3. How does Jesus express the willingness of our heavenly Father to answer our prayers? Matthew 7:8.
NOTE: ‘“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth.” Matthew 7:7, 8. If we seek, with this assurance, it is worthwhile to know what to seek; what it is that is worth finding. The same One who gives the assurance that we shall find, tells us what to seek. “Seek ye the Lord while He may be found.” Isaiah 55:6. “Seek the Lord, and His strength; seek His face evermore.” Psalm 105:4. Here is something that is certainly worth finding. If we find the Lord, we find His strength. He is the Almighty; therefore whoever finds Him becomes “strengthened with all might according to His glorious power, unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness.” Colossians 1:11. In His presence is fulness of joy. Not only so, but “in Him all things consist” (Colossians 1:17, R.V.), and therefore he who finds the Lord has with Him all things. Romans 8:32.’ E. J. Waggoner: Present Truth, December 3, 1896.
4. What conditions are attached to our asking? Mark 11:24; 1 John 5:14.
NOTE: ‘Another element of prevailing prayer is faith. Jesus said to His disciples, “What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” Mark 11:24. When we do not receive the very things we asked for, at the time we ask, we are still to believe that the Lord hears and that He will answer our prayers. When our prayers seem not to be answered, we are to cling to the promise; for the time of answering will surely come, and we shall receive the blessing we need most. God is too wise to err, and too good to withhold any good thing from them that walk uprightly.’ A Call To Stand Apart. page 27.
‘The consistent course is to commit our desires to our all-wise heavenly Father, and then, in perfect confidence, trust all to Him. We know that God hears us if we ask according to His will. But to press our petitions without a submissive spirit is not right; our prayers must take the form, not of command, but of intercession.’ Counsels for the Church, page 305.