Friday, November 8, 2019
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find;
knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who
seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 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!”
Matthew 7:7-11
You cannot possibly overestimate the purpose and power
of prayer in the life of a believer. For many of us, we were taught to pray very early in
life. We grew up listening to people praying and trying to mimic all of their
words. Others feel like they can’t pray because they don’t know how. Real
honest prayer is not the repeating of words like a mantra but spiritual
communication with Holy God. In the passage above, Jesus gives us some simple guidelines
about prayer and how we have a good father who love us and wants to give us
good things.
Three Things…
Ask implies asking for a conscious
need. The word also suggests
humility in asking, for it is commonly used of one asking a superior. We ask
for what we wish. Something we desire which
is beyond our own power or resource. Too
many never get past the first step in the process of effective prayer. They ask and then “leave it there.” While there are some requests of God we need
to leave to Him, personal change involves acts of faith.
Seek, involves
asking but adds action. The idea is not merely to express
one’s need, but to get up and look around for help. It involves effort. Seek
Persistently. It’s not always enough just to ask, you also have to seek. Add some works to your faith. If you’ve asked
Him for a new job, seek a new job. If you’ve asked Him for reconciliation in a
relationship, seek reconciliation. If you’ve asked Him for healing, seek
healing. Don’t sit back and wait for an angel to do all the work. Faith without
works is dead.
Knock includes asking, acting and persevering—like someone who keeps pounding on a closed door. We knock for access
to some place or thing. When we discover we are in the right place, we
still need to step through the door. Knock Determinedly. Once you see God's promise in clear view,
knock and keep on knocking until the promised door is open.
We are to keep on asking, seeking and knocking for those things that
will make us more like Jesus. Perseverance is the key to God’s treasure, just
as it often proves to be with earthly treasures. Persistent prayer will get an answer
- in God’s time and in God’s way. Our prayers do not change God’s purpose,
create His desire to give or persuade Him to give; it opens the way for Him to
give.
God “cannot” give
until we ask, because in asking we admit our need and grant Him access to it. God is our good Father, who loves and cares
for us in a way we cannot fathom. His desire is to give the best, which means
according to His knowledge. We do not always know what is best for us. God will
give us what we ask for or something better. (He won’t give the “stone” but may
not give the “bread” either.) We will not be satisfied in prayer if we only
feel God answers when we get what we wanted. If we try to predict the outcome
of our prayers, we take the power away from the One who truly deserves it - the
only one with the power. Persistence and trust in who we know God is will bring
assurance in our waiting. Ask, Seek, Knock,
and
then trust. He is your good Father who
loves you and wants good things for you. 