Sermon on the Mount – The Answer to Prayers

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Christianity, Gospel of Luke, Gospel of Matthew, gospel reading, Jesus, Luke, Matthew, Sermon, Sermon on the mount, spirituality, synoptic gospels, tvaraj

Tuesday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time. The reading is from Gospel of Matthew 7:7-11.

The Answer to Prayers - Mathew 7:7-11

[Jesus said to his disciples:]

“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;
and the one who seeks, finds;
and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

Which one of you would hand his son a stone
when he asked for a loaf of bread,
or a snake when he asked for a fish?

If you then, who are wicked,
know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him.

Luke too echoes the above passage.

The Answer to Prayers – Luke11:9–13

[Jesus said to his disciples:]

“And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg?

If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the holy Spirit to those who ask him?

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7)

In Mark we read the following verse which expresses what Jesus says in the above verse.

Therefore I tell you, all that you ask for in prayer, believe that you will receive it and it shall be yours. (Mark 11-24)

And Matthew repeats it in

l Again, [amen,] I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father. (Matthew 18:19)

In the verse

For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. (Matthew 7:8)

Jesus repeats what he says in the previous verse. In this verse and in

“And whatever you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” (John 14:13)

he teaches his disciples that with prayer anything could be obtained.

In Luke we read the Parable of the Persistent Widow.

The Parable of the Persistent Widow – Luke 18:1–8

Then he told them a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary.

He said, “There was a judge in a certain town who neither feared God nor respected any human being.

And a widow in that town used to come to him and say, ‘Render a just decision for me against my adversary.’

For a long time the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought, ‘While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being, because this widow keeps bothering me I shall deliver a just decision for her lest she finally come and strike me.’”

The Lord said, “Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says.

Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them?

I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?

This parable teaches the disciples the need of persistent prayer so that they not fall victims to apostasy