Matthew 4:1-11
Three Major Tests
Matthew 4:12-17
Persecution of Followers
Matthew 4:18-25
Ministry in the Synagogues
Matthew 5:1-12
Sermon on The Mount
Matthew 5:13-20
Fishing For Men
Matthew 5:21-26
Anger is Murder in The Heart
Matthew 5:27-32
Divorce And Remarriage
Matthew 5:33-42
Unfair and Unreasonable Treatment
Matthew 5:43-48
Love Your Enemies
Matthew 6:5-18
Practice of Prayer
Matthew 6:19-24
The Love of Wealth
Matthew 7:1-6
Judging And Hypocrisy
Matthew 7:7-12
The Golden Rule
Matthew 7:13-23
A Professing Christian vs a True Christian
Matthew 7:24-29
Building on the Right Foundation
Matthew 8:1-17
Healing Miracles of Christ
Matthew 8:18-27
Motives of Service
Matthew 8:28-34
Jesus Transfers Demons to Pigs
Matthew 9:1-8
Jesus Heals a Crippled Man
Matthew 9:9-13
Reaching Sinners And Tax Collectors
Matthew 9:14-26
The Traditions of Judaism
Matthew 9:27-38
The Need For Laborers
Matthew 10:1-15
Qualifications of The Twelve Apostles
The Golden Rule
Matthew 7:7–12
» View this passage in NIV (Bible Gateway)
James Cash Penney’s first venture as a retail proprietor was a butcher-shop in Longmont, Colorado which opened in 1899 and failed almost immediately, after he refused to bribe an important local hotel chef with a weekly bottle of bourbon. “I lost everything I had,” said … More
The three words, ask, seek and knock, suggest both perseverance and frequent prayer (v. 7). God promises to answer genuine prayer that is fervent and continual (v. 8). Everything we need for spiritual success has been promised to us. God leaves us with no excuse for failure. Would you give your hungry child a stone to eat, if the child asked for bread (v. 9)? Would you give your child a snake if the child asked for a fish (v. 10)? Even if you are evil you 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 (v. 11)! The blessings promised here as a result of prayer are not the blessings of common grace (Matt. 5:45) but of the kingdom. And though we must ask for them, it is not because God must be informed (Matt. 6:8) but because this is the Father’s way of training his family.
Verse 12 is commonly referred to as “the Golden Rule” and is one of the most misunderstood statements in the Bible. It is not God’s plan of redemption. A person’s righteous acts do not save him but when he is saved he is then able to demonstrate true righteousness toward others. The principle taught here only applies to believers and ought to govern our attitudes toward others. If we would rather have people pray for us than criticize us, then we ought to be willing to do the same for them. Practicing “the Golden Rule” releases the love of God in our lives and makes it possible for us to help others, even when they want to hurt us.
Application
How I treat others is not to be determined by how I expect them to treat me or by how I think they should treat me but by how I would hope they would treat me. Who is someone I have criticized and need to pray for.
Matthew 7:7-12 (English Standard Version)
Warning: MagpieRSS: Failed to parse RSS file. (Space required at line 39, column 24) in /var/www/html/familytimes/includes/magpie6-1/rss_fetch.inc on line 230
Warning: array_slice() expects parameter 1 to be array, null given in /var/www/html/familytimes/includes/rss/esvLookup.php on line 15
View this passage in NIV (Bible Gateway) »