Fervent Prayer Devotional #4: Ask, Seek, Knock
Matthew 7:7-11 states,
7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
Danny Akin once said that, “prayer is the great blessing that puts our impotence in touch with God’s omnipotence, our lack in touch with his supply, and our needs in touch with his riches.”
What I love about this passage in Matthew is that it is an open invitation to us as children of God to boldly approach the throne of grace (Heb 4:16). Prayer is an invitation to bring requests before our God who has everything we need.
Notice how in Verses 7 and 8 Jesus commands us that we should pray persistently. Did you notice the three words He uses? Ask. Seek. Knock. All three of these verbs are present imperatives. These are the ways in which we are instructed to pray by Jesus. Danny Akin brings the idea of persistently praying to life by stating, “Ask and keep on asking is the idea. Seek and keep on seeking. Knock and keep on knocking. When you pray like this, God promises to answer.”
Look again at what verse 7 says, “Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be open.”
Jesus gives us such confidence in whom we are praying to in these verses. When you pray, you are praying to a heavenly Father who is so much better than any earthly Father. This allows us not only to pray persistently but to pray expectantly! Even flawed fathers will seek to meet the needs of their children. What dad would give his son a stone if his son asked for bread (vs. 9)? Or what dad would give his son a serpent if his son asked him for fish (vs. 10? How much more so will your heavenly father give good gifts to those who ask him (vs. 11)? What confidence this gives children of God to pray expectantly! We have a heavenly Father who is perfect and trustworthy and wants us to come to Him!
Finally, did you notice that beautiful promise that comes out of verse 11? God wants to give his children good gifts! So ask, seek, and knock! God hears us when we pray. In fact, Proverbs 15:8 states that He delights in our prayers. In these verses, Jesus invites us to persistently and expectantly pray to a good Father who not only listens to his children, but gives good things to those who ask!