Exploring the Extent of God's Generosity

Reference

Matthew 7:7-11

Today I want to talk about prayer. How do you feel about that?

Some of you are totally fine with this, you love this, can’t wait for this, and are eager to learn about this because you feel great about your prayer life. You’ve got a good grasp on what the Bible teaches about prayer and so you know how to pray well, and you’ve built the practice of prayer into your daily life, and you feel good about how much you pray.

Some of you feel like that. But others of you, probably most of you, don’t feel like that.

Most of you don’t feel too good about prayer, because for you prayer is a matter of guilt. You know you should pray more than you do and you know you should know more about prayer than you do, but you’ve never devoted time to it, so you don’t have a good grasp on what the Bible teaches about prayer, so you don’t know how to pray well, and so, you simply don’t pray.

So however you feel about this, whether you feel good or feel guilty, I’m glad you’re here today, because it is nearly impossible to come away from this text today without feeling greatly strengthened in prayer and greatly encouraged toward prayer. Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones agrees with this. When he was preaching on this passage he said, “I cannot imagine a better, more cheering or a more comforting statement with which to face all the uncertainties and hazards of our life in this world…than that contained in verses 7-11.”[1]

But this passage doesn’t stand on its own, it comes to us in a specific context. By the time we get to chapter 7 in Matthew we’re coming to the beginning of the end in the Sermon on the Mount. Looking back over the previous two chapters makes us realize how much Jesus has taught us so far. He’s taught us about life with Him, about life as we follow Him and seek Him. He’s taught us about His Kingdom, about the world around us, and more. He has indeed taught us well. But, after all we’ve heard from Jesus in this sermon, something in our souls ought to be crying out for the Sermon on the Mount to be made real in our lives, for it not to be just mere teaching, but actually applied to us in a meaningful way, so that our lives aren’t the same for having read and studied it. Who can do such a work in us? Only the Lord. And here in v7-11 we see that if we ask the Lord to do this in us, He’ll answer us and do great work in us. Why? Because God is generous, and God is good.

Well let’s turn to this great encouragement. v7-11 contain two strong reminders for us about prayer.

Reminder #1: God is Generous (v7-8)

“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.”

As soon as we start our passage we’re given three commands: ask, seek, find. Held in these three words we find the invitation to explore the extent of God's generosity in prayer.[2] On one hand I want to say this is not a reference to three different ways of praying in which each kind brings with it a certain kind of answer, as if this were a menu of prayer we can open up, choose what we want, and order what we would like to receive in prayer, no.[3] Rather these three verbs function as synonyms, just like the three responses do. Asking, seeking, knocking all refer to our resolve in prayer while receiving, finding, and opening all refer to God’s eager generosity in answering our prayers.

On the other hand I want to say these three words each bring to mind a certain angle or approach to prayer. To ask is a general way of referring to prayer, and the promise is that those who ask are given what they ask. To seek is to look for something, something we’re unsure of where it is, but is that what prayer is? No, not at all. Instead prayer that looks like seeking is prayer that knows what you most need is found within God and comes from God. So you pray, not really knowing what you need, but knowing God will never lead you astray in anything He gives you.[4] So we seek Him in prayer, and the promise for those who seek is that they will find. And finally, the word knock. This kind of praying is prayer that’s facing some kind of closed door or obstacle before us, that only God can open or move. We know what it is to use this kind of ‘knocking on doors’ language. We often speak about the Christian life and what we desire in this way. Like, ‘God opened that door for me’, or ‘God shut that door’, or ‘I’ve prayed for a while about this, but God hasn’t opened the door yet.’ We often speak like that. So to knock in prayer is to plead with God to open the doors and remove the obstacles. And the promise for those who knock is that whatever is there blocking you, whatever is shut before you, it will be opened.

See v8 then. Here we find all the language of v7 repeated and expanded as it promises that everyone who asks, seeks, and knocks…receives, finds, and will see doors open. There are no dropouts. All come to the Lord, are met by the Lord. Here the words are in put in the present tense, to show us how prayer is to be a continual persistent pursuit, rather than something we do on every now and then or on special occasions.[5] This helps us understand that the Christian is always two things. First the Christian is one who is always asking, seeking, and knocking. And second the Christian is one who is always receiving, finding, and enjoying open doors.

How great a reminder is this? One commentator put it like this, “One may be a truly industrious man, and yet poor in material things. But one cannot be a truly praying man and yet poor in spiritual things.” Prayer is always infinitely enriching.[6]

Are you uncomfortable with this kind of guarantee when it comes to prayer? It’s almost like Jesus is giving us a green light to ask Him for anything. This seems wrong, doesn’t it? Like it’s too good to be true? Maybe even as you're hearing this you find yourself wanting to clarify, or give details, or add some nuance about realities that limit our answers to prayer. For example, we might want to add the detail that God will only give us what He thinks we need, not everything we want. Or we might want to add the detail that God only answers our prayers according to His sovereign will and that if what we ask for isn’t in His will, we won’t receive it. Or we might want to add the detail that we often pray wrongly and ask for things that are not good for us. And because of this we are thankful that God does not answer all our prayers in the affirmative. I mean hasn't your past life proven this? Haven't you asked God for things in your own life, that looking back on that time, knowing what you do now that you didn't know then, you’re very thankful that God said no to those requests, even if those requests were earnestly heartfelt and sincere.

All of these extra details are true about prayer and we can go to other passages to find them clearly. I think it's natural to read v7-8 and feel like we want to bring all kinds of other Scripture in here to limit the scope of prayer as it’s presented to us here, because we know that prayer is never a carte blanche thing as if God gives us anything that we want at any time. We know that's true.

But, notice Jesus provides no limitations here. No extra details, no guardrails to limit His teaching on prayer here? Why does He not do this? I think if we're just looking at these verses the point is very clear: when we pray, we pray to a heavenly Father who is more generous to give than we would ever dare imagine. Jesus could give a thousand qualifications to His comments here, but He doesn’t because He wants us to know God is a God who loves to give to those who ask.[7]

Why then do so many Christians settle for such a poor Christian life? When everything we need is available to us, when all is promised to us comprehensively, why is the quality of Christian living so poor? Because we do not give ourselves to God in prayer as v7-8 call us to. So Church, be reminded. God is generous, and He is eager to bless and eager to give to all who ask Him.

Reminder #2: God is Good (v9-11)

“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!”

Jesus now gives us an analogy to further impress this upon us. In v9-11 He tells us of earthly parents, how generally speaking they’re good to their children. So, when a child asks for bread, no parent would respond by giving a stone saying, ‘Chew on this!’ Or when a child asks for a fish, no parent would respond by giving a snake saying, ‘Eat this!’ It would be unthinkable for a parent to act so wickedly toward their children. The how much more moment then comes in v11. Since this is true about earthly parents, how much more will our heavenly Father give good things to us when we ask Him. Not only is this true, but held within this promise is that our heavenly Father will never give us anything evil to us. Do we know this? Do we love this? We are often tempted to think otherwise. When we continually come, asking – seeking – knocking, and the answer comes but it’s not what we wanted or desired. We’re tempted to think that our request was too big or too good for God to really give to us. Nonsense! He only gives us good things. So in all we receive from Him, we must look for His goodness in it.

Now some argue with Jesus here saying, ‘Doesn’t Jesus know that not all parents are good to their children, and that some are outright cruel?’ Well, that’s an appropriate question to as of this verse. And it’s true that some parents are awful to their children. These verses don’t deny that bad parents exist, they do exist. What these verses are doing is pointing out that parenting ought to be as good as described here, and that even when parents are at their best, God is still a better Father to His sons and daughters.[8] That’s the lesson of this analogy.

We also should not overlook the brief mention here in v11 that we are evil.[9] Jesus just slips it into His argument with no defense or no explanation at all. It’s as if the knowledge of our sinfulness is so basic and so elementary, that it’s something we all just simply know to be true. This little mention of our being evil in nature does two things. First, it differentiates Jesus from His hearers. He makes it clear that He is not like us. Yes, in the incarnation He became like us, by taking onto Himself a true human nature, and thus He is in every way human as we are, except sin. But see in v11, He didn’t say, ‘We are who evil know how to give good gifts to our children’ no. He said, “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children.” Thus, Jesus is not evil, while we are. We ought to notice that distinction. Second, the little mention of our being evil highlights the point Jesus is making about prayer. If we who are evil even give good things to our children when they ask…how much more will our heavenly Father who is the essence of perfection give good gifts to His children when they ask Him? If we who are sinners have the capacity to bless our children with good things, how much more does God, who is pure holiness, have the capacity to bless His own when they come to Him? God is truly good. He’s our Father par excellence! If you’ve got good parents, multiply their goodness by infinity and you start to come close to how good God is toward His own.[10]

John Newton was once stunned by this passage and attempted to write a hymn seeking to capture all of this in song. This is what he wrote. “Come, my soul, thy case prepare; Jesus loves to answer prayer; He Himself has bid thee pray, therefore He will not say to thee nay. Thou art coming to a King; large petitions with thee bring; For His grace and power are such, that none can ever ask too much.”

So Church, be reminded. God is good. And He is the fount and source of all goodness in the world. And He is eager to bless and eager to give to all who ask Him.

Conclusion:

The big takeaway here today is this: God’s care of His children is comprehensive. This ought to encourage us to give ourselves to prayer.

We’ve seen God’s generosity and God’s goodness clearly standing out in this text. We ought to ask ourselves one question after seeing this.[11] ‘Do I know these great realities for myself?’ or ‘Am I experiencing these great realities for myself?’ Remember Jesus isn’t teaching in the Sermon on the Mount to just inform His hearers but to transform them. All that is here, is for us to experience and apply to our lives. So do you know something of God’s great generosity and God’s great goodness? Does this encourage you toward a deeper and more devoted discipline of prayer?

Perhaps a quick illustration will help as we conclude. Think of a young boy walking along the street with his father. The two are having a wonderful time together and suddenly the father stoops down and swings his boy into his arms holding him high in the air. He then kisses him and tells him that he loves him, and puts him back down on the ground. Puritan pastor Thomas Goodwin once spoke of this and then asked the following question. “Tell me this, was the young boy more a son in the father’s arms than he was down on the street?”[12] Do you see what Goodwin was up to in that question? His answer was that objectively there is no difference, the boy is always his beloved son. But subjectively there is all the difference in the world, for when the boy was in the arms of his father he was experiencing his father’s love.

Prayer is like this. Objectively all believers are owned and adopted sons and daughters of God, this is true, beautiful and praiseworthy. But subjectively we can feel the warm embrace of our heavenly Father’s arms. How? Certainly through reading and meditating on His Word, sure. But when the reading and meditating over the Word is coupled with prayer the heart is drawn heavenward to God and we experience subjectively what we objectively know to be true. We experience being the soul being lifted up into heaven by our Father’s arms.

Church, I deeply long that you would know this. That you would know how accessible mercy’s door truly is. Jesus so loves sinners that every sinner who comes to Him is welcomed home to Him. Jesus so loves sinners that every sinner hating their sins and desiring to be rid of them, finds the blood strong enough to wash their sins away. Jesus so loves sinners that every sinner who comes desiring to be made new, finds new life in the death of Christ. Jesus so loves sinners that every sinner who comes to Him can begin again in Him. Jesus so loves sinners that every sinner who comes knowing their lost and wretched state will be found and redeemed. Jesus so loves sinners that every sinner who comes weary and battle worn will be given new courage and new armor for to last the war.

Do you see the rich bounty available to us in prayer? Nothing that is good for us will ever be denied to us. If all of this is true, and it is (!), Church…

…may you knock hard at mercy’s door.

…may you ask great things of our great God and King.

…may you not leave the throne of mercy until all your heart and wants and desires are poured out to Him.

…may you seek the Lord with your whole heart.

[1] Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1971) 2:195.

[2] R.T. France, Matthew – NICNT (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 2007) 279.

[3][3] R. C. Sproul, Matthew: An Expositional Commentary (Sanford, FL: Ligonier, 2019) 168.

[4] Leon Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew – PNTC (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1992) 170.

[5] Donald A. Hagner, Matthew 1-13 – WBC (Dallas, TX: Word Books, 1993) 174.

[6] Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew, 170.

[7] Sproul, Matthew: An Expositional Commentary, 169.

[8] France, Matthew, 281.