Ask, Seek and Knock

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. Matthew 7:7

This is a familiar verse, one that I've heard many times. It seems pretty straightforward. We are given three commands. The first command is to ask. It does not say "tell", or "demand" but ask. I (personal opinion here) doubt we can or should use a demanding tone with the God of the universe. We should never presume to tell God what to do. We can, however, ask. I believe (again personal opinion) that God likes us to ask even though he knows what we want. As a parent, I loved having my children ask for things they wanted. It made me happy to know that they felt secure enough to be vulnerable and ask for what they wanted. The opposite is also true. There were times when my children were younger that they did not ask for things they needed and I was sad. Sad that they did not feel that they could, or should come to me with their need. In the book of James, it says "You do not have because you do not ask." How many times have we not had what we needed because we never asked God for it? It wasn't that God was withholding it from us but instead that we never conveyed to God that we had a need. Does God already know our needs? Certainly! but I think he still wants us to ask. I am not suggesting or implying that we will get everything we want because we ask. As a wise parent, he always knows best. We can and should, however always, with childlike faith, "ask" trusting that God loves us so much that he will only give the good gifts he already knows we need and want.

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