Martin Luther said “To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.” Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount tests us and challenges us at every turn. Jesus calls us to a life that is so breathtakingly beautiful, and yet at the same time so difficult to live out. Jesus isn’t satisfied with external behavior in the Sermon on the Mount, but he keeps digging into our hearts. As we said at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, righteousness isn’t simply a matter of outward behavior but it’s a matter of the heart. Asking is simply expressing your need to God. Ask, and you will receive. What a beautiful promise!
The word “seek” intensifies the process. We seek when we don’t know where something is. In seeking we understand that there is concentrated time and effort involved. So yes, prayer is asking, but it is not a hit and run. We spend time seeking God in prayer and in his word. Seeking is a process, and it doesn’t happen all at once.
