Inside: We’re to be persistent in prayer. We need it just as much as we need oxygen to breathe. It’s the lifeline to those of us in the Kingdom.

We're to be persistent in prayer. We need it just as much as we need oxygen to breathe. It's the lifeline to those of us in the Kingdom. @thankfulhomemaker

We’re to be persistent in prayer. We need it just as much as we need oxygen to breathe. It’s the lifeline to those of us in the Kingdom. We are still on earth, and as we pray with such persistence continually about all things, it reveals our great dependence on Jesus.

Only through Jesus working in and through us can we stay on the narrow path and walk in righteousness and holiness. We must continually be asking and keep asking and seek and keep seeking and knock and keep knocking.

Many commentators note our text of Matthew 7:7-11 is a perfect bridge between the previous teaching about wrongly judging others with a critical spirit in verses 1-6 and the positive teaching we come to in verse 12 on the Golden rule.

We're to be persistent in prayer. We need it just as much as we need oxygen to breathe. It's the lifeline to those of us in the Kingdom.

We can be in Christ, have the log removed from our own eye, and still need winsome help from above with how to remove the speck from our brother. We also worked through how difficult it can be to discern between those who are dogs or pigs (speaking here of the false prophets or false teachers) and not to offer the holy things of the Lord to them.

We need this reminder to call on the Lord in prayer. Wisdom from above is our greatest need (James 1:5).

Matthew 7:7-12:

7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 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!

12 “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

We need to be in prayer for wisdom, discernment, judging rightly, what to say, how to say it, when to say it, if to say it, how to respond in kind when we’re verbally attacked, and so many other areas we may find ourselves dealing with.

We need prayer to speak the truth in love and that it’s not coming from a self-righteous attitude. We need God’s help guiding our words and the attitudes behind them.

“God gives us many principles in His Word, but He does not give specific methods or rules for every conceivable situation. For one thing, situations keep changing and vary greatly from age to age and person to person. To give specific rules for every circumstance would require a giant library of volumes. But even more important than that is God’s desire that we rely on Him directly. He wants us to be in His Word, and without being in His Word, we cannot pray wisely or rightly.”
John MacArthur

The Golden rule states how we are to love other people and “treat them” is a summary of the Law and the Prophets, and it lays out for us what is in the second great commandment:

Matthew 22:37-39
37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Leviticus 19:18:
18 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

In this verse of Matthew 7:12, we are given a summary of the law and the prophets. This text doesn’t allow us to ignore all the others, but it reminds us of all the other teachings we already know from God’s Word; these we are to put into practice.

SERMON ON THE MOUNT SERIES

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With the Master . . . On the Mount: A Ladies’ Bible Study of the Sermon on the Mount by Susan Heck

Matthew 1-7 (The MacArthur New Testament Commentary) (Volume 1) by John MacArthur

Show Notes:

“God gives us many principles in His Word, but He does not give specific methods or rules for every conceivable situation. For one thing, situations keep changing and vary greatly from age to age and person to person. To give specific rules for every circumstance would require a giant library of volumes. But even more important than that is God’s desire that we rely on Him directly. he wants us to be in His Word, and without being in His Word we cannot pray wisely or rightly.”

~ John MacArthur, Matthew 1-7 Commentary

“We are beggars before God. We are spiritually shortsighted and undiscerning. We fall so far short of what we should be for the sake of our Lord Jesus. We have nothing to offer him. Here, then, Jesus teaches us what has rightly been called ‘beggars’ logic.’ We are to persist in asking for God’s grace as though we are beggars (for spiritually, we always remain so). We can do so in the confidence that the one who responds to our asking, who reveals himself to our seeking, and who opens his heart to our knocking, is a Father to us.”

~ Sinclair Ferguson, The Sermon on the Mount

I asked for health that I might do greater things;

I was given infirmity that I might do better things.

I asked God for strength that I might achieve;

I was made weak that I might learn to obey.

I asked for riches that I might be happy;

I was given poverty that I might be wise.

I asked for power and the praise of men;

I was given weakness to sense my need of God.

I asked for all things that I might enjoy life;

I was given life that I might enjoy all things.

I got nothing I asked for but everything I hoped for;

In spite of myself, my prayers were answered—

I am among all men most richly blessed.

Yes, God always give us what’s best for us.

~ Author Unknown

“The greatest human parental love cannot compare with God’s. There is no limit to what our heavenly Father will give to us when we ask in obedience and according to His will.”

~ John MacArthur, Matthew 1-7 Commentary

And so our Heavenly Father bids us come to Him in prayer. He never errs and never makes mistakes as do even the best of earthly fathers. That is the real meaning of the phrase “how much more.” God knows much more than we do. God cares much more than we care. He is much richer than we are and He is far more willing to answer our prayers than we are to have them answered. And we know that our Father loves us because He gave His own Son to die for us even when we were His enemies. If He has already given us the best gift He could possibly give to mankind, will He refuse us any good thing we ask of Him? The Cross proves that the heart of God is good and that He gives good gifts because He gave the best on Calvary. So it is our holy privilege to come to that same good heart every time we pray.

~ Precept Austin Commentary on Matthew 7:11

…“every sin results from preoccupation with self. We sin because we are totally selfish, totally devoted to ourselves, rather than to God and to others. Unregenerate man can never come up to the standard of selfless love—the love that loves others as oneself and treats others in the same way that one wants to be treated.”

~ John MacArthur, Matthew 1-7 Commentary

“If we seriously obeyed the principle set forth in Matthew 7:12, most of our sin would cease. If we really treated others the way we desire to be treated, we would stop lying, stealing, committing sexual immorality, gossiping, slandering, speaking flattery, getting angry, being arrogant, being bitter, having abortions, meddling in others’ business, complaining, being rude, arguing, and a myriad of other sinful things. If we really started treating others the way we want to be treated, we would start honoring our parents, honoring our authorities, taking care of widows and orphans, disciplining our children as God says, being courteous to others, being hospitable, showing love by being joyful, merciful, compassionate, kind, longsuffering, gentle, good, self-controlled, and, again, a myriad of other godly things. If we really stopped long enough before every thought, word, and deed directed toward others to ask ourselves, “Is this how I would like to be treated? Is this how I would like others to speak to me? Is this how I would like others to think about me?” then we would see amazing things begin to happen in our personal and spiritual lives. We might see a glimpse of what Jesus has already spoken about in the Sermon on the Mount, that is, to be perfect as He is perfect (Matthew 5:48).”

Susan Heck, With the Master on the Mount

“For Jesus, the word of God is not an impossible complex of rules and regulations placed on men’s shoulders as a heavy burden. Rather, it is the outworking of this principle of love. Grasp this, and everything falls into place. That is his point.

The Christian life is indeed demanding, but in essence, its principle is simple. It is knowing the grace of God working so powerfully in your heart that you are freed from the mastery of sin and self over your life. You can now serve others and bring blessing to them as the Lord has brought blessing to you. This is the kind of clearsightedness that arises from living in the light of the judgment of God your Father.”

~ Sinclair Ferguson, The Sermon on the Mount

Scripture References:

Matthew 7:7-12
Matthew 7:1-6
James 1:5
Luke 11:5-10
1 Peter 1:15-16
Matthew 4:1-4
Ephesians 1:3
Ephesians 1:7-8
1 John 4:19
Matthew 5:48
Matthew 22:37-39
Leviticus 19:18