The Sermon on the Mount

Praying with Confidence to our Father,

Praying for Goodness from our Father; Matthew 7:7-11

 

Rejoinder, Matthew 7:6,

• What is holy? 

o   Your life, the word of God, your resources, your relationships, your ministry, your treasures: in short, anything in your life that God holds as sacred

• Who are the dogs and hogs?

o   Anyone who holds the sacred things of God with distain

 

Exposition of Matthew 7:7-11

I.    Praying with Confidence to our Father, Matthew 7:7-8

• Verb form implies an ongoing action: keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking (see Luke 11:5-10 with associated parable)
• Commitment by God to persistent, consistent, faithful prayer: He will answer

 

II.   Praying for the Father’s Goodness, Matthew 7:9-11

• The analogy of an earthly father who knows how to respond to the request of a child with the good of the child in mind
• The superlative comparison, “how much more” with reference to God our Father