Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Of Asking, Seeking and Knocking

Of Asking, Seeking and Knocking
Scripture:
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! Matthew 7:7-11
Observation:
In this infamous passage, we are taught by our Lord Jesus three things that we ought to do – ask, seek and knock. And the Lord gives us three corresponding results, receiving, finding and having doors opened to us. Then He goes on further to explain us that if even earthly fathers know how to give good gifts to their children, how much more will our Father in Heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him. We are reminded yet again of the image of our loving Heavenly Father as a generous God, pleased and desirous of giving good gifts to His children down on earth.
What then should we ask for? Does it mean God will answer our every prayer? What if we ask for millions of dollars, or great fame and power, or to be married to a beautiful actor or actress? Will God give us these things just because we ask? Of course not! Many of these things, though greatly desired by the world, and which look great on the outside, may actually be immensely detrimental to us, if we do not know how to handle it. The asking that Jesus speaks of here does not refer to this kind of worldly or selfish asking. Rather, the asking spoken of here refers to a deeply spiritual kind of asking.
Consider the three words – ask, seek and knock. When we think knock, the image of knocking on Heaven’s door immediately comes to mind. When we think seek spiritually, we naturally think seeking to know our great God in Heaven, or even seeking the find true meaning and satisfaction in life. In the same context, asking here would be asking to know God’s will, asking for God’s power here on earth to serve others, asking for God’s wisdom to live life, asking for God’s counsel and favor and blessing in our daily life. We can see a parallel passage in Deuteronomy 4:29, where Moses told the Israelites “if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
In the prayer of Jabez, we see these three actions in motion. Jabez cried out to the God of Israel (He was seeking God, he was knocking on Heaven’s door) “Oh that you would bless me indeed and enlarge my territory. Let your hand be with me, and keep me from evil that I might not cause pain” (Spiritual asking). It is perfectly fine and Scriptural to ask God for blessing and enlargement. But going further, we see Jabez’s heart desiring not only material blessings and business expansion but also for God’s presence to be with him, and in praying to God to keep himself from evil, we see Jabez’s heart’s desire to be righteous before God’s eyes. And the Scripture records, God granted Jabez’s request!
Another aspect to asking, seeking and knocking can be seen in the Proverbs, where we are called to look high and low for wisdom, seeking it as more precious than gold or silver. That wisdom of course is true, godly wisdom, and in James, God promises to give generously without finding fault to all who lack wisdom but ask Him. Godly wisdom ultimately comes back to the fear and reverence of the Lord and shunning evil, elements again found in Jabez’s prayer.
In regard to the Greek verb for asking, seeking and knocking, we must also take note that it literally means keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking. It is not a once off action, but a continuous, persistent asking, seeking, knocking. Therefore, it is a call for us to persevere in asking, seeking and knocking as we look to our great and generous Father in Heaven.
Application:
When was the last time we really set time aside to seek God, to seek that true meaning of life, to seek to know our Creator and Father in Heaven? When was the last time we knocked on Heaven’s door, seeking that precious communication with our great God in Heaven? When was the last time we asked humbly for His grace and blessing, for His presence, for His righteousness in our daily life, like Jabez of old did?
Prayer:
Praise thee, Father in Heaven, for the great and generous and loving God that You are. You give generously to all who seek You without finding fault, and You give wisdom to the weak, to the poor, to the least deserving. Let my heart always look towards You, precious Father, to seek Your presence, to knock on Your door, and desire precious communion with You. Praise thee, Heavenly Father, for you grant our hearts desire and give us happiness and peace and protection on earth. Let Your reality be more and more eminent in my life I pray O Lord. Let me know You more and more. In Jesus name, Amen.



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