You Asked For It: Ask, Seek, Knock
June 8, 2025Pastor Travis Deatherage presented today's message, "You Asked For It: Ask, Seek, Knock." A video of today's message is here on YouTube. This series started with folks being asked to submit scriptures that they would like explained/explored. So, it's quite literally: "You asked for it!"
Today's topic is Ask, Seek, Knock: Matthew 7:7-8.
The Lord's Prayer came up in today's message. You might want to see my essays in a series on the Lord's Prayer back in 2021:
Our Father
Your Will Be Done
Daily Bread
Forgive Us Our Sins
Deliver Us from Evil
For Thine Is the Kingdom (Doxology)
Answers to Prayer - What to Expect
Part of Travis' message was about the concept of context and understanding. That reminded me of a mention from last week's message: Exodus 24:7, "Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people [Israelites at Mt. Sinai]. They responded, 'We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey.'” While that's often a translation of this verse, the order in the Hebrew is actually the opposite. First they say they will do and then they say they will understand. And isn't that really more the way it happens. You rarely fully understand anything, whether how to do it or what it means, until after you actually do it. The best example I've experienced regards the Sabbath. Until our family started having weekly "Family Dinners" (our Shabbat), we did not fully understand its value.
It's also interesting to note that there's no word in the Hebrew Bible that means "obey" as we think of it. The closest it gets is shema meaning internalize. The wisdom of the Old Testament is not a robotic following of the law (as is often imagined by people). God wants people to freely choose to follow Him.
As Pastor Travis elaborated on to some degree, the scripture reference for today is part of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). As it turns out, I have an essay on that from a 2024 message as well: Change Your Direction.
Travis mentioned petitionary prayer in his message today. The first individual offering a petitionary prayer in the Bible is in Genesis 24:12, "Then he prayed, 'Lord, God of my master Abraham, make me successful today, and show kindness to my master Abraham.'" It's interesting to note that this first petitionary prayer is ultimately for someone else's benefit, not the person praying. This is Abraham's servant asking that he meets with success in finding a good wife for Abraham's son, Isaac. As Prager points out, this passage makes it quite clear that anyone can pray to God, even a servant, and that there may be something quite noble about praying for the benefit of another.
Bonus
Famous is Not the Goal
In Prager's most recent release of his Torah series commentaries, The Rational Bible: Numbers, pp. 201-207, the issue of fame is discussed surrounding the rebellion in the wilderness. The first verse of Numbers 16 ends with "men of repute." It more literally says "men of name." It's more like the they wanted to make a name for themselves, just as the folks at the Tower of Babel did.
One of the many lessons of wisdom in the Torah is that fame is not a valuable pursuit. One reason for this is that fame can be superficial. People can be famous for no reason, no accomplishment, no value provided. In the verse mentioned, no accomplishment is mentioned for why these men had a reputation. Likewise, the men at Babel thought building the tallest building would bring them fame. But what value is there in having the tallest building as opposed to conquering disease, relieving poverty, or in some way improving mankind's condition?!
So why do people seek fame? Probably for ego, recognition, feeling important, and giving oneself a sense of meaning. Having meaning in life may be more important to humans than even wealth or sex. But fame rarely does that. Most people who do things that really matter never become famous. Prager ends his discussion with this quote, "the famous are rarely significant, and the significant are rarely famous."
If you are asked who is/was the most significant person to you, the answer is rarely someone most people would recognize, i.e. is famous. It is someone who actually was significant in improving something about you or your situation. The latter is what makes a difference.
Bonus2
Nudge the World
"It is incumbent on you to nudge the world and make it a little bit better place... And if you can do that and honestly meet your Maker and say you did your best with what you had, that's all we can ask of anybody."
From PragerU's "Stories of Us" series, here's Michael Malice: Is Anarchy the Solution? (nine minutes).
"Reality is how you determine what works."
From Prageru.com: "Born in the Soviet Union and raised in Brooklyn, Michael Malice always knew America offered something radically different: freedom. A self-described anarchist since childhood, Michael has spent his life questioning authority—from visiting North Korea to fleeing New York's COVID crackdowns. He shares why he left the city he loved, what the U.S. still gets right, and why it's up to you, not politicians, to defend liberty and push the world in a better direction."
"The way for a society to flourish is freedom."
"People aren't interested in truth, they're interested in narratives."