Title: Let's Pray / Luke 11:5-13
Contents
Let's pray / Luke 11:5-13
God has told us that if we ask, it will be given to us, if we knock, it will be opened, and if we seek, it will be found. However, according to my experience, God will give in the end even if you don't ask, and even if you don't knock on the door, he will open the door later. I don't know how many doors I got without asking God or how many doors I opened without knocking. don't you? Did you ask God and get everything through prayer? Do you give your children only what they ask for, and no matter how much they need, do you not give them what they do not ask for?
I am not. Of course, we give first what they ask for, but if they think that what they don't ask is also what they need, they give it regardless of what they ask for. The same thing happens to us because God is our Father and we are His children. God will eventually give us everything we need, whether we ask for it or not.
When the Israelites came out of Egypt and met the Red Sea, Moses was the only person who prayed to God. The people did not pray to God, but rather blamed God. Nevertheless, God not only saved Moses, he saved all the people as well. In other words, even the people who did not pray were eventually saved.
But why does God tell us to pray? Why are you telling me to ask, seek, and knock? There is a deep will of God. Even if you don't ask for it, you can get it eventually. But what you get without asking is not grace.
The words of today's text also appear in the Gospel of Matthew. As we well know, Matthew 7:7 says, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.” However, in Matthew 7:6 it says: “Do not give dogs anything that is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs. lest they trample on it and turn around and tear you apart.” At first glance, 7:6 and 7 seem like completely unrelated words.
But it is not. There is a very important correlation between the two statements. As I said before, God gives us even if we do not ask, and in the end He opens us even if we do not knock. However, what you gain without clinging to God and praying like that is no grace at all. I have no idea that it is God's grace. That is why they are like pearls thrown to pigs and holy things thrown to dogs. However, this is not the case with what we pray and ask God for. Of course, we also receive prayers, but along with that, we come to realize the amazing grace of God that is incomparable to that, and to gain the faith to be thankful for it. Through prayer, we receive more precious and important things than we prayed for.
As mentioned earlier, the Israelites crossed the Red Sea without praying. How great is the grace to cross the Red Sea? Where in the world could there be such a great grace? But the surprising thing is that the people of Israel soon forgot this wonderful grace. When the bitter waters came out of Marah, they forgot the grace and power of God who parted the Red Sea and complained to God again. If they had crossed the Red Sea by earnestly clinging to God and praying, in other words, if they had sought, sought, and knocked on that precious grace, they would never have forgotten that grace. Even in front of the bitter waters of Mara, he must have remembered the miracle and grace of the Red Sea and knelt before God again and prayed. Through such work, your faith in God would have deepened and the grace you received from God would have deepened. However, the Israelites who crossed the Red Sea without praying to God lost their tremendous grace.
I'm about to finish my talk. You can live without praying. However, you cannot live a life of faith without prayer. Moreover, the life of grace is even more impossible. God wants us to live a life full of grace even though we live on this earth. Isn't that the life of the saved? In order to live a life of salvation that is full of grace, it is important to pray to God above all else. It is important to ask, seek, and knock on God, even the smallest things. Living without prayer can make us forget the plain truth that everything comes from God. It is easy to mistakenly think that it was done by chance or by one's own effort and strength. We must know that we are completely incompetent, unable to achieve even the smallest thing without God.
Therefore, we must pray.
We must kneel down to God and ask, seek, knock, obtain, seek, and open the door, even for the smallest of things. Only then will we be able to live a life in heaven full of grace on this earth. That's why Jesus told us to pray. I hope that even one small thing can become me and you who are living by praying to God. So, I hope that you and I will all be able to enjoy a life in heaven full of grace on this earth as well. Amen.