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!