How Much More

Meditations on the Sermon on the Mount

March 30, 2020

How Much More

“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.”

Matthew 7:7

Jesus teaches us here that God wants our prayers to be bold, adventuresome and flowing from our heart. Our prayers are not judged on whether we get the words, doctrine or theology right. Our prayers are not judged good because we rightly understand our own needs, or what is best for us. We don’t need to understand our own needs because “(our) Father knows exactly what (we) need even before (we) ask him!” (Matthew 6:8).

Jesus is telling us to just ‘ask’ God! With childlike trust in God, just ask your Abba; tell Him what is in your heart, and trust Him to sort out your prayers. There will be times when you are not able to articulate what you are feeling. In those times, Jesus says we are to seek God. That doesn’t mean God is hiding; rather, this is an invitation to explore different types of prayer such as centering prayer, contemplative prayer, or fasting prayer. With persistence we keep at it until God’s peace gives us the assurance we are in His grasp. Then there are other times when we are desperate. Articulating our prayers is not an issue. Neither do we need to seek to find God; we know where He is. What we need is help, and we need it now! In those times, Jesus says Heaven awaits our holy boldness. Jesus assures us that when we bang on the doors of heaven, the Heavenly doors will be opened for us.

Jesus is teaching us about “the new way of living in the Spirit” (Romans 7:6). To emphasize the wonder of our right-standing relationship with God, Jesus introduces a wonderful phrase at the end of this passage: “how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him” (Matthew 7:11b Emphasis mine). Here, at the end of the first quarter of this New Year, it is a good time to pause and ask ourselves, “How is it going with my life?” Where are the places in my life where I can heed Jesus’ invitation to keep on asking, keep on seeking, and keep on knocking?

My Takeaway: And, as I keep on asking, seeking and knocking, I do so with an expectant heart believing how much more God wants to bless me.

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Copyright © 2020 by Alex M. Knight

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

• Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

• The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.