LEARNING DAILY

 

Matthew 7:7-8, “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 he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”  Jesus

 

The Lord Jesus gives such comforting words in these verses; they are great promises to all Believers as we face the uncertain times we now face.  “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you.”  Because they are promises made by Jesus Himself they are certain to happen.  There is also a danger in the interpretation – the promises cannot be interpreted that God will give a person whatever he/she desires or wants.  To believe this is to ignore the entire teaching in God’s Word on prayer.  It is much more than making God into a Santa Claus figure.

 

The first portion of Scripture in Matthew 7 deals with trying to remove the speck from another’s eye when there is a plank in your own eye – judging.  Who can live by the standards established by the sermon on the Mount?  The obvious answer is no one as we all need the help and grace the Holy Spirit gives to us.  That help comes as we ask, seek, and knock; Jesus promised we would receive, find, and the help would be given.  On our own, we fail!  Through Jesus Christ help and grace comes in abundance.

 

Everything we need to conform to living like Jesus Christ is offered to anyone who desires it.  Asking, seeking, and knocking is encouragement to persevere in prayer.  The tense in verse 8 speaks of continued action.  “This means we continue to ask, seek, and knock.  Asking implies a consciousness of need and the belief God hears our prayers.  Seeking implies earnest petitioning along with obedience to the will of God.  Knocking implies perseverance in coming to God even when He does not respond quickly.” (from The Life in the Spirit Study Bible).  This sort of persistence comes from a person not being content with the way he/she is.  Jesus’ assurance that  those who ask will receive is based on their hunger and thirst for righteousness and seeking God’s kingdom and His righteousness before all else.  This is day after day, persistent asking, seeking, and knocking. 

 

Receiving is also a matter of believing that God is a loving father who loves each of His children.  That means each of you who are reading this.  Getting ahold of this will enable you to joyfully face each situation ahead of you.  Further in this passage of Scripture, Jesus said something very important in Matthew 7:11, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him?”  Here is another promise – your Father in heaven will not disappoint His children!  Martin Lloyd-Jones has written, “God is not against you when unpleasant things happen to you; He cannot give anything evil to you.  God knows the difference between good and evil and will never give you anything that will harm you.”  Reread verse 11 again.  He loves you even more than a good earthly father who loves his children.  God wants us to ask Him for whatever we need, promising to give us what is good.  He desires to provide solutions for our problems and daily bread for our daily needs.  He gives the Holy Spirit to His children as our Counselor and Helper (Luke 11:13 and John 14:16-18).  2 Peter 1:13 tells the Spirit gives us everything pertaining to life.   We ask for everything that will draw us closer to the Father.  We ask for the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control) to be manifest in our life.  We ask that our life be salty and the light of Jesus shine brightly so other may see and glorify Him.  We diligently seek to be like Him.  When we do, Father in heaven delights in providing the way.

 

What a wonderful God we serve!

 

 

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