Matt 7:7-11

The Right Side up Life / Matthew 7:7–11

Intro

Ask seek and knock is an interesting command or imperative because it definitely at the forefront of our culture. We could easily say to Jesus, we are asking, and we are seeking, and we are knocking.

We have sought and we are exhausted. We have asked and we are irritated. We have knocked and our knuckles are left bloodied.

Matthew 7:7–8 ESV

“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.

Jesus is not clear to what end we should be seeking but just that we should be doing so. We hear that we should seek. We assume the end. We think that to ask is to ask what it is we want for. To seek is not just to seek God but to seek God for something.

this is an ongoing theme in the sermon on the mount. We are caused over and over again to question what it is we seek after. What it is we prefer pursue. Really what it is that we consider to be the flourishing life. And again, and again, Jesus tells us that our pursuits may not be all that we Esteem them to be. And maybe there is something more. This morning Jesus defines exactly what that something more is. But let’s continue to look at this idea of seeking.

It follows this line of thinking. We meet a son who is seeking. He is asking. He is searching. He goes to the Father and asks for his share of the property

Luke 15:12 ESV

And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them.

Luke 15:13–14 ESV

Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need.

Luke 15:15–16 ESV

So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.

Luke 15:17–19 ESV

“But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.” ’

Jesus is always pointing us to the Father

Matthew 7:9–10 ESV

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 we are going to seek, we are called to seek after God. If we are going to ask, we are called to ask the Heavenly Father. If we are going to knock on doors, we are called to come to the Father’s house.

Matthew 7:11 ESV

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!

› in other words you will continue to seek after something that only our Father in heaven offers

Luke 15:20–24 ESV

And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.

you can trust that God is a better end than whatever it is. You’re searching for this morning. I would invite you to wrestle with setting down whatever you’re searching for Then take a step toward the father this morning. Just like the journey of the prodigal son. If you take a step, God takes 10. Invite you to find him this morning to see kim to ask of him.

Here are five discussion questions 

1. How has the shift in how we pursue knowledge—from the computer age to AI—impacted our sense of satisfaction and fulfillment? Do you think we are truly more content with all the tools we have available? Why or why not?

2. Jesus commands us to “ask, seek, and knock.” How do you interpret these instructions in light of today’s culture of endless seeking? How might our assumptions about what we want from God differ from what He offers?

3. In the story of the prodigal son, the son seeks fulfillment in experiences and possessions but eventually returns to the Father. How do we see this same pattern in our own lives? What are some “dead ends” we’ve encountered in our pursuits?

4. Jesus tells us to call God “Father.” How does this change our understanding of our relationship with God? How does viewing God as a Father alter the way we seek, ask, and knock?

5. The Father in the parable is seen looking for his son “while he was still a long way off.” What does this tell us about God’s nature in relation to our seeking? How does this shape the way we approach our relationship with God when we feel distant or lost?