Seek then knock and then ask then see

SEEK, THEN KNOCK AND THEN ASK. THEN SEE
WHAT WILL HAPPEN FOR YOU!

- Matthew 7:7-11 (KJV) 7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. 9 Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? 10 Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask
him?

In this sermon outline I am changing the order of ask, seek and knock to seek, knock and ask. However, it will not change the message of Jesus. He still is the 'Prayer answering God' that loves us more than we can ever understand. God does want to answer our prayers.

I. First we need seek.
A. What must we first seek? Matthew 6:33 (KJV) But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these
things shall be added unto you.
    1. The Kingdom of God is Jesus and His Salvation.
    2. Without Him we have nothing.
    3. Peace, Joy, Salvation, Healing blessing comes from Jesus. Philippians 4:19 (KJV) But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
    4. In the Gospels people came seeking Him.
      a. The blind man, the leper and so on in the Bible.
      b. I remember in 1970 a man that was blind, traveled over 600 miles by train get to our crusade in Concordia, Argentina. He came looking for healing and found Christ as his personal saviour and went back to Buenos Airs having found both spiritual and physical sight.

II. We seek, we find, then we knock.
A. Where do we knock? We knock on the door.
B. The door is a person of Christ. John 10:9 (KJV) I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and
out, and find pasture.
    1. Jesus also knocks on the door of our hearts.
   - Revelation 3:20 (KJV) Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
    2. He does this by the conviction of the Holy Spirit.
C. We must keep knocking.
    1. I look at a stonecutter hammering away at a rock a hundred times without so much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the 101st blow it splits in two. I know it was not the one blow that did it, but all that had gone before.

III. After seeking Him, knocking on the Living Door we then can ask.
A. He never turns us away. John 6:37 (KJV) All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in
no wise cast out.
B. Jesus said before He went away. John 14:13-15 (KJV) 13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the
Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. 15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
C. The Father gives us what we ask in His Name. John 16:26 (KJV) 26 At that day ye shall ask in my name: …….
D. Jesus said everyone that asks also receives. Sometime it is yes, sometimes it is no and sometimes we must wait.
    1. Cotton Mather prayed several hours a day for 20 years for revival. It came (the Great Awakening) the year after his death.
    2. William Wilberforce fought for 55 years to abolish slavery in England and the British Empire. It came as he lay on his deathbed.

If we do these three things of seeking, knocking and asking, God in turn is there, hearing and answering our requests.

God bless you and yours!
On behalf of this generation,
Your friends in the service of Christ,
Tony and Marge Abram
Abundant Life Crusades

If we could be of more help or if you want more information please visit:
www.tonyabram.com or www.abundantlifecrusades.com