Ask/Seek/Knock

This week’s posts will look primarily at Matthew chapter 7, verses 7-12.  In verse 7 we are told to “ask it will be given, seek and we will find and knock and it will be opened to you.”  Let’s stop there for just a minute.  I’ve been harping on the word “dependence” pretty often as we walked through Matthew chapters 5-7, referred to as the Sermon on the Mount.  I’ve used it to refer in some way to just about every aspect of this sermon.  We cannot depend on our own righteousness or our own ability to follow God; rather, we must depend on Him.  We see this again in this first verse.

We are told to “ask” but implicit in that command is the fact that we have to ask someone or something else.  Often, the person asking is in a “lower” position than the one he or she is asking.  A student asks a teacher.  An employee asks a supervisor, etc…We are to ask God.   Next, we are told to seek.  The point on dependence  is not as obvious here but the word “seek” doesn’t  make sense if there isn’t something or someone being sought.  Finally, we are told to knock and it will be opened to us.  Who is doing the opening?  It is obvious from the context of this teaching that God is the one who is doing the giving, being found and also opening.

If we are to understand this verse in the context of prayer we again see the word “dependence”.  We are to ask, seek and knock.  We wait for God to respond.  It is that simple and yet that profound.  If you think that the world depends on you or that you hold the key to success in your own life, you are missing the point.  We are all dependent on God; whether we acknowledge that or not.  But when we do acknowledge that we open ourselves up for incredible blessing…but that’s for tomorrow!