Jesus teaches us how to pray and what we ought to pray for in the Lord’s Prayer.  Yet, prayer can be a complicated matter.  Is prayer really complicated or do we make it complicated?

We engage in spiritual and rational gymnastics when it comes to prayer all the time.  We wonder, if God knows everything, then why pray?  If he knows what we need, why ask?  If God is all knowing and all powerful, then why the seeking?

Sunday, Jesus opens the door again for prayer and relationship with our heavenly Father that is very freeing.  He invites us to ask, seek, and knock.  And its not a one time happening.  All three of these verbs are present participles.  Meaning, the asking, seeking, and knocking are continual.

The understanding in English would be this, “Ask and keep on asking, seek and keep on seeking, knock and keep on  knocking…”  This is hard for us to understand and to practice.  We see things in the present, in light of the past, with no certainty of the future.  We also like to have our prayers (asking, seeking, knocking) answered immediately.

We all know what its like to pray, ask, seek, and knock and not have an ‘answer.’  Ever knock on a door and not have it opened?

I don’t pretend to have all the answers about closed doors.  Yet Jesus makes it clear that the love of God for us is deep and God is engaged in the everyday of our lives.  

The text for Sunday is Matthew 7:7-12.  Thanks to Roger who accepted the challenge to bring the message to us last week.  Thank you to Eileen who will be bringing us the message this coming week.

See you soon,

Pastor Mark