Ask, Seek, Knock, then keep on knocking

“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened." (Matthew 7:7-8)

Jesus is telling us how important it is to pray - to take our concerns, needs, hurts, and hang-ups to him in prayer. In other words, we are to use our words to express our need. What happens if we don't know what to pray for - when the situation is there, but we have no idea what to ask him to do for us in that situation? We seek wisdom. Sometimes we don't know what is happening in our lives, but we know we need God's help in that moment. We lay out our need, both the one we recognize easily, as well as the one we have a hard time articulating. Then we listen. Prayer is about asking, seeking, and knocking (importuning). We don't always ask, so how do we expect to receive. We might not always seek so as to discover. We may not realize it, but when there seems to be no answer, we might need to make the request over and over again. It doesn't mean God isn't listening, it could just mean he is waiting on us to be ready to receive, act, or change the course we have taken.

Ask (aiteo) - ask for with urgency. This word speaks to the attitude of a suppliant (one who makes a humble, earnest plea or entreaty), the petitioning of one who is lesser in position than he to whom the petition is made. To ask means to call on for an answer, which indicates that we believe there is someone listening. It also implies that we expect Him to answer. Ask is present imperative indicating that we are to keep on asking. This is to become the pattern of our life, a continual act of devotion. Jesus calls us to be in His presence continually.

Seek (zeteo) means to attempt to learn something by carefully investigating it or searching for it. Seeking is asking plus acting, implying that type of earnest petitioning that is coupled with an active endeavoring to see needs fulfilled. When you seek something, you rearrange your priorities so that you can search for what you desire until you find it. If we don't receive by asking, we seek. If we don't receive by seeking, we knock.

Knock (krouo) - to rap at a door for entrance, but then to keep on knocking. The English word "knock" comes from German word meaning to press for what you desire. The idea might imply praying in the face of difficulty or resistance. If you knock like this, you don't give up on expressing your need. You keep on pressing, until you receive the answer.

We might ask, but do we seek? If we don't receive what we need the first time we ask, do we keep our eyes and ears open to discover what God might want to teach in the moment? Search out God's answers. Don't just expect them to fall into your lap. When you learn to ask, seek, and knock, you learn to lean on Jesus more than on your own ability or strength. Just sayin!

Taken for granted?

The wise in heart will receive commandments, but a prating fool will fall. (Proverbs 10:8)

Those who "talk to hear themselves talk" might not actually know how foolish they can sound on occasion. They just ramble on and on as though all the world was listening. At times, they might actually have something to say, but the "world" is so tired of listening to their pointless talk that even if they have some nugget of purposeful information in there somewhere, no one is really paying close attention! This might be why scripture reminds us of the way we use our words - not in excess, not hastily, not in idle talk. When we have a tendency to just make "conversation" for the sake of "passing the time", we don't really have much to share which will really lend to the building of relationship or receiving of instruction. When I want to build relationship, I usually am very focused on learning certain things about the other individual. I may be drawn to them because I see they possess a skill set I don't. This might start a rather "instructional" or "professional" relationship, but it will lack depth if that is all we ever talk about. I still don't know much about them. It isn't until I spend time with them, really getting to know their movements, understanding their expressions, grasping the meaning of their deep sighs, and seeing clearly the pain or joy in their eyes that I come to know them well. It isn't just focusing on hearing the stories they tell. These are important, but we actually get to know another by studying them a little - not just listening to the words they share. We need both in order to really come to a place of intimate relationship with each other. If all we do is go on in endless prattle, our words might actually drive us away from relationship - not toward it!

The wise in heart will receive commandments - they receive his teaching. The words God speaks are not those of a prating fool. They aren't spoken to fill pages in a book, or to fill the air with sound. They are directive, instructional, and purposeful. They are faith-filled, challenging, and sometimes even exasperating. Yep, sometimes his words are kind of "rough". Sometimes God's words are a little "rough" to take - they seem to almost "prick us" with their sharpness. I cannot think of a more faithful companion to speak those type of words into our lives, can you? The most "telling" truths he can speak are those which make us sit up and take notice of how it is we are living! A prating fool will fall - become nothing because he is too busy talking to take time to listen! This is the danger of using words as though they were a "cheap commodity" - we lessen the value of the words we hear because we are so busy talking over them that we cannot hear them at all! To receive, we need to listen. To listen, we need to be quiet. To be quiet, we need to be comfortable enough to not need to be the center of attention! God challenges those who are constantly chattering on and on with this word of warning - there is a fall in your path if you continue on in the senseless chattering of empty words. Why is that? We don't have the depth of relationship with him or others to sustain us in the difficult times of life!

Herein is the balance we must find. We have to be open enough to develop solid relationships, but also to have balance in what it is we share. When we begin talking, we must consider the audience, understand the relationship we have with them, and realize the value in what it is we are sharing, there is quite a different conversation which occurs. This is most true in our relationship with God himself. We need to know our audience. He isn't "unsettled" by our endless chatting with him, but he does look for us to get to purposeful conversation with him at some point. Then we need to understand the relationship we have with him. He isn't there to be our "go to" when times are bad and then ignored when all is going well. He wants to be part of our ups AND downs. Nothing is more disheartening to him than to be taken for granted when the things in life seem to be going our way and then to be the center of our attention when we find ourselves in need. He wants us to share the things of our heart with him - not just the superficial stuff. There is a depth he wants us to cultivate in relationship with him, but without honest sharing, we will never get to this point. We need to trust him to take what we share and then use it to "better" us in every sense of the word. Just sayin!

Stepping Out

"Never limit your prayers because you think you're undeserving. You're not praying because of who you are, you're praying because of who God is." (@SHETHEROAR)

You’re blessed when you stay on course, walking steadily on the road revealed by God. You’re blessed when you follow his directions, doing your best to find him. That’s right—you don’t go off on your own; you walk straight along the road he set. You, God, prescribed the right way to live; now you expect us to live it. Oh, that my steps might be steady, keeping to the course you set; Then I’d never have any regrets in comparing my life with your counsel. I thank you for speaking straight from your heart; I learn the pattern of your righteous ways. I’m going to do what you tell me to do; don’t ever walk off and leave me. (Psalm 119:7)

I know I can be guilty of thinking I know perfectly well the course I am supposed to be walking, not even considering God may have a perfectly different and dynamic course for me, launching ahead without much thought. The 'road' we walk is best walked when it is 'revealed by God'. We shouldn't always just amble along through life and hope God will meet us along the way. We might do well to stop, take some time to pray for his wisdom, and then allow him to guide us along the path HE has determined to be the best for today.

Too many times we feel a little like we are 'bothering God' with the small stuff, but have you ever tried to maintain a relationship with someone without the 'small stuff' of conversation? If all you do is talk about the 'deep' or 'hard' stuff, your relationship is kind of scary! We talk with God about everything - the small, deep, and hard stuff - not because we are super-cool, super-righteous, or super-anything. We talk with him about it because of who he is - and believe it or not, who WE are matters to him because we are his chosen, beloved, and grace-filled children.

Steady steps come quicker to those who seek God's direction with those steps - that one just makes sense. So why do we resist asking him to reveal that direction to us? Why are we stubbornly just trudging ahead on our own? It could be we don't feel he should be bothered with the 'small stuff', but it could also be we don't feel 'worthy' of asking. Nothing could be further from the truth - for we are declared to be of the greatest worth. Why else would he give his Son as a sacrifice for our sins? 

As our psalmist shows us, guidance comes to those who don't consider it too much or too hard to take those steps to God BEFORE they take them. We learn the pattern of walking the right path because we take the time to discover it at his feet. There is nothing mystical about prayer - it is just us talking with God like we do each other. While I know some raise lofty prayers, filled with all the 'thee' and 'thou' words, it is not the way I speak with God. I just talk with him like I talk with you. Why? He doesn't need my 'pretty words' - he needs my needy heart expressed in openness and truth. Just sayin!