What Do You Want?
I have two big questions for you:
First question: what do you want?
That is a big question, isn't it? It's could set our minds racing. Ask any child that question - especially around Christmas - and you will get plenty of quick answers in rapid fire.
What do you want? A new car? A bigger house? A significant other? A great job? Better health? Less stress?
I want a printer that actually works. I want a 1957 Chevy two-door, or a 1957 Ford Thunderbird. And I want them at a screaming good deal!
Bo Bennet quipped, "The secret to having everything you want out of life is the realization that you really don't want most of the things you think you want."
And George Bernard Shaw observed there are two tragedies in life; one is to lose your heart’s desire, the other is to gain it.
So, maybe I should tweak my answers. I want my family to thrive, the people in my front row to come to Jesus and I want Excel to plant one hundred churches per year.
What do you want?
Here’s the second and follow up question: how can you get it?
I can’t help you much with the first question. But I would like to discuss the second one.
In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives us three clear insights into how we can get what we want in life.
Jesus was preaching to a group of people with clear needs and wants. The crowd was for the most part poor. They were oppressed. They wanted justice. They were mourning. They were somewhat confused. And most of all they were worried. They were worried about where their next meal was coming from. They were worried about what they should wear and how other people saw them. They were worried about life.
So, Jesus told them how to get what they wanted and needed:
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”
Matthew 7:7-8 (NIV)
The New Living Translation may be a bit more accurate:
“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 opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.”
Matthew 7:7-8 (NIV)
Jesus suggests these three steps to getting what you want.
1. Ask
Billy Graham observed, "Heaven is full of answers to prayers for which no one ever bothered to ask."
F. B. Meyer added, "The great tragedy of life is not unanswered prayer, but unoffered prayer."
Even Dr Phil knows we need to ask: “The most you get is what you ask for.”
God doesn't control my life until I ask Him to. He doesn't forgive me until ask Him to. He doesn’t stretch me until I ask him to. He doesn’t use me until I ask him to. He is very polite that way
James says, “You do not have because you do not ask God.”
James 4:2
Over twenty times in the New Testament, we're commanded to ask.
2. Seek
The second step to getting what we want is to search for it. After we ask, we don’t simply keep asking. We must begin to seek.
Everybody loves Jeremiah 29:11. But look what happens if you keep reading:
“For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 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 seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,’ declares the Lord.”
Jeremiah 29:11-14 (NLT)
We need to seek. But so many of us don’t.
Jesus ends this section this way:
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”
Matthew 7:13-14 (NIV)
George Carlin once quipped, “Some people see things that are and ask, ‘Why?’ Some people dream of things that never were and ask, ‘Why not?’ Some people have to go to work and don't have time for all that.”
Too many folks get so busy that they never seek important answers, they never seek God.
3. Knock
If we need something from someone behind a door, the most natural thing to do is knock—and keep knocking until the door is opened and the desire is met.
Sometimes the first door we knock on is the one that opens, but this is usually not the case. Sometimes we have to knock on ten, fifty, even hundreds of doors.
For this reason, the knocking phase is often the most difficult, but it is here that perseverance is vitally important if we are going to see answers to our prayers.
Don’t just ask God for things. Step out and seek ways that He might answer them, and then knock on the doors of opportunity that are presented.
Ask, seek, knock. Notice the three different senses being considered here:
Asking is verbal. We open our mouths to request what we need and want.
Seeking is mental. We use our minds to look for what we need and want.
Knocking is physical. We take action to discover the open door.
Why Keep on asking, seeking and knocking?
“You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? 10 Or 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.”
Matthew 7:9-11 (NLT)
The other day, I decided to grab dinner at a local burger joint. When I pulled in, I noticed the drive-thru lane was long and slow. So, I parked and went into the store—it was almost empty. After ordering I discovered that there was only one other customer inside the entire restaurant. It was a girl, probably in her twenties, she was slumping in her booth way at the back of the place. Maybe she was sleeping, perhaps she was homeless.
I sat and scrolled on my phone, then saw that this girl was making her way up to the counter. As she approached, one of the workers yelled, “What do YOU want?” I was startled. Did he really just say that? Was this a joke? She quietly responded to him, “Bathroom.” Then he yelled it again, “What do YOU want?” I was frozen. Did he know her? Was he kidding and this was his girlfriend? Was she really bothering them? Again, she quietly whispered, “Bathroom.”
Then the rude clerk did something amazing. He handed the bathroom key to the girl.
Here is my point: That fast food worker may be the biggest jerk in the world. But he still gave the girl what she kept asking for.
Jesus tells us why we should keep on asking, seeking and knocking because God is good!
God is good! Yes, you may be poor and oppressed and suffering loss. It may seem that there is no justice. The religious rules may seem arbitrary. Other people may not see you. You may be worried.
But don’t worry. God is good. If you ask, seek and knock, he won’t ignore you. Let’s do our part. Our good God will do His part.