The Sermon On The Mount Series: Asking, Seeking, Knocking

The Sermon On The Mount Series: Asking, Seeking, Knocking

Read: Matthew 7:7-12

This post has been divided into the following parts,
    1. Ask and you shall receive
    2. Seek and you shall find

    3. Knock and it will be opened to you

    4. The giving nature of God [Matthew 7:9-12]

1. Ask and you shall receive:-

According to Google, asking simply means to say to someone that one wants them to do or give something.

In the first two verses, Jesus states two statements about asking, "Ask, and it will be given to you;" and "For everyone who asks, receives;"

Jesus clearly says, ask and you will receive. But just asking in prayer, saying "I want this or I want that" won't work. When it comes to asking God for something, there is a certain mannerism in which we have to pray. When asking God, we must pray with-

> Firm Faith, asking with confidence and trusting without any doubt if you will receive it or not. Faith is a very important component in prayer.

> Humility, ask by humbling yourselves before the Lord and with complete surrendering unto Him.

> Diligence, ask diligently with persistent prayers, without giving up no matter how long it takes.

> Passion, ask with passion for someone or something, proving that it is of importance and need to you and not just a want.

Asking needs intense faith in the Lord. For example [Matthew 8:5-13], the Roman centurion who came to Jesus asking to heal his paralyzed servant. A Roman centurion, who had so many servants, but decided to come up to Jesus and ask for his servant's healing, when on the other hand even the other Jews had no respect/faith for Jesus. In addition to that, he said to Jesus that his servant would be healed just by His words. That requires extreme faith, let us be like that centurion when we ask God, with complete faith. [also see Matthew 17:20]

But also my dear brethren, do not be dishearted when sometimes you don't receive, even though you ask with complete faith. It might just not be good for you in the long run or God may have a different and marvellous plan for you. As it says in Jeremiah 29:11, For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and to give you hope and a future.

2. Seek and you shall find:-

Seeking, according to Google, means an attempt to find or obtain something.

Prayer can also be to seek something, it may be good life or a job or anything else. But remember to seek something with care and application. Seeking with care means seeking carefully so that you don't prioritize it above God, cause He is the one who provides and guides you. Seeking with the application means to seek with a purpose, cause we find a job to provide for our families or ourselves or seek a good education for our future. But, keep in mind whatever you do, no matter for what reason, do it for the glory of God [1 Corinthians 3:17].

In Matthew 6:33, Jesus says us to seek first the kingdom of God and everything else will follow. Just like Job. During the times when he had everything, he still sought God first and was faithful. And even when everything was snatched from him, he still sought God and remained faithful, but later just once he questioned God and was answered to. And at the end, seeing that Job sought after God first and not his family or wealth or even health, he was rewarded in double with family, wealth, health, cattle, etc.

So my dear brethren, let us set our priorities straight and keep God first and if it is His will we will be blessed in this life not only with the things of the world but with calmness, strength, joy, wisdom, hope and above everlasting satisfaction.

3. Knock and it shall be opened to you:-

Jesus states about knocking in the first two sentences stating, “knock, and it will be opened to you” and “and to him who knocks it will be opened.”

These statements clearly mean that Jesus is referring to closed doors. Those could be closed doors of communication, where you are feeling disconnected from God. This is what I concluded or understood. By knocking you are trying to reconnect with God, and Jesus says, knock and it will be opened to you. This shows that if we turn away from God’s presence or get distracted from His word or feel disconnected from the Holy Spirit. All we have to do is just knock and keep on knocking with patience and prayer and God promises that He will open the door, and we all know that the Lord is faithful towards all His promises and loving towards all that He has made.

Again when knocking in prayer, we need to follow or have a certain mindset. First of all, with earnestness, i.e. with a passion and a commitment to get connected or reconnected with God and stay in His presence. Secondly, with perseverance and punctuality, keep knocking without giving up and God will open the door for you.

I would like to add to the topic of knocking. As it says in Revelation 3:20, Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come into him and dine with him, and he with Me. This shows that Jesus is knocking on the door of our hearts, to enter, and it is unto us if we want to accept Him, have faith in Him and dine with Him. But we will never know when this period of grace ends and when He will return back as the King of kings, glorious and victorious. It is never too late to let Him in, but do not be sorry which the time of His arrival comes.

4. The giving nature of God [Matthew 7:9-12]:-

Verses 9 and 10 says, Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? And the following verse 11 says, If you then, being 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!

The interpretation of these three verses is very easy. It means if a child [we as in the children of God] asks his Father [God our father] something, the father being good, will give His child what is good and best for them and not what is bad for them. God is our creator and He knows our past and the future and has planned what is the best for us. For example, if you want a certain job and you ask God for it, there are chances that some problem/issue may arise if you join that company in the future, that is why God is delaying it, but if something is good for you and you ask for it God will provide it to you instantly. All you have to do is have patience, faith and passion in your prayers, ask without any doubt. If you get it, praise God and if you don’t get it, still praise God.

The last verse says, Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

I would like to correlate this with the parable of the unforgiving servant, the King forgave the debts of the servant, but that servant didn’t forgive the debts of his fellow servant and punished him. On hearing that the King got furious and punished the servant because he didn’t forgive the debts of his fellow servant when the King forgave him. This same works with sins, if someone sinned against, forgive them, because God forgave your sins. Be kind to others if you want to be treated the same way.

But remember one thing, even if others are bad to you doesn’t mean that you should be bad to them. Continue being good to them because you are showing a Christ-like attitude and are being righteous in the sight of God.

So in conclusion, keep on asking, seeking and knocking with faith, patience and hope. And God your father will provide, reveal and open respectively. And always make sure that you show a Christ-like attitude to others than just saying by forgiving and forgetting them because actions speak louder than words and by seeing a change in you, they might also change.

All Praises Be To God Alone! Peace Be With You!

Suggested Readings:-

Do Not Worry - Click

Sermon On The Mount Series: Relationship with God - Click

Sermon On The Mount Series: The Lord’s Prayer - Click

Sermon On The Mount Series: Relationship with Others [P.T. 2] - Click