Matthew 7: 7-11

⁷"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ⁸For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. ⁹"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? ¹¹If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, good morning! The other day I was picking up my godson, Dylan, from school, and he asked a question that he doesn't usually ask. He looked at me and said, "Can we get an ice cream cone?" It could have been the ice cream truck playing "The Entertainer" right around the corner. And I think you know my answer: "Yes, dear boy, we can get an ice cream cone."

Dylan is very subtle. Sometimes he won't ask directly. He has very subtle ways of asking. He'll say, "Hmm, do you feel like going to the water park today?" But he asks, and that's a beautiful thing to do.

And I'd like to lift up the words of the Lord Jesus about this. Jesus said wonderful things about this. Imagine if you were living back in Biblical times and you had a friend who happened to be going through Galilee and hearing this itinerant preacher. He was wonderful! Your friend then came to you and said, "I heard this man speak; he's a rabbi, and he's saying things that I've just never heard before. He's got words of promise and encouragement and enthusiasm. It was remarkable!"

And you say to your friend, "What did the man say?"

"He said many things. I wish I could remember them all."

"What did he say?"

"He said this, I remember. He said, ‘Ask, and you will receive.' He said, ‘Seek, and you will find.' He said, ‘Knock, and the door will be opened to you, for everyone that asks receives something good, and everyone that seeks finds something good, and everyone that knocks, well, a door is opened to him.' That's what he said. That's what the man said."

What remarkable words! Ask, seek, knock. He invited us to; He encouraged us to. We take it to heart and we keep it in mind. And friends, if there's one thing I want to invite you to do today (and invite myself to do as well) is to have the courage to ask. Have the courage to ask.

You know, if what you're asking for is okay, it's okay to ask. Can you imagine the number of possibilities that maybe we've missed, or the dreams that went unfulfilled, or the help that never came because we didn't have the courage to ask?

I have it on good authority. I didn't make this up. Jesus said it. Ask, and you shall receive; seek and you shall find; knock and it shall be opened. And then He said it again, in a positive way – dear child of God, have the courage to ask.

Dylan teaches me so many lessons. And you know, I would like him to learn that the way to have things in life, the way to have the things that he needs and wants, is to ask for them. He asks in a nice way. He asks in a receivable way. And I would like him to learn that the answer of the universe is more yes than no, because I think that's the way it is with God.

Ask in your human relationships. Have the courage to ask. I know that when I was in school, I couldn't draw to save my life. They had stick figures on little cards – does anybody remember those? – that we were supposed to draw. I had the hardest time, and I never had the courage to ask, because I was afraid. Is that why we don't ask? Because we're afraid? Probably.

But what do you have to lose, if what you're asking for is okay? Ask. It's all right.

I had an unusual thing happen the other day. I was going to a store, and I got out of my car. I went to close the car door, and a gentleman came up to me. He was probably a homeless person. He was a very large, very muscular gentleman. He was wearing a denim vest, no shirt, and chains and a metal belt. And I thought, "Oh, what now?"

He came up to me and said, "Can you make a tie for me?"

I said, "I'm so sorry – I beg your pardon?"

"Can you make a tie for me?"

"Bless my soul, sir, I'm sorry. I still don't understand." Was he saying tithe, ten percent of what I've got? Is it a contribution? No.

He said, "Can you make a tie for me?"

I said, "Bless my soul, what do you mean?" And the man reached into his pocket and pulled out a tie.

"Can you make a tie for me?"

"Oh, you want me to make a necktie knot."

"Yes."

And I thought, "What do I do now? If I put it around my own neck and tie it, is it some kind of thing where I might get hurt? Worse yet, if I go behind him and tie it, that might really look strange. What am I going to do?"

I took a chance. I put it around my neck, tied a tie knot – believe me, I was a little nervous about this – loosened it, and slipped it over my head. I said, "Is this what you want?"

He said, "Yes. Thank you very much. I could never get the hang of these things." And he walked away! That was it! The point is, he got what he wanted. He got what he needed. Maybe he was going to get dressed up that night and go out somewhere. I don't know. But he had the courage to ask. And I guess I looked like the kind of guy who could tie a tie.

He had the courage to ask. And that's what I hope for, for you. Maybe you won't be so afraid to ask. Maybe you'll ask someone to come to church with you who looks lonely and might need a church home. Maybe you'll have the courage to ask for something good for your life.

My father had a very unusual way of asking for discounts. Some of you have heard this story. My mother and I would just walk away and cringe, but my dad would go into a store. Say he wanted to buy a rocking chair. He'd say, "How much for this rocking chair?" It didn't matter what the salesperson answered. As soon as he heard the price -- $59, for example – my father would make a sound like needles were being stuck into his arm. "Ooh yoo ooh."

"Are you all right, sir?" the salesperson would ask.

"Ooh, yea, yea, yea." And sometimes the salesperson would come down in price.

I find it easier to say, "If I buy this now, is this the best price you can give me?" People come down. Ask for what you need. Ask for what you want. It will make your human relationships smoother. And it's okay. You never know – the person you're asking might want to help you.

I got a call late one night, about a week ago, from a family in our church. "Pastor, we're going through a crisis. We just want you to hear us out and pray for us. Would you do that?"

And I said, "Gladly. Let's talk." And they told me, and we had a prayer, and they said, "Thank you, Pastor. We feel so much better." And you know what? So did I. They let me know what needed to be done. I was blessed, too, to have the opportunity. Ask for what you need. Ask for what you want.

Also, don't be afraid to ask God. During the time Jesus lived, there was a saying, "God never gets tired of hearing our prayers and our requests. The more requests we make, the more He loves us." Don't be afraid to ask God.

Robert Schuller says this: our prayers are always answered. Think of a red light, a yellow light, and a green light. Sometimes when we pray, the thing we ask for is not in tune with God's wisdom, and the answer is a red light – a "no". Sometimes, however, it's just not the right time. The answer is a yellow light, and the answer is "slow". This is the time for patience and persistence. But when we are bold enough to pray and ask the Lord for the things we need, the answer is a green light – "go!" Our prayers are answered. It is then our important duty to not forget these answered prayers, the fruit of our faith.

So don't be afraid to ask God – for the little things, for the big things – because He's more willing to give than we are to receive. Take it with you, won't you? Have the courage to ask, for the one who asks always receives something good. The one that seeks always finds something good. The one that knocks always has the door opened to something new in life. Because God loves you. I do, too. Have a blessed week. Amen.