Pray Persistently & Consistently

Transcript

GRM 1038
7/12/2009
Pray Persistently and Consistently
Matthew 7:7-12
Gil Rugh


The songs we've sung have focused attention on the wonder of our God's salvation and the fact that He is the King and He is the risen King. And that is really the subject of the Sermon on the Mount which we are studying together in Matthew 5-7. So turn there in your Bibles if you would, the Sermon on the Mount. What Jesus is doing is telling the nation Israel what is required to go into the kingdom that He will establish on the earth. Remember the message has been from John the Baptist and then from Christ the Messiah, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Now He has sat down on the side of the mountain and He is explaining to His disciples and others what is required to go into the kingdom. An issue that is of great importance to us today because it has to do with salvation, where are we going, where is this world going, how will it all end. There is gloom and doom in the future but there is glory in the future. The issue is an issue of salvation because ultimately Jesus Christ is going to return to earth and establish a kingdom on this earth. He will rule and reign, the capital will be Jerusalem, it will be a world characterized by glory, splendor, righteousness and so on.

The issue is, who will be part of the kingdom when He establishes it. Not everyone who thinks they will be, will be. And that's what Jesus is addressing—the religious leaders in Israel, Pharisees, scribes, along with the Saducees. The Pharisees prided themselves in being the most righteous of men in Israel, they meticulously worked to keep all the commandments to the best of their ability found in the Mosaic Law. They even added extra commandments to be sure they were as righteous as they could be. And then Jesus comes and tells about going into the kingdom and He said in Matthew 5:17, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not go into the kingdom. What a shock. The Jews are thinking, here is our model, if only I could be as righteous as the Pharisees. And now the Messiah says the Pharisees won't be going into the kingdom and if you don't have a greater righteousness than the Pharisees, you won't be going in either. Where do you get such righteousness? You get it from God. It's a call to the nation to repent, to individuals to repent, to recognize their sin, turn from their sin, place their faith in God's Messiah, the Savior. Be cleansed from their sin, receive righteousness from God and now live as the children of God righteous lives. Righteousness in life is a result of experiencing a change of life within, of being made new. So now as God's child you manifest God's character, which is righteousness.

We've come to chapter 7 and we've looked at the opening verses of chapter 7 where we're warned about judging. Many of the verses in the Sermon on the Mount are quoted, become familiar. Perhaps the most familiar, most often quoted is Matthew 7:1, judge not that you be not judged. We noted what He is talking about there is that critical spirit, judgmental spirit, it characterized the Pharisees. They found fault in everyone but themselves, they were self-righteous. Doesn't mean judgment never takes place but first you have to take the log out of your eye so you can see the speck in someone else's. The Pharisees had never experienced God's salvation, never experienced His righteousness and yet they are trying to tell others how to clean up their lives. You have to begin with God's provision, God's salvation. Now we live with awareness, we have been the recipients of mercy, we have been the recipients of God's grace—undeserving sinners, forgiven and cleansed by simple faith in His Son. Love covers a multitude of sins, we no longer delight to go around finding fault in everyone and everything, that judgmentalism as though we are superior, we are righteous. And of course everyone else is less righteous. That's not the attitude. There are times we have to deal with sin, we have to point out sin in others but it's always with the proper attitude and understanding.

There is judgment to take place. Verse 6 said, don't give what is holy to dogs and don't throw your pearls before swine. That's not complimentary, dealing with people as dogs and pigs, unclean animals in the sight of the Jews. And there has to be discernment but it has to come out of a right relationship with the living God.

One of the things that happens in the Sermon on the Mount, we not only pull out verses or portions of verses but certain sections tie together and we sometimes fail to understand how do they connect with other portions. Some people think the Sermon on the Mount is just a collection of topics that Christ addressed at different times, then Matthew gathered it all together and put it together in one spot and titled it the Sermon on the Mount. That's not true. This was given by Jesus Christ on one occasion, He taught similar things on other occasions to be sure, but here He gave it all at once. I say that because you read verse 6, do not give what is holy to dogs and don't throw your pearls before swine. And then you come to verse 7 and it says, ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you. You say wait a minute, all of a sudden now we go from talking about pigs and dogs to talking about being persistent in prayer. How does it all connect? Well it does because remember what is foundational to all of this. We have to have God's righteousness, we only find that from God. And all we need once we find that righteousness in living day by day comes from Him. The wisdom to face life, to make life's decisions comes from God. So to acquire the salvation that God has made available and to live the life that God requires of His people who will be going into the kingdom when it is established, we need to understand God expects and requires us. He invites us, but you understand He commands us to consistently and persistently come before Him in prayer.

Look at verse 7. Ask, it will be given to you; seek, you will find; knock, it will be opened to you. There are three commands in that verse—ask, seek, knock. They are not recommendations, they are given as commands. We call them imperatives. It's a command given by Christ, here is what we must do. They are given in the present tense, so some of you have a marginal note in your Bibles that says this could be translated keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking because it's a command given in the present tense. Something that is to be ongoing, that we are to do regularly, persistently. We are to come before God, we are to ask, we are to seek, we are to knock. It's like Lord, I'm here knocking on the door, it's me again. I'm bringing to you my requests, the desire of my heart. Now you'll note with this there is assurance. Ask, it will be given to you. Doesn't say ask and see how it turns out. Ask, keep on asking, it will be given to you. Seek, keep on seeking, you will find, you'll get what you are looking for. Knock and it will be opened to you, keep on knocking. Doesn't seem like there is any response. Keep on knocking, it will be given to you, it will be opened to you, you will find. And these promises given to us.

We are back on the subject of prayer, and I say back because the only subject that Jesus revisits in the Sermon on the Mount is the subject of prayer. He gave extensive teaching on the matter of prayer back in chapter 6 verse 5 when He told us how not to pray. When you pray, don't be like the hypocrites. Then in verse 7 He gave us an example. Don't use meaningless repetition, your Father knows what you have need of before you ask Him. Prayer is not me informing God or bringing Him up to date or letting Him know about a need that He has not become aware of yet. He knows everything I need before I ask. So here is how you should pray. And we had what is called the Lord's Prayer which is really a pattern for our prayer that was given by the Lord. We begin by honoring and acknowledging God as our Father who is in heaven. And all honor and all glory belongs to Him. And we are living in light of the desire that His purposes in bringing His kingdom to this earth will be brought about, that time when His will will be done on the earth as it is in heaven. _________________________right in honoring God and living in light of what He has said are His purposes. I seek from Him the things I need for this life. Everything in that order.

Over in chapter 6 verse 33, seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all the things you need will come. All these things will be added to you. He's talking about material things in the context, as we've already looked at. But the priority is His kingdom, His righteousness. I want to be part of the kingdom that you are going to establish on this earth, I want the righteousness that you provide, that will enable me to be acceptable in your sight and be welcomed into your kingdom.

So when we come to chapter 7 verse 7 and He starts to talk again and commands us to keep on asking. What He does is picks up the subject of prayer, and sometimes we need to be persistent in it. It is an ongoing thing. The followers of Christ need to hear this. But you know those who have not yet experienced the righteousness of Christ need to hear it. These commands given in verse 7 have their basis in the fact that we need to come to God for His salvation. I mean, where am I going to get, how am I going to get a righteousness greater than the scribes and Pharisees? Nobody did a better job at trying to keep the Law than they did. The Apostle Paul said that was his testimony, Philippians 3, that he did as good a job as any human being could do in trying to keep the 613 commandments of the Law. He realized it was all worthless, it was rubbish. What he needed to do was come to trust Christ.

So what we're talking about here first and foremost is where do you start. You start by that heart absorbing pursuit of God we heard to beautifully in song. We do it with all our heart, that seeking after God, the pursuit of God. That's the beginning of salvation, that's where it starts, that I come to an awareness. Back in the beatitudes, chapter 5 verse 3, blessed are the poor in spirit. I recognize the spiritual poverty of my condition, that I am destitute before the living God. Blessed are those who mourn, I see the awfulness of my sin, the offense that's been against a holy God. Verse 6, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. So these things, this is a result of God working in a heart. We call is pre-salvation, it's part of the package but God is working in a heart. What is the Spirit of God going to do when He comes? Jesus said in John 16, He will convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment. What do people not want to hear about today? Sin. That's so negative, it's so down and who are you to judge? But you know what the Spirit does when He comes to work in a heart? He convicts of sin, of the need of God's righteousness provided in Christ, of judgment, the guilt we have that will bring the condemnation of God if we don't turn to Christ, the One who bore condemnation in our place.

So as the Spirit of God is working, what is the command here in Matthew 7:7? First ask, seek, knock. You pursue God and His salvation. This is not a work that a person does on their own, this is a result of the Spirit of God touching a heart but the passion of that heart has to be to seek after God, to desire from Him His salvation. Remember Jesus is addressing Jews and their background for this is the Old Testament.

Come back to Deuteronomy 4. You'll note the context here, the character of God seen in verse 24. The Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. Proper perspective of God, He is a holy God, He is a consuming fire, He is a jealous God. Then He warns them, when they go into the land and they prosper in their success and they get led astray and turn aside, worship idols. They are unfaithful to God. The nation Israel will experience the judgment of God. Verse 27, I will scatter you among the peoples, you will be left few in number among the nations. Think of the judgment of God down through history on Israel, think of things like the Holocaust. Just what God said He would do, bring judgment on the nation that turned from Him, the people that turned from Him.

Then you will be scattered among the nations where the Lord drives you. They'll serve other gods. But verse 29, from there you will seek the Lord your God. Now note this, you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul. You see there, He is calling Israel and the Jews to salvation. But how does salvation come? It comes when you seek the Lord with all your heart, all your soul.

Turn over to Deuteronomy 6:4, hear oh Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your might. You know it's not just I will make a decision that it's better to call on the Lord and get out of trouble. There will have to come a time when you are consumed with a passion for Me, with all your heart, all your soul you desire Me and want Me to be your Savior. Then I will intervene.

Turn over to Jeremiah 29. Again the context is God's judgment on the nation Israel and punishing them for their sins in the context of the Babylonian captivity which they will endure for 70 years. Then verse 11, for I know the plans that I have for you declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not calamity, to give you a future and a hope. Look at verse 12, then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. Understand, we swing from one extreme to the other. Salvation is not trying to work up some remorse in your heart and make yourself feel guilty, not a human action in that sense. Nor is it just deciding I will make a decision. We sometimes think tell them the facts of the gospel. Now you've heard the facts of the gospel, would you like to make a decision for Christ. Yes. Okay, bow your head and pray this prayer. All right you've prayed that prayer, you are saved. There is a popular television preacher who preaches psychological sermons but at the end of every psychological sermon that has nothing to do with the Bible and the proper interpretation of the Bible, he says now at the end of our message we always like to give people an opportunity to trust Christ. And he'll say a few facts of the gospel and he'll say now just pray this prayer. Now if you've prayed that prayer we believe you got born again. As though that's what it is. Understand, true salvation is a result of the conviction of God being brought on a heart. I realize I am in desperate condition, I am a sinner, I am under condemnation. God, I need your mercy, I need your forgiveness, I am calling upon you to cleanse me. You know the Puritans were great men of God. Now they may have gone farther than most of us would want to do, but they didn't believe you could get saved unless you had come under serious conviction of sin for some time. Some people would come to them and say, I want to trust Christ and they'd say, you are not ready because they believed you had to have come to that awareness of sin. I want to be careful we don't push it too far, but I am concerned we go the other way. We get our kids at whatever age, they say a prayer and we say they are saved, as though you just get them to say this prayer at this time. And we do that for adults, they say the sinner's prayer and they are saved. Salvation is a work of God and it begins with the conviction of the Spirit of God in a heart. And a person who has never been convicted of sin has never been saved. And it's not a matter, I made a decision, now I get on with my life. You understand that a decision that if I want to take hold of God with all my heart, with all my soul that it means I let go of everything else.

Turn over to Matthew 10. It's important we understand salvation because we as the church today can find ourselves in the same position that Israel found themselves in, in that they thought they were on their way to heaven because they were part of Israel. We have people today who think they are on their way to heaven and on their way to the kingdom because they go to church, and they are good people. Matthew 10:37, he who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. He who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. He who does not take up his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. You understand what He is saying there. You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. ________ seek for Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart. You understand that means I can't love my parents and my family more than I love the Lord. I can't love my honor, my self-respect, my position more than I love the Lord. I must be whatever it takes, Lord. I am calling on you. I love you. If it costs me family, friends, reputation, job, position, God I am a hell-deserving sinner calling on you for mercy. That is asking, seeking, knocking. That's the beginning. Our salvation.

But that's not the end. That's not like here is a decision, close the book. Now how you live your life remains to be seen. That is the beginning of a life. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation, a new creature. Old things have passed away, behold new things have come. I now live a new life. And you know what? How did it begin? Asking, seeking, knocking. How does it continue day by day? Asking, seeking, knocking. It's not, He got me going, like you put training wheels on a bike and give them a push and there they go. God saved us and got you started, now get going. No, you understand it's the same today as it was ten years ago, twenty years ago, thirty years ago, forty years ago, when you first trusted Christ. Call upon the Lord to be saved. Understand what is the pattern of your life—consistent and persistent prayer, staying with it.

Come back to Matthew 7. For everyone who asks receives, he who seeks find, to him who knocks it will be opened. I mean, there is a promise. And I say this for you. I get amazed at myself, how little I am willing to get by with. I'm not talking about little in possessions or material things, but to live a rather poverty stricken spiritual life. Here the God of heaven doesn't invite me to come before Him, He commands me. Keep on asking Me, Gil; keep on seeking from Me, Gil; keep knocking on the door to receive from Me, Gil. Don't stop. We think, I hardly have time to come and preach. Just think about it, how many hours this week you spent in prayer talking to the Lord. We just go by, I have a lot of things to work out, I have problems to deal with, I have things to try to figure out. I like Martin Luther who said his days were so busy he couldn't think of starting without four hours of prayer. I mean, I have all those things before me, I better bring them all before the Lord. Then I'll be ready for Him to handle them through me. This is our great privilege, and it doesn't say it might. Everyone who asks receives. It started with my salvation. Does anyone call upon the Lord from a heart that desires Him alone who doesn't receive His salvation? Is there anybody who asks who isn't saved? Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved, right? That's the start. You know what? The God who saved me when I called upon Him said keep on coming, keep on asking. And I'll keep on giving. What a promise, what a blessing.

And now you want to be sure? Look at verse 9, what man is there among you when his son asks for a loaf will give him a stone. Or when he asks for a fish he won't give him a snake, will he? We delight to do good things for our children, don't we? We can't always give them everything they want because it's not always good for them. But we're pleased to be able to give them what is good for them. Well verse 11, if you then being evil. I mean, we're fallen sinful human beings, even redeemed I'm still beset with sin. If you being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him. I mean, think about it. As parents we delight to give good things to our children, we're happy to have them come, we're pleased when they come and ask for those good things, proper things. We are sinful beings and we do that. Think of our holy, righteous good heavenly Father. We come and ask Him, can we doubt that He would give us what is good? I mean, what a promise. He didn't say He would give me everything I want, we see the result of that in our society, don't we? Kids that they never know, they're just parents who don't want to be bothered so just give them what they want to get them out of here and get them out of my hair. But that's not giving what is good. But what is good? When I come and ask God He will give what is good.
Turn over to Luke 18. This is a recurring theme in the scripture, not just the gospels. In Luke 18 Jesus tells some parables. We've looked at the second parable here a couple of different times in our study of the Sermon on the Mount and this is where we started—asking, seeking, knocking, seeking God's salvation. And here is the Pharisee, down in verse 11, the Pharisee and was praying this to himself, God, I thank you that I am not like other people. There was a self-righteousness about him, I'm not that bad a sinner. I'm not a sinner like other people are sinners. But then you have the tax gatherer and he was beating his breast, verse 13, God, be merciful to me the sinner. And he received God's mercy. There is the one seeking righteousness from God.

At the beginning of the chapter, verse 1, He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart. What is He telling them? They ought to pray at all times and not to lose heart. And then He gave the parable. There was a judge who did not fear God, didn't respect men. A widow in that city kept coming to him saying, give me legal protection from my opponent. For a while he was unwilling but afterward he said to himself, though I do not fear God nor respect men, yet because this widow bothers me I will give her legal protection. Otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out. The Lord said, hear what the unrighteous judge said. Now will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night? And will He delay long over them? I tell you He will bring about justice for them quickly. However when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth? There will be few in number comparatively.

What is the comparison here? Well did you hear what the unrighteous judge did? It's not that you're comparing God to an unrighteous judge, you are contrasting him. Even an unrighteous judge can finally be prevailed upon to do something right and good. But what about God? I mean the righteous God, won't He respond to my prayers? I want to pray in accord with righteousness, I don't want to ask for unrighteous things. Well keep on praying, don't lose heart. You know that's a reminder to us. We don't always get what we want on our schedule. God does not operate on my schedule. I want it and I want it today. And if not today, Lord, tomorrow will be fine, preferably before noon. And we get this in our mind and we lose heart when we don't get it, when we don't seek the response. We give up. We saw we shouldn't use vain repetition, empty repetition. But we should be persistent in coming before God for those things that matter. If I'm praying for the salvation of a dear one, I'm not going to quit praying for them just because week, months or years have gone by and they are not saved. I'm not giving up. I mean, God desires that all would be saved. He's not willing that any should perish. I'm going to keep coming before Him with that. Maybe it will happen after my death, I don't know. I should quit and lose heart and so on? And so many things, be persistent, stay with it.

Turn over to Romans 12 to move us into the church age. This is not just for Israel, believers then. Verse 12, we'll break into this list of things here, what we are to be doing. We are to be rejoicing in prayer, rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer. Devoted to prayer, a word that means to persist in something, to adhere to something. I mean, I'm stuck to it, I'm staying with it, I'm staying at it. We used to refer to prayer warriors, those people you knew that when you asked them to pray for something you are on their prayer list, they are going to stay with it, they'll be praying for you. There are people in this congregation who have been for me prayer warriors. They persist. They don't say Lord, I've been praying for him for years and his preaching hasn't gotten any better. They say Lord, I've been praying for him for years but obviously I haven't been praying hard enough so Lord, I'm going to pray for him more every day. That's what persistent prayer is, we don't quit, we don't stop. Be devoted to prayer.

Turn over to Ephesians 6:18. This is in the context that you put on the whole armor of God because we are in a spiritual battle and you can't do it in your own strength. You'll note verse 10 that leads into this, finally be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. You'll note the emphasis on that, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Strong, strength, might, and it's His. The traps that the devil tries to lure us in, we've been saved, of course you're saved, you know the Lord, now you can do it. I can't but I belong to the One who can and His strength becomes my strength. That's why Paul could say, when I am weak then I am strong. Bodily weakness, spiritual strength.

We don't have time to go through the armor, but come down to verse 18. What are we to do? With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit. This isn't just talking about kinds of prayer, my prayer time in the morning or the evening or at lunch. But you know what? I can be doing my job and talking it over with the Lord, bringing things before Him. I walk in communion with the Lord day by day, all day. It's not, I have to get apart and talk to the Lord. Those are good times, you get apart and talk to the Lord. But you know what? I can be walking down a crowded street talking to the Lord. Pray at all times in the Spirit.

With this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance. That's the same word that we had, be devoted to prayer in Romans 12:12. Here be devoted, perseverance, same basic word. And petition for all the saints, and on my behalf that utterance may be given to me. This is Paul, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. And in proclaiming it I may speak boldly as I ought to speak. You know we sometimes say I have a burden for evangelism, why aren't we more evangelistic? We could start praying for one another that the Lord would make us bold. Here is the Apostle Paul in chains for being so bold with the gospel. But you know he never develops that self-assurance, self-confidence, I can do it. I've preached the gospel in every kind of situation you could think of and I've experienced every kind of opposition and persecution you might think of enduring. So you don't have to tell me about being bold. You know what he said? You keep on praying for me to be bold. He never develops that self-confidence, I can do it. You pray for me that utterance may be given to me. Paul doesn't know....... Pray that I'll know what to say, the right words to come out, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, that I may speak boldly as I ought to speak. You keep praying for me, keep praying for me, with all perseverance, keep praying.

That's what he's talking about. We settle in, we think we do it well. You know I preach every week, I don't have to pray as much about preaching as I used to. I used to be so nervous and afraid and worried about preaching, but I do it every week now so I don't have to pray as much. Is that a trap? Do you ever get to the point that it's your strength doing the work of the Lord? Never happens. But if we admit for all of us, when is our most intense time of prayer? Trouble, right? Some kind of problem comes into my life and my prayer life intensifies dramatically. And yet that ought to be my characteristic life, right? That doesn't mean we aren't concentrating on certain things in a special way like Paul is asking for them to do here, but if we were asked to characterize our prayer life we ought to say intense, persistent. The most natural thing for us is talking with God because I do that more than I talk about sports, I do that more than I talk about politics, I do that more than I ............. Because I talk to Him all the time. That is the most natural thing for me. Sadly for some of us, we have been believers a while, it is the most unnatural thing for us. We can get into a spiel about politics and what's going on with the President or a spiel on sports. But have I talked with the Lord, talked about the Lord? Well, I'm not good with words. Could have fooled me. We are to be persistent in prayer, staying with it before the throne of grace.

One other passage, Colossians, one more verse on this. Uses the same word, to be devoted, to be persistent, to adhere to something. Colossians 4:2, devote yourselves to prayer. Keep alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving, praying at the same time for us as well. Any wonder Paul was such an effective evangelist? Pray for us that God will open for us a door for the Word that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ for which I have also been imprisoned, that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak. You know Paul is asking for them to pray for him for this reason. Do you think Paul wasn't praying about this all the time? He's in prison. What am I in prison here for? I don't know, it was unjust. Pray that the authorities will realize how unjust it is that I an innocent man ........... No, I'm here as a servant of the Lord. Why would I be in prison? So I could present the gospel in prison, pray for me that I'll do it. You see it's just a consuming thing all the time. Keep on praying in this way.

Come back to the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 7. The promises are here. If I don't do this I not only don't benefit from the promises, I am in active disobedience. The One who told me to keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking commanded me to do it. So a weak shriveled prayer life does not just mean that I struggle along often feeling overwhelmed and often being overwhelmed, it means I am living a life of disobedience to the Lord. I want to be sure I am living a life of obedience. But I have to go back and start at the beginning again. Have I started? Do I know the Lord? Do I belong to Him?

One more passage, Hebrews 4. As part of being a pastor I am occasionally, periodically with some regularity invited to different prayer get-togethers. And sometimes you are invited, sometimes Christians are invited, people generally. The thing that concerns me is the indiscriminate way these prayer get togethers are brought about, as though it pleases God to have all of us come together to pray, even though we have different beliefs. I never go to those meetings, it would be hypocritical.

Look at prayer in Hebrews 4:14, therefore since we have a great high priest, you ought to underline that, who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. Verse 16, therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in times of need. Foundational to what he says in verse 14-16, and particularly for our purposes verse 16, is we have a great high priest. You understand that anyone who does not have Jesus Christ as their great high priest, that they have come to that recognition of sin that we talked about earlier, and that intense hunger and thirst for God, that they desire Him and His salvation more than anything else. In that they've placed their faith in Christ. They are the only people who have Jesus Christ as their great high priest. Anyone else who attempts to come before God in prayer offends God greatly. Even the prayers of the wicked are an offense to God. I mean, what would it be like if some strange kid comes barging through the front door or your house and asks you for something? Your first question is who are you? What are you doing here? Who are you to come barging into my house, asking me for things? You have people who say, we're going to get together for prayer, God will be so pleased, so happy that we're all going to get together for prayer. So that people who have refused to believe in His Son, refused to acknowledge their sin an offense against the holy God can be made to think that God is pleased that we had a prayer conference, a prayer breakfast, a prayer lunch, a prayer dinner. Understand that is an offense against God.

The amazing thing is God does invite us to come. Jesus said, come unto Me all you that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. God promises that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. We begin by pursuing Him for our salvation, completely, with a complete heart, soul and mind. Lord, I want you, I know I am a sinner. I'm staring out calling on you and your mercy and it will only be your mercy that will save me. I believe your Son died for me, more than anything, more than life I want Him as my Savior to cleanse me and make me new. Now by God's grace I am saved.

But you know what? That same persistence, that same seeking from Him everything is to be the characteristic of my life. Romans 8 says, the God who gave us His Son, how will He not with Him also freely give us all things. I go back and say, God had His Son die for me, what would He withhold from me that is good? What a blessing to belong to the living God.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, that we can call you Father. We are not wondering if you hear, we are not wondering if you will respond. We are not in doubt as to whether you will give us the desires of our heart. You delight to do it. Thank you, Lord, that we can belong to you through faith in your Son. And thank you, Lord, that day by day we walk in fellowship with you and we seek from you everything that we need for life, everything we need for godliness, and you are ready to give. I pray for any who are here who do not know the Savior that this might be a day when they turn from their sin to faith in Him. Lord, for us who do know you, may we honestly look at our lives and see if indeed there is an intense persistence that characterizes us as we faithfully seek from you everything necessary for life, as we faithfully uphold one another before the throne of grace and seek your work in each of our lives so that we might faithfully serve you and represent you in these days. Thank you for answered prayer. In Christ's name, amen.