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Theological term

Doctrine of Depravity

1 sermon · All terms

Sep 23, 2012

The Gracious Remedy

Jim ButlerMatthew 7:7–11

Matthew 7:7–11 presents prayer not as a religious technique but as the God-ordained remedy enabling believers to live as the Sermon on the Mount demands. The passage's four considerations — its connection to the preceding ethical instruction, the exhortation to persistent prayer, the promises given to those who pray, and the encouragement drawn from God's fatherly character — all converge on a single point: the emphasis falls not on the act of praying but on the God to whom we pray. Because the Father in heaven is neither a reluctant stranger nor a malicious tyrant, believers are called to ask, seek, and knock with confidence that He defines and supplies the good things His children truly need.