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. 8 For everyone who asks
receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who
knocks, the door will be opened.
9 “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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