Text: “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).
Introduction:
Our Scripture reading this morning has to do with prayer. Prayer was extremely important in Jesus’ life. This was his means of communicating with his Father. This was the means he used to let his Father know what was on his heart and in his mind. Jesus received his guidance and direction through the connective line between him and Almighty God.
The life Jesus lived is an example of how we should live our life. He journeyed through life just as we are doing. He had friends he could depend on and who would support him. He had an earthly mother and father, although his real Father was God Himself. I am sure Mary was the best mother one could ask for and I believe Joseph did an excellent job of being his earthly father.
As a child, Jesus probably had the same wants and desires that other children had. He most likely played games and engaged in the same activities as other children of his age. I am saying that he went through the same growing-up years as all of us have gone through.
Mary and Joseph surely corrected him when he did wrong and praised him when he was exceptional. Jesus went through all the steps and experienced all that children go through and that is the reason he understands all the situations and issues God’s children face.
Jesus was not always on his knees praying nor was his hands always folded and his head bowed. I venture to say that he prayed far more than most of us pray. He prayed for many of the same thing we pray for, but the difference is that Jesus prayed for the benefit of others.
What are some of the things you and I pray for or have prayed for? Is there anyone in here who has never prayed for better health, more wealth, increased happiness, a house to call home, food to curb our appetite, family and friends who love us or a means of financially supporting ourselves and our loved ones?
I believe I can say that we have all prayed for something, but at times our prayer seemed to go unanswered. What did we do? Did we just say, “Oh well, I guess that wasn’t God’s will or I knew God wouldn’t be interested because the request is too small or too large” or did we follow Jesus’ words to “ask, seek and knock?” Were we persistent by asking more than once?
On the other hand, maybe God did answer our prayer, but the answer was not what we expected or perhaps it was the opposite of what we asked for. Listen to this:
Story: “God’s Strange Answers”
He was a Christian, and he prayed. He asked for strength to do greater things, but he was given infirmity that he might do better things.
He asked for riches that he might be happy; he was given poverty that he might be wise.
He asked for power that he might have the praise of men; he was given weakness that he might feel the need of God.
He had received nothing that he asked for, all that he hoped for. His prayer seems unanswered, but he is most blessed.
------------------------The Standard
There are times God does not answer our prayer because he is checking our persistence. At times, we say things and ask for things without even thinking. God wants us to be sure of what we ask for. Jesus said, “Ask and it will be given to you…For everyone who asks receives” (Matthew 7:7, 8).
If we really and truly and wholeheartedly desire something, we will receive it because Jesus said we would. We may have to be persistent and ask and seek more than one time. If our faith and our focus are sincere, God will reward us by answering our prayer.
Most of these things we ask for are worldly, but things like happiness, joy, knowledge, wisdom, understanding, patience and love are all possible through faith in God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
Jesus knows what we need and what we want and he desires that our needs and wants be satisfied. I am not saying this in a greedy or selfish way. Whatever we desire will come about if we only ask God in the right spirit. Our prayers must always be positive and not negative.
He will not tolerate requests that will harm another person. He listens, hears and acts upon every request. He may not answer in the way we want, but he will answer and provide more than what we ask. God may not answer as quickly as we think he should perhaps because he is trying to teach us patience and persistence.
Jesus’ prayer life provided strength and power for his earthly ministry. Prayer was of utmost importance to Jesus. He prayed every time a decision had to be made. He prayed most often when he was by himself.
Jesus prayed before choosing his twelve disciples. Scripture tells us that “Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles” (Luke 6:12, 13).
Choosing his twelve disciples was indeed a very important task. He did not make the decision without consulting his heavenly Father. He asked his Father for the right twelve men who would carry forth his mission upon the earth. He asked and the Father answered.
The lesson for us is to always ask our heavenly Father to help us make decisions regardless of the degree of importance. Most of us have made decisions without consulting God and soon found that we had made the wrong choice. Has that ever happened to you? It certainly has happened more times in my life that I care to admit.
Jesus liked to pray by himself in the early morning hours. Mark records these words: “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed” (Mark 1:35). Have you and I every gotten up early in the morning, when things were quiet and everyone else was sleeping, so that we could go into another room or out on the porch to talk to God?
I don’t know about you, but I certainly need to do this. There are so many distractions in life today that God seems to be left out of our life. People want to talk to us. The television is blaring with unimportant information.
We have to go to a meeting; we have to go to work; we want to read the newspaper, or we want to play on the computer. The point is that we have time to do the things we want to do, but not the thing that should be number one in our life. Jesus took time even if it meant in the early hours.
Martin Luther once said: “I am so busy now that I find if I did not spend two or three hours each day in prayer, I could not get through the day. If I should neglect prayer but a single day, I should lose a great deal of the fire of faith.” ----Link and visitor
Jesus does not want us to be stressed, tired and worn-out. That is why he said, “Come unto Me…..ask, seek and knock.” We go to him in prayer. We ask and then we listen to and follow his words.
Jesus was not stressed when he was faced with feeding 5000 plus people. He took what was available, thanked his Father and had food distributed to all the people. After he fed the people, “Jesus departed to the mountain to pray” (Mark 6:46).
It is interesting to note that Jesus spent many hours in prayer. Matthew tells us that when Jesus went up to the mountain to pray, he was still there in the evening. This tells me that he did not offer a short quick prayer like we often do, but his prayer was pouring out his heart to his Father. It was a one on one talk with no interruptions and no set time.
The study of Jesus’ prayer life should reveal to us the importance of uninterrupted communication with our heavenly Father. There are times when we are talking to someone and the conversation is so important to us that we do not want to be interrupted and if we are interrupted, we become upset. I don’t recall Jesus’ prayers ever being interrupted. I believe the reason is he considered talking to his Father was the most important aspect in his earthly life.
Jesus taught the people of his time how to pray and his words are relevant to us today. Jesus said, “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words” (Matthew 6:6, 7).
When we pray, we are not to have attention focused on us. When we pray as a group, such as in church, our focus is upon Almighty God. We are not praying to get each others attention but each of us is in private communication with our Father.
The prayer known as ‘The Lord’s Prayer” is a model prayer that is the pattern we should follow when we pray. Our prayers should praise God for all he has done for us and for all he has done for the world. God knows and provides for our daily needs and he knows the struggles we go though each day of life. We should give Him the praise and the honor He deserves.
We need to ask that His will be done in this life and in the next. Everything we have and everything we acquire is provided on a daily basis. He doesn’t always give us what we want, but He does give us what is best. God never tempts, but He does test us.
God knows about temptation because God the Son was tempted in the desert as we are tempted in our daily journey through life. We never need to fear temptation because “God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).
Our prayers should include thanks to God because He does not lead us into temptation, but He does deliver us from the evil ways of the devil. We should thank Him for the strength He provides us and keeps us on the straight and narrow path leading to His kingdom.
Jesus prayed many times for other people. For example, He said “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers” (Luke 22:31, 32). Peter became a great minister with excellent leadership.
Jesus prayed to the Father for the disciples saying, “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one” (John 17:15).
He prayed for all believers. Jesus said, “I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (John 17:20, 21).
Jesus prayed earnestly in the Garden of Gethsemane as he thought about what was about to happen. He knew about the Cross and his mission, but he could feel the terrible suffering and agony. Three times he prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as your will” (Matthew 26:39),
Let’s remember that Jesus was sinless, but he was paying for the sins of everyone and this would entail his separation from God the Father. The agony of knowing about the separation caused him to sweat drops of blood. “And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground” (Luke 22:44).
The distress and agony Jesus suffered did not cause him to give up his mission. He completed his mission by taking our sins and depositing them at the foot of the Cross. He gave his body and shed his blood that we would have the opportunity to spend eternity with him in his kingdom.
Jesus prayed as he hung on the old wooden Cross watching the soldiers at the foot of the cross gambling for his clothes. “And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get” (Mark 15:24).
All the pain and agony brought about by all those responsible for the crucifixion, Jesus was able to pray to the Father: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34).
Although they put him to death, Jesus asked the Father to forgive them and the Father answered that prayer by providing for all who would receive it, the path to salvation. This path was provided out of love.
Jesus said, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
Conclusion:
God created us and he could have destroyed us, but that was never in his plan. Sin created a void between man and God, but God’s plan was to bridge that void. That void was bridged by the Cross. That Cross was given out of love. Man was given the opportunity to choose life or death.
Those of us who seek God and his righteousness will find it. Jesus said, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33). This means that we are to turn to God for help and assistance and not someone or something else. God should be the focus of our thoughts and our desires. There is nothing more important than seeking Almighty God.
There are many things that tend to get between us and God. Things like wealth, profession or work, house, automobile, status and numerous other worldly things tend to separate people from God. People have to make a choice of what is really important for their earthly life as well as their eternal life.
Jesus said, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves bread in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where you treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19-21). Our treasure is the fulfillment of God’s purpose for us in this life.
To help us acquire his desire for our life, Jesus said, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened” (Matthew 7:7, 8).
We are to persist, persevere and not give up.
Poem: “Don’t Quit”
When things go wrong as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,
When funds are low and debts are high,
And you want to smile but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest if you must, but don’t you quit.
Life is strange with its twists and turns,
As everyone of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won had he stuck it out.
Don’t give up, though the pace seems slow—
You may succeed with another blow.
Often the goal is nearer than
It seems to a faint and faltering man;
Often the struggler has given up,
When he might have captured the victor’s cup.
And he learned too late, when the night slipped down
How close he was to the golden crown.
Success is failure turned inside out—
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you can never tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems afar.
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit—
It’s when things seem worse that you mustn’t quit.
---------------------Baptist and Reflector
“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).
Amen.
