Red Letters - Ask, Seek, Knock

Trinity Community Church

Prayer often feels like the spiritual practice we “should” be better at and secretly avoid. In Red Letters, Pastor Mark Medley takes us into Matthew 7:7–11, where Jesus reduces the complexity we put on prayer to three verbs: ask, seek, knock. Mark shows that this isn’t a technique but an invitation. The Father already knows our needs, yet He tells us to ask because prayer is relationship with His heart and partnership in His mission. Asking confesses our poverty of spirit. Seeking pursues God with hunger. Knocking persists when doors don’t open on the first try, not to wring blessings from a reluctant deity but to stay near a generous Father. Mark addresses delayed or denied requests through the lens of adoption and abiding: the Father sometimes says no, slow, or grow before He says go, shaping us for joy. Through the story of Elizabeth and Zechariah, we see that God remembers prayers we’ve forgotten and weaves answers into a larger plan. This message urges holy discontent in spiritual things, a renewed appetite to be with the Lord and then be sent by Him. In Jesus’ own words, the way forward is simple and sturdy: ask, seek, knock.

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Chapters

1. Learning to Pray in God's Kingdom (00:00:00)

2. Ask, Seek, Knock: Jesus's Simple Formula (00:09:52)

3. Prayer: Invitation into God's Heart (00:16:34)

4. The Three Actions of Earnest Prayer (00:24:10)

5. Why Prayers Sometimes Seem Unanswered (00:31:43)

6. When God's Timing Differs From Ours (00:40:14)

7. Joining God's Mission Through Prayer (00:47:28)