"Ask and It Will Be Given to You” | Matthew 7:7–11

You're listening to the Bible Guys, a podcast where a couple of friends talk about the Bible in fun, in practical ways. Good morning, good morning. We talked the whole net through. Good morning, Good morning to you and you and you man. It's only Tuesday, I know, and I did it last time on Tuesday. I think is this a new Tuesday tradition? Yeah, I don't know, I don't know. Maybe maybe, Jeff, whatever, I feel like, fantabulous. Yes, today is a good morning, assuming that you're listening in the morning. That's probably not the case for a lot. Good evening, good evening, oh wow, or you could do good night. Yeah, well evening has two. Solos afternoon, good afternoon. Oh yeah, good afternoon, good afternoon. So yeah, hey, welcome to the Bible Guys. I'm Chris, this is Jeff and we are your hosts to this podcast. Oh boy, and I can only imagine how excited our listeners are today. Oh yeah, because we have a very special segment. They're on the edge of the sheet. Yes, this is one of those get to know Chris and Jeff even better segments. Yeah, and it's called Who's most likely Yes, and it usually gives us two. Really, well, no, no, this is choice. This is not would you rather? This is this is fun. This is just fun. Yeah. Yeah, just just get to know us better. It's a preference thing, is yeah. Yeah, okay, all right. Well Number one says, who's most likely to eat cake for breakfast and call it self care? That's could be you. I don't really like cake. I know you don't like cake, but you like self care. I'll eat the cake and you call it self care. That's because exactly answer, I will eat cake for breakfast. Yeah, I won't eat cake most of the time for anything. You're right, you're not a cake person. I'm not a cake person. You're not really a dessert person. No, I'm not. And one of the most horrific things is you're not really a chocolate person. I know, I know. So when you bring the chocolate, just bring it to me. So we had a staff meeting you you weren't here and at the church and they were doing birthdays, and so they brought in these really apparently these phenomenal cupcakes. Right, So, so I think it was your wife probably that ordered him, or somebody else, maybe Debbie. But but but they ordered these incredible cupcakes and they're like, everybody, go get the cupcakes, and everybody's oh man, they're in line. They just love it. I'm just like I didn't. I did. I did not want to touch that with the ten football. I'm just not that way. Yeah. Who's most likely to get mistaken for a celebrity? Oh geez, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I mean, what would either one of us be likely to I don't think I've ever been mistaken for celebrity, although when I was younger, I sort of looked like Ralph Machio. Yeah, yeah, you did, you did? Yeah, So I I just played my wedding for everybody under fifty rough. Machio was a karate kid, right. Right right, Well, hey now he's back with Cobra Coppy. Yeah so even though our young listeners know who he is, they just don't know his name. Yeah, but you don't look like him anymore, no. No, yeah, but but anyway, I just played their wedding video on Sunday and it was me at twenty one. Oh yeah, and it was my Ralf Machio look. Yeah. So if I have a beard, people will sometimes say I look like Ted Cruz, which is funny. And if I'm forty pounds thinner, people will sometimes say I look like if my hair is right, looked like Robin Williams. Oh really yeah, those would be the two things. But he's dead. He's dead. Yeah. Hey, oh, by the way, I do. When I was a little heavier, I did get mistaken a lot for Mojo in the morning. Oh really, yeah for real? Okay, yeah, okay. In fact, I was actually at. A place in Birmingham who's a radio guy. And there's a radio guy in the area and has a recipe voice. Yes, And when I was in Birmingham, this lady swore up and down. She's like, oh my goodness, it's you. And I thought that maybe she was a Bible guy fan. Oh and come to find out, I figured it out like five minutes of the conversation. She thinks I'm Mojo. That's funny, Okay. Who's most likely to hike to a volcano just to say they did that? Definitely be you. That's me. Yeah, although I get to be honest, i'd love it too. I would love it, but it says most likely, yeah, right, and you edged me out. In that area, I would say, just to say they did. Yeah, I mean you know no. So okay, number four. Who's most likely to say I'm just resting my eyes and fall asleep instantly? Hmm, Well you're an instant sleep guy. Yeah, but I'm not. I'm not a fall asleep I'm just resting my eyes. That probably be me. I don't know do you take do you take like quick naps or do you fall asleep in meetings? Umm? Not? You just yawned. But I'll tell you what. I'll tell you what. When I hit forty, something happened to me. I became my mom because my mom can fall asleep anywhere, like in. Church or whatever. And I when I hit forty, I started falling asleep in movies. And I don't know what it is. But if I go to my family knows. If I go to a movie that's like after nine pm, there's a really good chance, no matter what the movie is, I will fall asleep. Wow and chairs, yeah, popcorn. Yeah, don't know what it is. So I'm gonna say me on this one. But you need to go to the Dolby theaters, which the whole theater shakes. Listen to me when I tell you this. Captain America Civil War. It was one of the most anticipated movies for me in my household. In the heat of marvel. We just were on the pinnacle of interest and we were waiting for it, and we got there. It was a nine something movie, and I'm in the theater thinking to myself, this is one of the coolest things I've ever seen. And I missed the last ten minutes because I fell asleep. You fell asleep, Okay, well. Yeah, and so I had to I had to wait until like the next day. I had to go back and see it because I'm just thinking, what does the matter with me? Yeah, so you had to go back and see it, of course for the last ten minutes. Well, I probably saw it four times in the theater. Okay, wow, okay, well that's ventsive nat buddy. Yes, Who's most likely to solve a Rubic's cube while blindfolded? I mean, I suppose me. Do you know? How can you do? You know how to solve I have seen videos where all you have to do is this one pattern and apparently it's that's all you have to know. It's just a single pattern. And uh, and so I could I think I could learn it. I could learn it, but I don't know how to do it. I've seen it too. Yeah. Yeah, so I'm gonna go with me because it seems like trivial and silly, and I'm more likely to do things like that, Okay, things that don't matter, things that don't matter. That's that seems important. Yeah, you never know, you never know. Well, its way, you know, you might be in like some kind of a mission impossible moment and the only way to defuse the bomb is to solve this rubics. Yeah, maybe blindfolded. Maybe I think that it'd be a silly skilled to master, because nobody does. It's a silly skill to master. You're just gonna rest your eyes next. Yeah, I'm just gonna risk my eyes for me. But but but yeah, I think I would master a silly skill, I think. Oh wow. Yeah, so I liked Rubik's Cube back when they were out, you know popular. Oh yeah, I didn't want to learn a pattern. I wanted to figure it out. Oh did you? I used to take the stickers off and then just like say look what. I did, except everybody can see that they. Were Yeah, they were peeled off, like the corners were like all messed up. So yeah, you know that that segment was given to us by Desiree. Yes, and you know what Jesus said, what if you ask, he'll be given to you. You said make them back? Oh she asked, she asked us those questions. No, I'm saying she gave us that segment. She gave us the segment. And you know what it says, He'll give us stuff Jesus. Oh, I see, because Jesus it's rough. Dude. Yeah, you should make it bad. Thank you. So I was trying to. Make it possible transition, Yes, and you nailed. You should get a trophy. Last week I made a good transition or Yesterdady. At the twenty twenty five Bible Guys Awards show. Oh yeah, you're. Probably gonna get the trophy for first. Person possible transition. I don't know, dude, you had some pretty bad one. That was a bad one. Okay, Well, we are in Matthew chapter seven and we're just reading only a few verses here today. Matthew chapter seven versus seven through eleven. Wow, all right, we can get a big gold. What did you say? Seven eleven? Big gold? Oh? Big hop. It's one of my favorite lines in Dumb and dumber. Did you know that was improft? No, he comes out of seven eleven and these two guys were standing there that were not a part of the script. They were literally just walking in the seven eleven and Jim Carrey walks out and he goes, hey, big golf. Huh. Well he just walks away and they and they loved it so much they kept it in Okay, and it's one of my favorite lines. It is so funny. Well, here we go, Jesus says, keep on asking and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be open to you. For everyone who asks receives, everyone who seeks finds, and to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Your parents, if your children ask for a loave of bread, do you give them a stone instead? If they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not so. If you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly father give good gifts to those who ask him? Yeah? So did I ever tell you? Did I ever tell you that sometimes I get angry that God isn't more clear? Yes? You've mentioned that before. Yeah, I mean, angry is nothing ang word. It'll put out, Yeah, they'll put out. I I just so I love God, and I love God's word, and I love the scripture, and I love, you know, being a teacher and trying to make things, you know, simple and clear, and sometimes I there's a part of me I'm just being honest where I'm like, God, couldn't you have said that just a little more clear? Because on the surface, it seems like what you're saying is that I can pray God give me a million dollars, and you're gonna give me a million dollars. Right on the surface, it seems like it's like, hey, if you ask, then I'm gonna give it to you. Right, And does he say, does he give any stipulation? Right there? You know, let's let's read it again. Keep on asking and you'll receive what you ask for. Oh, right, a ferrari actually a maserati, right, like why not? Right? Keep on seeking and you'll find it. Keep on knocking. The door be opened for everyone who asks, it says everyone. Yeah, right, you're gonna you're gonna receive everyone who seeks. We'll find it. Everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. And then he goes on to talk about the comparison of parents giving children good gifts and then or having the father giving us good gifts. So there's a part of me that says, I just wish that God would have said side note right or caveat or hey, don't forget right, because because that's what we're about to say, right, Yeah, we're about to say all those things. We're about to say, side note, caveat, don't forget. Yeah, well I would say he did, but it's a little less evident to a Western thinker than it is to an Eastern minded thinker. Because because of all the words around. It, because of all the words around it. And Matthew five, six and seven are what we call the Sermon on the mounta. There are no verses, there are no chapters. When Jesus is just giving, he doesn't say and then verse twenty seven, I think you. Should know, right, he doesn't do that. So he's just preaching a message exactly. And now for chapter seven, as if we finished chapter six, now we're moving on. But that's how we tend to think of it is we think of it in chapters and verses, and he's not. And so you have to remember that that the the Middle Eastern and the Eastern mindset in the way that they will communicate sometimes is groupings of ideas that go back and revisit a previous idea, right, and and they're centered. What's in the center usually is is the point, and then everything on the outsides of the center are reinforcing or another angle for that. So if you take this this triad here where he says keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking, what's the center? What's the primary meaning? Keep seeking God? Yeah, seeking God. That that's the middle. That's the middle one, right, And so the asking and the knocking are about persistence. The fact that this says keep on in most translations it just says asking, you will receive, seek, and you. Will find knocking the door will be open unto you. Right. But New Living Translations is a little bit more specific on this one. Keep on because it's a it's the act of the continual act of asking and seeking and knocking. So it's the relationship is the point, and what God's wanting is so, hey, those of you that are are adult parents or those of you that are are parents of teenagers. You just want your teenager to communicate with you once. No, you want them communicate with you regularly and often. You're young adults, you want them How come you never call me anymore? And they're like, what do you mean? I called you three weeks ago? And you're like, I want you to call me every day, right, every other day? Right? I want you to call me often. This is what God is trying to say, is he said, it's the it's a continual relationship. Keep knocking, keep asking, because I want you to keep seeking me. That that's the point. But then when you go to the others, He's already talked about don't store up treasures on earth right where mas and rust, moths and rust do corrupt, he said, Instead store treasures in heaven. So he's already talking. He's already talked about materialism. He's already taught us to pray our father heart in heaven. How be your name, your kingdom, Come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. So he's already kind of told us what it means to have a relationship with him and what our priorities should be. Our priority should be shifting from earthly selfish priorities to godly kingdom priorities. Right, He's already done that, and so I don't think that the listener would have heard these verses out of context of what he said in the first century, in the first century when he was preaching the message. But because we love to read six verses or five verses at a time, then we go, Wow, I just found this. I can ask for maserati, and he's promised to give it to me, right, And that's not what happened. My Maserati does one eighty five. Yeah, so does that make sense? So if you take the whole message as a whole, he's already talked about materialism, he's already talked about selfishness, he's already talked about the importance of God's kingdom. He's already ended seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all the other things that we added to you. So he's already set things in priority. And then this is just kind of a callback to that because he's talking in groupings of ideas. And now after he got done talking about fasting and prayer and he talks about worry, he talks about then he pauses and in verse seven one through six, he talks about not judging other people or being judgmental. He pivots back to this, the real goal is to keep seeking God. And so in that context is this prayer thing. But we take it. If we ask anything, we can get whatever we want. Yeah, yeah, because we're not taking in context. Yeah. And so the caveat that I was referring to is one of the things that we always say, which is the Bible is its own best commentary. So you know, we have to ask for things according to God's will, and so you know, it's it's not as if you know, all of us don't have requests that are that are in God's will. We all do, but we have a lot of requests also that aren't in God's will. And so if it aligns with God's will and then you know, and God is willing to allow it, then you know, I do believe that God's will can be persuaded because there are other parts of the Bible. You remember the remember the illustration where Jesus says, this is how the Kingdom of Heaven is. A man is lying there and then the guy knocks on the door and he says, hey, give up, get up and give us give me a piece of bread, because I have a neighbor coming and I don't have enough bread. And he says, go away, we're sleeping. But because he knocks and he's persistent, and he says, because of his bold persistency, he said, he'll get up and he'll give the man what he wants. And then Jesus said, so pray that way. And so it's like what And so that story tells us that God can be moved by prayer, right, which also supports with Jane says, which is, prayer matters, it avails much, it's effective, right, and that and that prayer, prayer makes a difference, and so so we do know that and so but we also have to realize praying according to God's will and whatever God would all want. Well, we know that there's times in the Bible God changed his mind. Yes, yeah. Uh. In the story of Moses with the Israelites, God finally he's so mad at the is They're just complaining all the time, complaining. They begin rebelling against God and God says, Moses, get out of my way. I'm going to wipe them off the face of the earth. And then I'm going to keep my promise to Abraham through you. I'm gonna make your family be the family that fulfills the promised Abraham. And Moses begs God, please don't do it. He says, you know you didn't bring him out here just to wipe them out. What are you gonna How are we going to answer all of the enemies who hate you and hate God's people when they say that was your purpose was to bring him in the desert to kill them. It's going to be bad for your reputation all these things. Please don't do any And he begs God not to wipe out Israel. He pleads for them, and the Bible says that God changed his mind. A matter of fact, King James says, and God repented of the evil he thought to do against the people of Israel. Isn't that amazing? Repent just means change your mind. But still he literally changed his mind and changed his direction. So change repent means change your mind and change your direction. So he intended to wipe them out, then decided not to, And it was because of what Moses pray. James tells us the prayer of a righteous person accomplishes much and if that if accomplished means it affects the outcome. That's what accomplished means means it affects the outcome, which means your prayer affects the outcome of what God is going to do. That's very significant. Well, think about Sodom and Gomorrah. Remember where Abraham was praying. And now even though that God did wipe out the city, he demonstrated that he was willing to change his mind. Right, and he says, hey, if I find what he's fifty fifty and then they kept on going down. Right, stopped at ten. Yeah, he stopped at four. Right. But the point is is that like he says, would you change your mind? And God said yes, I would. So God God definitely demonstrates in the Bible that that, yeah, his mind has been changed, it could be changed, and he's willing to change it. So anyway, all that to say, we know that the going to God, the asking of things can persuade God to give and provide and to change and to you know, heal, and all these different kinds of things. So this is difficult for some people because you know, the book Revelation says Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today, and forever. Yep, there's another place where God says that I I am God and I do not change. Right, So those two things can be very confusing for the idea that God can change his mind. So when it says Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever, or either Lord of God, I do not change, he's talking about his character in the essence of who he is. But he's completely autonomous, right, So he's not bound by his own predetermined will. He can do whatever he wants to do. And in that situation, he can choose to change his mind and he can cause all things to work together for good. So then if he changes his mind, that doesn't make him less perfect. It just means he had two perfect ways of doing things and he decided to do the other one. It's possible to have two perfectly viable solutions and just be choosing one and he go, no, you know what, You're right, I'm going. To do this other perfectly viable solution. That's all. It doesn't make God any less. So when it says Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today, and forever, theologically that is true. The essence of who he is his character. His teaching will never change, it will never change, but he can change his mind on things that don't go against his own word. And that's what he did there. So it can be a confusing thing for people who feel like God is stuck in some kind of linear rut that must play out exactly the way that was predetermined for the foundation of the world. Right. Yeah, And then I love how God ends this idea of you know, parenting. So God creates parenting, He creates marriage to be a direct reflection of our relationship with him. The idea of parenting is also a reflection. He constantly talks about him being the father, us being the child, us being in the family of God, so the family unit, right, we're able to relate on that level. We're creating his image. All these are just sort of coupled together and mashed together all the time. And so I love how he uses the parental you know sort of thing where it says, hey, you're you're imperfect, you're evil, right, and you take care of your kids and you give them great things, you take care of them, you provide for them, and you're not as perfect as me. So so imagine I'm for you, not against you. Yes, I'm for you, and imagine how much more good I can do for you and want to do for you because I want to provide for you and give you good things. So I love that comparison because it's like, yeah, we know what it's like for a loving parent to provide and take care of their kids. Well, this is another one of those indicators that this isn't only about I promise. To make all your wildest dreams come true. Right, it's about the seeking him right right, because he uses the parental thing. It's relationship. We read it because we still think that God is sort of our lucky rabbits, foot in our pocket. He's the genie in the bottle. He's the one who's supposed to make all our wildest dreams come true. And God's like I can. But that's not the point, right, So the relationship is seek me and I'll take care of everything. Six twenty three, which are six thirty three, which is literally what So this is verse seven we go back six seven, we go seven verses eight verses back, and he says, seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. He just literally seven sentences earlier, that's what he says. So you know that this is not about what you can get from God. It's all about the relationship, because that's why he pivots in and uses a parental parent and kid thing is. It's about the relationship. Of course, I can provide for you. I've been providing for you the water you drink, the air you breed, the sunshine that grows, the food that you're everything I provide for you all the time, and so of course I can provide everything that you need. But it's about the relationship, and I think we miss it every time when we just say I can get my mans around. Hey, did you ever sing this verse K first? Yeah? Yeah, K first the Kingdom of God. Yeah, that's great. Yeah, that's how I remember it. And I always sing that and hum that all the time. I mean, I mean for thirty years, I've sang this verse and hummed it from time to time, you know, which is great. Well, Hey, I think that that is our time. So what a great passage scripture. That's a lot to unpack there, So hopefully we'll see you next time on the Bible. Guys,