. Knocking on the door is a sign of earnest petition. The secret to success and victory lies in living like a person who can never just back down.
Jesus tells us to pray because prayer brings us the best. Because it's that important. You are doing a good job, but you will do better after you pray. Prayer makes you a slap in the face of victory. We need a more active prayer, an insistent prayer.
Prayer is a command. “If you do, do it!” This is the voice of the Lord. It's not about praying for the Lord. He asks you to pray for me. “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt; open your mouth wide. I will fill it.” (Psalm 81:10). Obedience is what you do even if you don't like it. It's hard for me to do, but what I have to do is pray. Ask and it will be given to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think (Ephesians 3:20), according to the power that is at work in us. Find it, you will find it. Knock, the door will open.