Asking, Seeking, Knocking

Mat 5:2  And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying…

Mat 7:7  Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:

Mat 7:8  For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

Remember how we are not to worry about what we'll eat, drink, or wear?  Well, this goes hand in hand with that. Our asking, our seeking, our knocking, all these actions will have consequences. Yet so many people treat these verses as if they were little magic lamps. They expect to ask, seek, and knock and then get everything they ask for, everything they seek, and everything they want opened to them in just the way they are imagining. When that doesn't happen they decide the magic lamp isn't magic after all and toss it away.

Jesus continued…

Mat 7:9  Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?

Mat 7:10  Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?

Mat 7:11  If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

Do you imagine that a son could ask of his father a brand new car, and that father has to give it to him or else what sort of father is he?  NO.

But that's what so many believe these magic actions have to produce for them- whatever they ask, whatever they deem good for them, not what God KNOWS would be good for them.

No, it's not a bad thing to ask for food when you are hungry. But what happens if you don't get that food you are asking for? You're starving and still no food is coming to you. You're on death's door and again, nothing, no food. You die, you starve to death.  So, what happened? Your good Father did not provide what you asked for, something your own earthly father, had he been alive and able would have provided for you.

People go through this sort of situation all the time, especially those with terminal illnesses. They see no GOOD reason for them to have to die and they ask for a reprieve, they ask for life, yet it is denied them. 

We can ASK.

We can SEEK.

We can KNOCK.

And we will receive, find, and have it opened to us.

The thing is- God is NEVER going to give us anything that will interfere with our eternal life.  If our starvation is necessary- we will starve, and in starving we might not comprehend how that works for our eternal life, but we have to trust that God will do all for our good towards eternal life. We cannot believe otherwise because if we do, then we have no real faith.

We have to ask, seek, and knock all in accordance with the WILL of GOD, not our own will.

Jesus is teaching those who would follow Him, learn from Him, live for Him.  Jesus is NOT teaching those who are seeking their own will, believing more in themselves than in Him.

Not a single lie is spoken by our Savior.

Our Father in heaven is more than willing to give good things to those who are His, to those who choose to have Him as their heavenly Father.  Those who do NOT call God in all truth their heavenly Father can expect nothing because God knows those who are His and those who are not His.

Sincerity and truth, these are the things God knows of us, that we cannot hide from Him.

When we ask someone something and we don't get an immediate answer we continue to ask, don't we? We seek that answer which hasn't been forthcoming as of yet. And if we continue to ask, seeking an answer diligently we most likely will  go to great lengths to get the answer including knocking, being earnest in our desire for a response.   When we are asking, seeking, and knocking all in an effort to receive something of our Heavenly Father and we are NOT asking amiss, we have to comprehend that it is through PRAYER we ask, through PRAYER we seek, through PRAYER we are knocking. PRAYER is our communication line with God. Our Savior earlier taught us how to pray didn't He? Remember this…

Mat 6:9  After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

Mat 6:10  Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

Mat 6:11  Give us this day our daily bread.

Mat 6:12  And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

Mat 6:13  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Asking- give us this day.

Seeking- forgive us our debts.

Knocking-deliver us from evil.

We are taught this--

Mat 6:19  Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

Mat 6:20  But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

Mat 6:21  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

We are told that the things we should be asking, seeking, and knocking for are heavenly treasures, not earthly things.

When we ask, seek, and knock for earthly treasures why in the world do we seriously expect them when we are NOT supposed to be laying up for ourselves earthly treasures?

When we ask for healing, for food to ease our hunger, for water to quench our thirst, for clothes to cover our nakedness we are asking, seeking, knocking after things our Father knows we need and He will provide for us according to our eternal necessities.

We might be called to a life of being abused and denied all these basic needs but somehow, some way our God will allow all that is necessary for us to be fed with the food of eternity, we will drink from the fount of eternal life, we will  be clothed with the righteousness of our Savior, with His salvation- these are the things that are TRULY our necessities, all that pertains to ETERNAL LIFE.

So yes, we can ask, seek, and knock for anything but ultimately we must do all of those according to the will of God, according to the Heavenly treasure we must desire above all things, or else we are desiring things of earth, not of heaven.

Please Lord help us to ask, seek, and knock after YOUR will, not ours. 

All by YOUR grace, YOUR mercy, YOUR love that goes beyond our full comprehension.

All in YOUR righteousness, all by YOU!

In Christ Jesus our Savior now and always!