A New Start, Part 1
Matthew 7:7-11
[7] “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. [8] For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. [9] Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? [10] Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? [11] If you then, who are evil, knowhow 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!
DEEP SHEET: Sermon Study Questions
1. What does it look like to have a Christian life that is “motion, but no progress”? How does this passage hold out the possibility of a fresh start?
2. Why is the persistent prayer that Jesus describes in this passage “the only way forward”? (Matthew 5:3)
3. What do you tend to substitute for prayer?
4. In what ways can our spiritual disciplines end up being prayerless? What should be the relationship between Bible reading and prayer?
5. Why should this passage give you great confidence in prayer and in the prospect of spiritual growth? (Luke 11:13; 1 John 5:14-15; James 1:5-8; 4:2)
6. Where do we see Jesus’ emphasis on persistence in prayer? How much “giving up” is there in your Christian life? (Luke 11:5-8)
