1. How to Get What You Want
Matthew 7:7-12

2. …Sounds like a great self-help book title!
It fits the mindset of our day
It fits our natural inclinations
History is filled with examples of people and nations trying to live this out daily…
Our text today sounds exactly like what we are looking for!

3. I. The Principle of Openness
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7, NKJV)

4. A. God is indicating His expectations of us
There is expectation of our initiative
There is capability of providing any request
“For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” (Matthew 7:8, NKJV)

5. B. God is indicating His openness to us
There is openness to our inquiries
Are there any assumed or necessary conditions?

6. II. The Principle of Relationship
“Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?” (Matthew 7:9–10, NKJV)

7. A. We have a comparison of familial concern
We have a natural inclination to give what is requested
The exceptions to this illustrate and validate the norm
“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” (Matthew 7:11, NKJV)

8. B. We have a contrast of evil versus good
Even in our fallen state we seek the good of our children
God in His perfect state will always seek the good of His children

9. He knows ultimate good…
“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today for your good?” (Deuteronomy 10:12–13, NKJV)

10. He can bring about ultimate good…
“Then Job answered the Lord and said: “I know that You can do everything, And that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.” (Job 42:1–2, NKJV)

11. III. The Principle of Reciprocity
“Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 7:12, NKJV)

12. A. We are to seek the good of our neighbor
As God seeks our good, we are to seek other’s good
This verse has become known as the “Golden Rule”
This verse is a general governing principle for our age
Putting this rule in the negative has a different emphasis

13. B. We are to seek the will of our God
The driving principle for a child of God is to love the Lord our God
The practical concern for the believer is to seek His will so that we adopt His will as our own
The designated means of requesting from God is asking in Jesus’ name

14. John 14:13-14 &15:16
“And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.” (John 14:13–14, NKJV)
“You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.” (John 15:16, NKJV)