What to do? Ask, Seek, Knock - Pastor Kipp Penrod

Thank you for listening to this message from

Lifehouse Church. God's presence. Amen. Yeah,

awesome. Awesome. So good. I never want to take

that for granted. Please don't. When God moves

in a corporate setting like this, just jump in

because God, when he's stirring, when God stirs

the water, there's healing that takes place.

When God stirs the water. Things change, right?

The atmosphere changes. And he begins to do a

work. So anytime that's taking place, just jump

in, man. Begin to worship. Put your hands up.

Close your eyes because your neighbor might be

bothering you, right? Amen? Just put them off

to the side. Family, whatever. And just focus

on him because he'll move in your life truly.

I want to take a moment just to pray. And we

will pray over these balls typically every week,

not quite every week. But these balls, if you're

new with us, these green balls represent invitations.

And you might say, well, why do you pray over

those? Because we believe this. We believe if

you invite somebody. We want God's Spirit to

go out ahead and just prepare their hearts. Somebody

that might be far from God, we want to invite

them. We want them to be prepared and ready to

come in. And that happens by the Holy Spirit.

People come here to meet God, not me, not the

staff, the volunteers, all that. They really

come to meet God, and we want that to take place.

So if you invite somebody, put their name on

there and stick it in there because these get

prayed over, and God goes ahead and does all

those things. You do the work of the invitation.

The Holy Spirit does the work of bringing them.

Amen? So if you bow your heads. Father, thank

you for this day. God, thank you for the opportunity

to dive into your word. God, see what your word

does and speaks to us and God, how it can change

us. But Lord, as we pray over our ears and God,

our souls and our hearts, Lord, to receive. We

pray over these balls. And, God, we ask, Lord,

that, God, each invitation that has gone out,

Lord, that you would go ahead and reach out to

that person. Lord, that you would minister to

them, that you would speak to them. And, Lord,

that they would draw in to meet you. God, wherever

that is, if that's there, if it's here, or anywhere

in between, Lord, just meet them where they are,

and we just give you praise. We give you glory

and honor. In Jesus' name, everybody say it together.

Amen. Amen. If you invited somebody, fill this

tank up. I know there's a bunch of you out there

that invite somebody and you never put anything

in the tank. People are praying over these, all

right? Come on, let them join in with you. Truth,

truth. Amen? Good? All right, awesome. I got

three people on board with me with that. Well,

listen, in my son's senior year of high school,

he bought himself a truck. And he had a truck

previous to that, but he worked for a couple

years, and he bought himself a truck, and it

was jet black. They're going to put it up on

the screen here for you. Come on, guys. Yeah,

come on. It was very cool. It was lifted. Sorry,

little hillbilly roots coming out there. It was

lifted. You know, it had a V8 in it. It had aftermarket

tires on it. It had dual exhaust, stainless steel

exhaust. It had lightning, Ford lightning seats

installed in it. It was just cool. It was jacked

up. It ran quick. And it got noticed when you

drove by. And every once in a while, I would

sneak out and take it for a drive because I wanted

to make sure it was safe for my son to drive

it. Right? Go wheeling around town a little bit

and come back. It was awesome. It was great until

it wasn't. All right? Something can be awesome

until it isn't. Yeah, yeah. Long story short,

we started to have multiple mechanical issues

with this truck. It ended up being about a five

-month ordeal that cost a lot of money, a lot

of headache, a ridiculous amount of time going

back to a repair shop, right? And when we finally

got the truck back on the road, it still wasn't

right. So we kept driving it, and we took it

back about six more times to get fixed. A couple

of different places, if I remember right. And

we just couldn't get it right. And I remember

thinking to myself, because I like a challenge,

and I don't like losing. So I'm thinking, what

in the world do I do with this thing? Have you

ever got to that spot where you're like, what

in the world should I do? What to do, right?

And I'm kind of like, ugh. And I'm frustrated

and I'm aggravated. And I'm glad it was my son's

money and not mine. You know, he was half broke.

And we were both complaining to anybody that

would listen to the story that we were about

to tell. And finally, in a desperate attempt.

to fix this truck that was no longer so much

fun. I took a day off work and studied the problem

for a little bit, and I consulted one last expert

in a last -ditch attempt to fix this thing called

YouTube. How many of you ever gone to YouTube?

Yeah, all right. Found someone who had the exact

same issue as we did, and three hours later,

we had this truck running like a top. It was

fantastic. It was great. But way too often, we

drive ourselves down the road with a check engine

light on, with something spitting and sputtering

in our lives. We're not sure what to do, when

to do it, how to do it, right? Where to get it

done. And sometimes you just need to take the

day off and get with Jesus. Sometimes you got

to take the day because you're not sure what

to do in this thing called life. And I can assure

you that if you take the time, Jesus has the

what to do for your I don't know what to do.

Amen? Spitting and sputtering. So if you got

your Bibles this morning, I want you to go to

the book of Matthew. We're going to start at

chapter 7. We're going to slide on down to verse

7. That's easy enough to remember. Matthew chapter

Matthew 7:7

7, verse 7. And it says this. Ask, and it will

be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock.

and it will be open to you. For everyone who

asks, receive. And he who seeks, finds. And to

him who knocks, it will be open. Or what man

is there among you who, if his son asks for bread,

will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish,

will he give him a serpent? If you then, being

evil, know how 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? Jesus

is preaching on the northwestern shore of the

Sea of Galilee, and hundreds, maybe thousands

of people are gathered on these grassy slopes.

And this is one of the things that Jesus preaches.

And I love it because this is one of my favorite

verses in Scripture. I've got multiple Scriptures

that I love, but this is one of my favorites

in all the Bible. It should be one of yours,

right? We all want to go to this verse and say,

yes. This is my verse, right? Yes, I name and

claim it, even though I don't do that, right?

I don't really name and claim things, but like

yes and amen to this verse. Ask and it'll be

given to you. Seek and you're going to find.

Knock, it'll be open to you. For everyone who

asks, receives. He who seeks, finds. To him it

knocks. What's not to like? It's an amazing scripture.

I will gladly lay claim to this one. I receive

it, right? In the name of Jesus. Bring it on.

Anybody with me in this? Come on, right? This

is a verse. This is a scripture. This is amazing.

It makes you want to start praying right now

for whatever it is you're looking for, right?

Whatever you're asking for. You just stop right

here and knock on the door. Like, Jesus, I need

this. I got some, I got a need in my life. Because

I know this, I know something about knocking

on door. I know who's on the other side of that

door. If I go knock it, Jesus is on the other

side of that door. The answer is right on the

other side of the door. The provision, the peace,

the promise, right? The resources, everything

that we need is on the other side of the door.

It's on the other side of the ask. It's right

on the other side of the seek with the King of

Kings and the Lord of Lords. I know this. I believe

it. It's awesome and it's good news for every

single one of us sitting here in the house. If

you're listening online this morning, but to

be perfectly honest, can I be perfectly honest

this morning? Come on, to be perfectly honest,

this scripture almost seems too good to be true,

doesn't it? It does. Can it really be that easy?

Can it be that simple that all I got to do is

ask? and I'll receive. All I got to do is seek

God out, and he'll provide, right? All I got

to do is knock, and God's going to open the door.

It's almost hard to believe. You know, as we

look at this and we read it, maybe we gloss past

it. Maybe we think Jesus is being dramatic while

he's out on his hillside preaching that day.

Maybe we think some way this is just literary

exaggeration, right, for the reason of bringing

a point across. Sometimes we'll think those kind

of things. But understand this, and you might

even be asking that in your own spirit, in your

own heart right now. Jesus gives us the right

to ask and to seek and to knock. He gives us

the right to. He gives us the right. He gives

us the permission. He gives us the instruction.

He gives us the directive. Do this, right? This

is what we should do when we don't know what

to do. If we need something or someone in a situation

for things to shift in our life, we need to ask.

We need to seek. We need to knock. Listen, if

you knock on Jesus' door, He's not going to throw

you off the porch, right? He's not going to duck

inside the house, pull down the shades, and hide

behind the curtains like you do when the Mormons

and Jehovah's Witnesses show up, right? He's

not going to do that. I was looking who's laughing

about all that, right? When the traveling salesman

comes, and one more time, this is my neighborhood,

they want to sell you solar panels. I'm like,

the last guy came, I felt like telling him, like,

hey, I don't want solar panels, and please tell

your friends I don't either, because they keep

coming. They keep coming, right? Jesus says,

go ahead, ask. Go ahead, seek. Go ahead and knock.

And he's not exaggerating. He's not being dramatic.

And we know this because if you read down into

the next scriptures, he clarifies what he says.

He doesn't make a passing statement and then

just keep on going in his message. He says in

verse nine, or what man of you there among you

who if his son asked for bread will give him

a stone? Or if he asked for fish, he will give

him a serpent. You then, being evil, know how

to give good gifts to your children. How much

more will your Father who is in heaven give good

things to those who ask them? Jesus is telling

the crowd that day. He's telling us, right, that

the heavenly Father actually enjoys giving us.

He actually enjoys it. The things that we're

looking for. Our Heavenly Father is not perched

up on a throne somewhere, you know, out there

in the cosmos with his arms crossed. He's not

looking down on us with a scowl on his face.

He's not the angry dad that you might have grown

up with, right? He's not ready to pounce or trounce

on you if you got some kind of request from him.

That's not him. He's not poised and positioned

just waiting for the opportunity to hit the reject

button. You know, the request comes in, denied,

boom. denied, boom, right? He loves his kids.

He really does. It's his good pleasure to give

to them when we call on him. He's looking for

us to call on him. Somebody needs to hear this

this morning. Somebody, you need to get this

in your spirit. I have three amazing adult children,

and they're married, and they have produced five

super amazing great children, grandchildren,

right? And any one of them, any one of them come,

my children, my grandchildren, my son -in -laws,

my daughter -in -law, if they come to Dixie and

I and they ask for help for something, they don't,

but if they would come and ask for help for something,

we would not sit there and think, you know, oh,

gee whiz, I don't know. You know, I know you

need this, but we don't sit around and go, I

don't know if I really want to do that. Right?

We'd have a smile on our face, like, yeah, how

can we help, right? And it's one of those smiles,

real smiles that you have when you give, not

one of those fake ones. You ever see one of those

fake ones when somebody wants to give something?

This happens at offerings sometimes. Here we

go, Jesus. How many of you talk through your

teeth when you don't really want to do something?

Here we go, Jesus. It reminds me a little bit

of my granddaughter. One of my kids told me this

story. One of our granddaughters, they were trying

to teach her about tithing and she had 10, I

think it was $10 bills. And they were trying

to teach her like, hey, you give God a 10th back,

right? That's God, you wanna give that back?

And they're trying to teach her. And she was

like, she was highly offended that she had to

give a dollar back to God. She really was. She

didn't want to give it in the offering, and they

had to pretty much pry George Washington out

of her hands when they got to church to teach

her about tithing and putting in the offering.

And she did it, and they really kind of worked

with her and taught her. And actually, next week

she came back, and I think she gave everything

to God, which is super cool. But our father is

not up there just looking down his nose and thinking,

I don't want to give to my children. He's not

doing that. He loves us. If you know him as Lord

and Savior, he's looking down. He knows that

you have need. He wants to meet you there. And

if I am evil in comparison, because that's what

the word of God says, right? And I am. My righteousness

is as filthy rags compared to God's. I don't

have any righteousness outside of Jesus Christ.

I really don't. There's no righteousness in me

outside of him. And if I know how to give good

gifts to my kids, how much more? Does the father

in heaven who is righteous, who has everything

at his disposal, want to give to his children?

Amen. It's true. And you might have grown up

with the most stingy, self -serving father on

the planet, right? Maybe even an evil father,

right? And he hasn't given you nothing but grief

and trauma or pain or maybe even bruises. That's

not your heavenly father. It really isn't. Don't

superimpose what's on this earth onto God himself

because it's not true. We have a father who loves

us, and he cares for us, and he wants to give

us. All we got to do is ask, seek, and knock.

It's your right. Jesus told us to do it. He said

it's his good pleasure to answer when his children

ask. Say it with me. Ask. Seek. Knock. I want

you to say it again. Ask. Seek. Knock. Tell somebody

beside you, you need to knock on the door. Tell

them right now. You got to knock on the door,

man. And I want you to say it to get in your

spirit, because I know some of you have doubts

about what I'm saying this morning. I know some

of you struggle with believing this. Can I take

a minute and just do something? I'm going to

read your mind this morning. Not because I have

any superpowers, not because I'm weird or flaky

or super spiritual in some kind of way. I'm just

human, right? I know what some of you are thinking.

You're thinking, Pastor, I've done this before.

In fact, Pastor, I've not only asked God, but

I've sought God, right? Pastor, I've come and

begged God for something. I knocked on the door.

Right? Till my knuckles bled. I stayed on my

knees over and over again asking him. Pastor,

I sought him. I looked into his word. I did all

the things. I've asked God. And nothing. Right?

Nothing. Can I just keep it real? Anyone know

what I'm talking about? Am I the only one who

ever experienced that? You thought to yourself,

well, maybe it's those other Christians, right?

I'm a Christian, and maybe just all those other

people get their prayers answered. Maybe God

just answers people. Maybe I got to say my prayer

just right. I've already thought that. You know,

maybe I got to just get it super right, and then

God automatically answers. Yeah, I've been there.

Got the t -shirt, right? You've done this. And

we think to ourselves, you know, what? What am

I doing wrong? What am I doing wrong? What Jesus

said, he meant. The Father means it. The Holy

Spirit means it. We just have to ask or understand

something about ourselves, about our humanity.

We all come asking God. We all come seeking God.

We all come knocking to God, if you're a follower

of Jesus. But sometimes we come looking for the

answer, and we all come with a preconceived idea

what that answer should be. Amen? Anybody with

me? You ever go to God in prayer? And honestly,

most of us, if not all of us, before we go to

God and we ask God for something, we already

have the preconceived idea, like this is the

right answer, God. Amen? You know what I'm talking

about? Jesus, I'm coming, but can I tell you

what the right answer is in all this? Right?

We come asking him for our will, and we got this

preconceived idea what the right answer is and

what it should look like and what our will is

and the whole thing. And all we're really going

to do is for God to match up with what we're

thinking. You know, like this is it, right? I

need this, God, and this is what it should look

like. God, could you hop onto my train right

now, right? Take the ride with me and go to where

I'm thinking. And I'm here to tell you this morning,

it may not always look like what my answer is

not always going to look like what the Heavenly

Father looks like, right? His answer is going

to look different from mine. I may not always

like my Heavenly Father's answer to my request.

I may not like it. He may not respond to the

request just the way I'm thinking. I might not

love what I end up with in the seek at first.

I might not love what the other side of the door

is going to look like initially, at first. Right?

I might not like the answer. Growing up, I was

fortunate. I really was. My earthly father, my

dad, who is still alive and with us, is a Christian.

And my dad almost never raised his voice. I never

hit a point in my life where I felt like my dad

didn't love me. I never felt threatened or belittled

in any kind of way. It was just never a thought

in my head. And I know I'm fortunate, but I can

assure you that my dad did not always say yes

to my request. As a matter of fact, he said more

no's than he did yes's to my request, I know.

I remember when I was 16 years old, And I got

my license, and that was the greatest, one of

the great highlights of my life was to get my

license. I thought freedom was, you know, before

me, the world was mine because I got my license.

And I remember finding this car, and I had worked

up until this point and saved it. And it was

an AMC Javelin. Anybody remember those? They

were only around a little while. Yeah, thank

you. Some of us are over 50. We remember it,

right? And it was awesome. And it looked awesome.

It sounded awesome. And I remember taking my

dad to see this car, and I wanted it so bad.

I tried every tactic a 16 -year -old can use

on their parents to convince them to do something,

right, to get in line with it. And my dad was

like, no. He's like, no. And I'm like, Dad, it's

perfect. I got the funds. This is amazing. Look

at the fine. Jesus lined us up, Dad, all right?

We are destined for one another, me and this

car. Right? And you know what I learned about

my dad? My dad was not Santa Claus. He loved

me way more than Santa Claus. He knew when to

say no to me. And I knew why he said no to me

because we took this car for a ride. It had crazy

horsepower. And I know what my dad was thinking.

He's thinking, I'm not giving my 16 -year -old

son this because he's going to kill himself in

this thing. Right? It has too much power. He's

not going to be able to handle it. He's not experienced

enough to drive it. And dad said, no. I know.

Can you believe it? Right? And I'll take it a

few steps further. My dad was okay with letting

me suffer at times. You know, now. He let me

suffer to learn some valuable skills. My parents

did not buy me everything at every little request.

As a matter of fact, if I wanted something, I

remember going to him with a list of things like

you do when you're a kid for something. And I

remember my dad saying, you know what my dad

did for me and all that? He found me a job. He

did. He worked with a guy who was a beef. cattle

farmer, and his name was Mr. Butler, and I remember

Mr. Butler used to drive around in a green truck,

and I remember Mr. Butler, because he always

had his rearview mirror tilted completely sideways.

I have no idea. I don't know if the man had vision

problems. I don't know what was going on, but

I remember him coming and picking me up in that

truck, and I'd go work for this guy, and I'd

bale hay with him. I remember painting his foundation.

He wanted his foundation painted. I did all these

things. You know how old I was? I was 12 when

my dad got me my first job. 12 years old. And

I received plenty of no's. And, you know, looking

back, I'm like, man, dad, this would have been

a lot easier if you just gave this to me, right?

This would be, my life would be much simpler.

You know, dad, if you just take care of this.

But my dad had some deep wisdom. My dad had a

work ethic and he wanted to teach me what a work

ethic was. And I thank him today for that very

thing. At times. At times, the Heavenly Father

is going to come with a no, he's going to come

with a yes, or he'll come with a wait. It's going

to be one of the three. He's going to tell you

yes to things, he's going to tell you no to something,

and at times he's going to tell you to wait.

How many of you like to wait? Yeah, me either,

right? No hands in the house, right? And it's

just that we've got to have faith in his answer,

that it's going to pan out in the long run. Sometimes

Jesus will leave me in the struggle. He will

give me a no because it is in my benefit for

the long run to ask, to seek, and to knock, and

to listen to what he has to say. Now, I got to

clarify something right here. As I was preparing

this message, I want to make a clarification.

It is never God's will that you are being abused.

Hear me in this, okay? God will leave you in

the struggle. but it is never our father's will

for you to be abused. My dad would never have

stood for somebody abusing me, ever. It's never

the Father's will for you to be damaged, hurt,

or injured. The enemy comes to steal, kill, and

destroy. God said that I come that you might

have life and you might have it abundantly. He'll

leave you in the struggle sometimes because it's

going to be good for you in the long run. But

if somebody's abusing you, that's not God, right?

If you're in the middle of being abused in some

kind of way, you need to tell someone that's

beside you. You need to let somebody know that

can make a difference to do something about that.

And so many people, you know, sometimes they

come to the question, well, Pastor, why does

God love you? allow that to happen? Why doesn't

God just physically stop them? I'm like, yeah,

I know, we just squash them, right? Boom. That's

what we're thinking sometimes. But here's the

thing, God gives each person, God never violates

his own word, his own will, his own purpose,

and God gives every single person in humanity

a universal gift of free will. I don't know if

you realize that. Not only on the earth, but

in heaven, even the angels have free will. It's

a universal law of God. He fully gives to each

one of us. So if somebody is using the gift of

God that God has given to all of us as a weapon

to hurt others, to willfully sin, right, to destroy

others, they're going to answer one day. They

will walk. If they don't repent and change their

ways, they're going to stand before God. But

in the meantime, If you're being abused, you

need to tell somebody. You need to get to an

authority. You need to let somebody know because

it's the body of Christ that surrounds you, right,

that is your protection in all this. I needed

to make this clarification. God will let you

in the struggle. He'll let you strain, but it's

only to lift you up. He'll tell you no for the

benefit of his glory and your benefit in the

long run. He'll do it, but he will not. He doesn't

want you in the abuse, right? He's a loving father.

And just like my dad, I got to have faith that

the Lord leads me in the struggle for a reason.

Faith, and when he says no. Faith that it's going

to be good for me. Faith when he says yes, and

I'm seeking him. Faith, right, when the door

doesn't open. Faith. When I'm seeking and I really

can't find what I'm looking for, faith in the

struggle, faith in the strain, building me stronger,

wiser. Too many times, right? How many know when

you come to God and you're looking for the answer

that you want God to line up that it's your answer?

We're always looking for the easy way out. Amen?

My answer is always the easy way out, at least

in my opinion, is what it is. Come and ask. Do

your best to come without a preconceived idea

of what the answer is supposed to be. You know,

what's easy and obvious. Let God get you. And

if he says no, just know he's getting ready to

strengthen you. He's getting ready to lift you

up. How many know strength is never birthed in

ease? Strength is never birthed in ease. Romans

8, 26 says this. Likewise, the spirit also helps

in our weakness. But we do not know what we should

pray as we ought. But the spirit himself makes

intercession for us with groanings which cannot

be uttered. Now, he who searches the heart knows

what the mind of the Spirit is, because he makes

intercession for the saints according to the

will of God. And we know that all things, say

all things. Come on, the yes, no, and the wait,

work together for God, for the good, to those

who love God, to those who are called according

to his purpose. The Father wants the best for

his children. Believe it. Hang on to it. Hang

on to that answer for dear life, right? In every

moment, in every time, ask, seek, and knock.

Ask, seek, and knock. Ask, seek, and knock. Amen?

And then have enough faith in the Father's answer

to respond and live out His answer. All right?

Have enough faith in the Father's answer to respond.

and to live out his answer. What do I mean by

that? Ask yourself this. If God says no to you,

what does faith look like in the no? What's that

walk out like in my life, right? If he says no,

I want you to picture, what would it look like?

If God tells me no, how should I respond? What's

this look like going forward in my life? What

do I got to step through and do? If God says

yes, he's calling you to do something. He's instructing

you to do something. Whatever that is, what's

this look like? If I never said another word,

would my actions say yes to God, right? Would

my actions say no, right? I'm not doing it. Would

my actions say I'm waiting on God? Ask yourself,

what does this look like? How do I respond? How

do I live this out? This is where we get God's

plan all jacked up in our lives. It really is.

We get weary, right, and impatient in the wait.

We get rebellious in the no, and we get disobedient

in the going forward, and then the yes is what

happens. So many times. So many times. How many

of you have ever wanted something from God? I

mean, really wanted something. And you got the

no, and you went ahead and did it anyway. How

many had buyer's remorse afterwards? Yeah. That

thing brought you nothing but grief. Back when

I was a youth pastor a long, long time ago, I

used to tell the girls that were looking to date

a boy, I gave them a couple pieces of advice.

I gave two girls this morning coming in, two

teenage girls, some advice, right? I told them,

actually, they were coming in the door. I said,

repeat this after me. Boys are vermin. And they

said it. I could tell in their eyes they had

no idea what vermin was. I said, go Google it.

You'll figure it out. All right. But first and

foremost, look for a boy who loves Jesus, not

for a boy that you hope will love Jesus one day.

Come on, I'm giving you some good advice here.

Tell your teenagers, look for a boy who loves

Jesus, and that one you're hoping, wishing, and

thinking might love Jesus someday, right? Then

secondly, look for a boy who's living out, and

there's evidence that he loves Jesus, right?

You see it in his actions and not just his words,

because how many of you know teenage boys will

say anything to get a date with a girl? Amen?

It's true. Then third, pray for confirmation.

for God to confirm that you should go out with

this boy. Look for what the Holy Spirit says.

And if you don't see two out of the three and

you don't hear from the Holy Spirit, take that

thing wherever you found it, drive it back to

the curb where you found it, throw it out of

the car and let it there. And drive away as fast

as you can. Now, come on, I used to tell teenage

girls that. That's good advice, by the way. Right?

It's true. And you can flip -flop it. You got

sons, it's the same thing. No matter how spiritual

that person looks, no matter how amazing they

seem, If the Father and the Son and the Spirit

are telling you no, don't go. What's it look

like to walk it out? What does faith in the no

look like? Because this, understand this, the

Father knows the future. You don't. He knows

what's ahead of you. Because the Father can see

all, and our vision is so very limited. Because

he knows the probability of where you're going

and more than likely knows that a decision you're

probably making in the moment is based on feelings

and not necessarily facts and certainly not by

all the facts that surround that you can't even

see. Have more faith in God's answer than you

will ever have in your own answer. Even when

it doesn't look reasonable. Even when it doesn't

make sense. Walk it out. There is always victory

on the other side of God's answer. It always

is. Worship team, if you'd come. Do you know

what's not on the other side of the door that

you knock on and God answers? There's never regret

on the other side of there. Never. Really isn't.

The only time you have regret is when you go

through the door that God didn't open. And regret's

on the other side of that. And as the worship

team makes its way to the stage, I want to take

you to a portion of scripture as we get ready

to close this out. And in Joshua 6, Joshua, who

was a leader of Israel, is seeking God about

how he should approach a city called Jericho.

And this city is a fortified city. As a matter

of fact, the walls are so thick around this city

that they believe that they raised chariots on

the top of it. It's enormous. And the Israelites...

led by Joshua, coming into the promised land.

And they're to take this city called Jericho.

And they know that they don't have the military

advantage. As a matter of fact, they know they're

very much the underdog, right? And in a hundred

different ways, they don't match up to what's

standing in front of them and the task at hand

of taking this city. And Joshua knows in his

heart and in his spirit, if he messes this up,

if God's not with him in this, a million plus

people will be wiped out. The people of God will

die, right? His friends, his relatives, relatives,

everybody he knows. So, he seeks God. He knocks.

He asks, right? He's beating on the door, and

God gives him the strangest answer ever to go

take a fortified city. He says this in Joshua

6 .1. It says, now Jericho was securely shut

up because of the children of Israel. None went

out. None came in. The walls, you're right, they

shut the gates, this fortified city. And the

Lord said to Joshua, see, I have given Jericho

into your hand. It's king and the mighty men

of valor. Then God begins to tell him what to

do. He said, you shall march around the city.

All you men of war, you shall go all around the

city once. This you shall do six days and seven

priests shall bear seven trumpets of ram's horns

before the ark. But the seventh day you shall

march around the city seven times and the priest

shall blow the trumpets and it shall come to

pass when they make a long blast with the ram's

horn. And when you hear the sound of the trumpet,

then all of the people shall shout with a great

shout. Then the wall of the city will fall down

flat and the people will go up to every man straight

before him. God gives Joshua the strangest military

strategy ever. He says, go march around this

fortified city one time for six days. Take the

Ark of the Covenant, get the priests in front

of you. Just go march around once and go back

to your tents. Right? Go stay in your tents.

Next day, go do the same thing. Six days in a

row, go do this. And then on the seventh day,

go around seven times. And when you go around

seven times, I want the trumpets to blast, and

I want people to shout, and I'm going to knock

the walls down. How many know that does not sound

like a good military strategy? How many of you

have ever shouted at a door and it flew open?

When's the last time you yelled at a wall and

it fell over? Never, right? Never seen it done.

And he's probably thinking, God, this can't be

you. This doesn't make any sense. This doesn't

look anything like the answer I was thinking

I was going to get from you. I can't picture

this, God. This isn't even reasonable. This goes

against the laws of nature. This can't be God.

This is stupid. Anybody ever think that, right?

For six days, march around once. Let them see

how many people we have. Let them see the weapons

we have. Let them get a handle on where we are

and what we're doing, right? They're going to

get a complete look at the competition. We're

not even going to have the element of surprise

in any kind of way. They're going to know what's

up. How many of you ever watch Family Feud? Raise

your hand right now if you watch Family Feud.

Do you ever see a family and they're going down

along, right, and they ask a question and they

go down along and they're all giving good answers

and they're clapping for each other and then

you get that one family member who gives the

stupidest answer ever? And they're like, ah,

good answer, good answer. Joshua's probably like,

okay, God, good answer. But Joshua knows something

about God. He knows that God has never failed

him. He knows that God has brought him through

every single time, every battle he's gone to.

Now, until this time, right, previous to this

time, he knows God's been with him. He's always

been right. Every single time, God's been right.

Every single time, God's power has shown up and

taken out the enemy. And I know this sounds strange,

and I don't get it, and it doesn't make any bit

of sense, what God's saying right now, but he

answers the Lord and says, I'll do it. I'll do

it. Faith, faith in the answer, in God's answer,

not yours. He may tell you to go out and march

around your house one time. You'll look ridiculous.

He might tell you to go wherever you're going

and march around seven times and blow a trumpet,

right, and shout at something. You're going to

feel ridiculous, but do it because God's in it.

I'm going to ask you to stand. By faith, Joshua

does everything to the T. God shows up on that

seventh day. They marched around seven times.

They began to blow the trumpets. They began to

shout, and the walls collapsed. Historians tell

us that they think they found Jericho, and they

said it looks like somebody took a gigantic hand

and pushed the walls in, which would have made

a ramp for everybody, for the Israelites to just

run up and jump right into the city and begin

to take it. It looks like a giant hand just came

down and crushed it and pushed it in. Ask, seek,

knock. Ask, seek, knock. And realize it may not

look, right, like you think it's going to look.

Your request might sound, God's not always going

to answer the way you think. And then just have

enough faith in the Father's answer to respond

and live out that answer, whatever it is. Do

it. We're going to get ready to take communion.

And I'm going to ask you to do this. I'm going

to just ask you to bow your heads right now.

I'm going to talk just a little more. Once you

get the communion elements, please hang on to

them. We're going to take communion together.

And I'm going to give you just a little more

of what God shows and speaks. Just do what he

says. But as we get ready for communion, the

word of God is very clear. We only take communion,

we take of the body, the bread which represents

Christ's body and the blood. We only do this

if we are followers of Jesus Christ, if we are

saved. And if you're in the house this morning

or if you're listening online and you're not

saved, you can be. The word of God declares very

clearly that if we believe on the Lord Jesus,

that he is the son of the living God. If we believe

that he died on a cross and rose from the grave

to pay for our sins because we couldn't pay for

him, we couldn't pay the penalty of death, only

Jesus could. If you believe that and you want

Christ as Lord and Savior of your life, you can

do that today. The Word of God says that you

just need to come in faith before Him. And you

can pray the simplest prayer just between you

and God. And say, Lord, forgive me of my sin.

Come into my life. I want to follow you. I make

the commitment today to follow you with my heart,

with all my soul, with all my mind, with all

my strength. Because I know you are the way,

the truth, and the life. Forgive me of my sins.

I turn. from the way I used to live. I turn from

the sin that I participated in, and I look to

you. Forgive me of those sins. Wash them clean.

I come into my life in Jesus' name, and amen.

If you pray that prayer, first of all, you're

in the kingdom of God, which is awesome. Secondly,

you qualify for communion. So I want you to come

and get the communion elements, and then I want

to share just a scripture. If you would make

your way to the center, you can go to the back.

There are elements in the back. There are elements

in the front. Your assistance there will help

you with the bread and the juice. Communion is

significant because Jesus instructed us to do

this. And he said, when you do this, do this

in remembrance of me. And we take communion so

we remember the cross of Christ. We remember

the sacrifice that Christ made on the cross.

But there's something, there's so many things

that are connected with what Jesus, the finished

work that Jesus did at the cross. With his crucifixion,

his burial, and the resurrection, so many things

took place. And I'm going to give you just one

this morning that relates to, A, remembering

Christ and what he did. But when Jesus died and

he breathed his last, something took place in

the temple at that time. There was a veil that

was up, and it was a very thick veil. It was

like a curtain, a very thick curtain, I think

several inches thick, if I remember correctly.

And the veil in the temple separated two rooms.

There was the Holy of Holies, which was a room

where the Ark of the Covenant dwelt. And God's

presence actually, the Shekinah glory, God's

presence dwelt in that place. And once a year,

only once a year, the priest would go in and

make atonement for the people, for the sins of

the people in this Holy of Holies. There was

a veil that would separate out to the holy place,

and the priest, again, would take care of things

out in the holy place on a regular basis. But

once a year, the priest would go into the Holy

of Holies. When Jesus breathed his last, the

Word of God says that the earth shook. Things

were moved. There was an earthquake that took

place, and that veil was torn from the top to

the bottom in two. This is symbolic. Because

only once a year could a priest go into the presence

of God to ask of God anything for atonement for

the people. When that veil tore, Jesus paid the

price so we can walk into the presence of God.

Not just the priest, but every one of us can

walk into the presence of God and we can ask

God. We can ask Him for forgiveness. We can ask

Him to meet our need. We can ask... God's Word,

Jesus said it, right? We can walk in and ask.

So when you take communion and you take the body

of Christ and the representation of the vine

as the blood of Christ in the new covenant, when

you take these, you need to remember, right?

We need to remember that because of Christ's

sacrifice, you can walk into the presence of

God and you can ask. You can seek. You can knock.

Because He let you in. Jesus paid for all that.

So I want you, as we're going to take communion,

maybe you've been asking God for something and

you felt like God's not heard you for years.

And you stopped asking. I want you to pick it

back up. I want you to ask Him. You need to keep

asking. You need to keep seeking. You keep knocking.

He hears you. Maybe you're not hearing the answer

He's given. Maybe it's a wait. Right now, he's

got you in a whole pattern. He's got reason for

that. He's doing something. Amen? It's true.

Sometimes people are praying for relatives. You've

got to remember they have free will. We talked

about that. God will go meet them where they

are, but they've got to make a decision at some

point. Maybe it's a thing that you're waiting

for. Maybe it's something brand new in your life

that you need to seek and ask. But as we remember

Christ, remember, he tore the veil. You can walk

in. You have the privilege. You have the right.

And it is a privilege. So why don't you take

the bread together? Lord Jesus, on the same night

that he was betrayed, he took the bread and he

gave thanks. Take the bread. He said, remember,

this is my body that was broken for you. And

in the same manner, he took the cup. which represents

his blood and the new covenant and the new testament.

And he said, take drink. So I want you to take

the drink. I want you to bow your heads. What

are you asking him for? What are you seeking

for? What are you knocking about? Maybe you've

even been afraid to ask him. Father, we come

just grateful and thankful. Lord, I thank you

for your word, God, that sets us free and shows

us the way. And Jesus, you said to do this, to

do this. God, so many requests are going up right

now in this congregation, Lord God online. And

Lord, I just ask, Lord, as we ask together, Lord,

there's going to be individual needs. There's

going to be different requests. Some of them

are brand new. Some of them have been for years.

And Lord, I just pray that they come back one

more time expecting, knowing that there's a good

father who wants to answer them. And Jesus, you

made the way. You tore the veil so we could go

in and ask. And Lord, we take this privilege.

We take this right that you've given to us. Nothing

we earned, Lord, but God, by your grace. And

Lord, we exercise it. Lord, we call on you for

your answer, for your will, and for your purpose.

And Lord, we just ask this in Jesus' name. And

amen. Visit our website at www .lifehousecog

.com.