Ask, Seek, Knock

Matthew 7:7-11

"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 the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish will give him a serpent? If you then, who are 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!"

Ask

Prayer is the way we talk to God and is made possible for us despite our sinful nature through the mediation of Jesus Christ. The scriptures constantly urge us to pray and this passage is no different. It almost begs us to give God the pleasure of answering our prayer, there is no catch, no restriction, just answered prayer. Now there is a sense that God doesn't answer all prayers particularly if our requests go against his will then he cannot answer them because he must be true to himself. However even in this case I believe that God still answers prayer, he hears how our fallen nature has twisted our world view so much to ask for things that are against God's will. He hears the groaning of our souls behind that prayer (Romans 8:26) and he then heals that part of our fallen nature. We will find that the more we pray the more Godly our prayers and even lives will become.

Seek

This passage is from the sermon on the mount, Jesus then goes on to talk about the golden rule "whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them". I believe that this is the spirit by which we should pray, when we ask God for something we must also be that something in the world. If we ask God to save a friend we must reach out to that person, if we ask God for change in college we must live lives that catalyze that change, if we ask God for guidance we should give good guiding advice to others, if we ask God for riches we should give generously to those who need it, if we ask God for peace in an exam we should find ways to encourage others who are about to sit exams. And who knows maybe we will be our own answer to prayer. So now prayer becomes an action that we live out, that transforms our lives into more Godly men and women.

Knock

We should practice continual perseverance in prayer as God weaves his story. God answers prayer in the most beautifully creative way possible that maximizes his glory and our joy, that almost certainly won't be in the way that we expect. So we should hold strong to faith and continue to trust in Jesus and know that the longer the time to answer prayer the more powerful that answer will be because it has revealed our love and faith in God through our perseverance.