1. Ask.

“If you ask and receive not, it must be because there is something amiss or wanting in the prayer. Hold on; let the Word and the Spirit teach you to pray aright, but do not let go the confidence he seeks to waken…If we ask and receive not, it is because we have not learned to pray aright.” Andrew Murray (Following the Call, Moore, 292-293)

2. Seek.

“The importance of this element of persistence cannot be exaggerated. You find it not only in biblical teaching, but also in the lives of the saints.” (Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, Lloyd-Jones, 461)

3. Knock.

Come, my soul, thy suit prepare;
Jesus loves to answer prayer;
He himself has bid thee pray,
Therefore will not say thee nay.
Thou art coming to a King;
Large petitions with thee bring;
For his grace and power are such,
None can ever ask too much. John Newton, 1725-1807
(Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount and his Confrontation with the World, Carson, 146)

Sermon Questions

1. Share your best 'Knock, knock" joke. (Then send some on to Pastor Steve.)

2. Of asking, seeking, knocking--which one are you good at? Which one could you use some work on?

3. Describe a time in your life when you needed to ask, seek, and knock, and it took a while to hear/see/experience the answer.

4. Share other Biblical passages that reaffirm these concepts.

5. What stood out to you about the passage?

6. Describe what the "good things of God" are in your understanding.