Ask, Seek, Knock

In Matthew 7:7-11, Jesus teaches us that God hears our prayers of asking and seeking and answers when we knock on the Door of His Heart. Let's read the Amplified Bible version below.

“Ask and keep on asking and it will be given to you; seek and keep on seeking and you will find; knock and keep on knocking and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who keeps on asking receives, and he who keeps on seeking finds, and to him who keeps on knocking, it will be opened." 

image courtesy of Kelly Sikkema via Unsplash

"Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will [instead] give him a stone?" Or if he asks for a fish, will [instead] give him a snake? If you then, evil (sinful by nature) as you are, know how to give good and advantageous gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven [perfect as He is] give what is good and advantageous to those who keep on asking Him."

I want to touch on a few scenarios that I think of as we read this passage of Scripture. First of all, many of us have had what we often call "unanswered" prayers. But let's look at "unanswered" from a different perspective by starting in reverse order of these two paragraphs in red. In the second paragraph of these verses, Jesus tells the congregation who have gathered on the mountainside to hear His sermon that even human parents, who have a sinful nature, want to provide what is best for their children. We won't give them anything that will cause them harm. Or another example here is maybe we won't let them have a pet they're begging for until they prove they are mature enough to take care of one, so we tell them to wait. Good parenting often requires an answer of "No" or "Not now." Would you agree with that? 

Now going back to the first paragraph in red, God, being perfect, will do no less for us. "No" or "Not now" are His answers to what we may call "unanswered" prayer. God knows what's best for us, His beloved children. And He knows the best timing. He will not give us anything that does not align with His will. So, we need to learn to ask for and seek what is good for us and others, then He will hear the knock and provide the answers we are seeking in His perfect timing. He wants to give us what is "good and advantageous".

Let's look at another scenario. Waiting for God requires patience. Sometimes, He wants to make sure we trust Him, or He is testing our patience, or He needs us to understand His ways better, or maybe our motives are wrong. After we mature in His ways, we may even see where we were possibly wrong to ask or seek what we were praying for and be grateful that God answered "No." "Ask and keep asking, seek and keep seeking, knock and keep knocking," help us re-align our requests as the Holy Spirit works on our prayer skills. Jesus is telling us to not give up on God or our needs or the needs of others. God's perfect timing may, again, be at work.

Perhaps we need to think about what we're asking God to do for us. Is any work required of us, by any chance? For instance, if we ask to be a great pianist, we have to practice. We aren't going to become a great pianist overnight just because we ask God. We have to be willing to learn the skills and put in the time. Maybe it would be better to ask Him to help us as we learn each skill, to remember where the keys are, where the proper finger placements are, etc. Perhaps each lesson is bringing you closer to your goal of becoming a great pianist and you simply haven't realized God is helping you through each step. So, let's notice the little things that are going on in our lives. As humans, we want things instantly, and instant just can't happen sometimes. We're too quick to take the credit when things happen instantly. But by getting there slowly, we realize God is the one helping us reach our goals. So, keep asking, keep seeking, and keep knocking could also mean there are likely more steps to the process. And each stage requires prayer to get you closer to what you're asking God for. 

Or keep asking, keep seeking, and keep knocking could mean that we should trust God with multiple prayer requests. In other words, don't be narrow minded; don't limit God to a few requests. And let's not limit our requests to only our needs; include others (family, neighbors, our city, our state, our country, the poor, the wealthy, other nations, etc.). Our hurting world needs a lot of prayers. God will handle whatever you ask Him for, regardless of the number of requests. He loves when we rely on Him for everything. If we feel overwhelmed because we can't help every hurting person in the world, He is the answer. We just need to do our part. And everyone doing her/his part is God in action. There are plenty of charities/nonprofits to contribute to in one form or another. And we should NOT let the fact that some people in the charities receive paychecks keep us from giving. That's the devil talking us out of helping. Those who get paid are paid because they have knowledge or they work very hard. A fair percentage still goes to those in need of the funds.

Let's allow the Holy Spirit to guide our prayers. Then we will learn to ask, seek, and knock the correct way through His Divine Guidance. I could think of only a few ways this passage could be interpreted. Perhaps God will reveal another interpretation to you. If so, please share in the comments section below. 

Have a blessed day,

Patricia