- Ask, Seek, Knock
“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 he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. (Matthew 7:7–8).
WHAT DOES IT MEAN? This teaching is, essentially, about prayer. Jesus is not teaching just how to pray, but, He is commanding His Disciples to pray effectively.
Jesus is teaching about the critical importance or prayer.
He is telling us how we get results! In contemporary terms (metaphorically), Jesus is saying that prayer, is a search and rescue mission!
At first look, it may seem like praying is making a simple request and presto, like calling a genie from a bottle, we have our answer. Or, glancing about and easily finding that which you are hunting. Or, tapping on a door and the gates of prosperity swing wide open to you.
Reading the rest of the verses in context of the Biblical teaching on prayer, we see the seriousness urgency of the matter.
Verse 9. “Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone?
Verse 10. “Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he?
Verse 11. “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 what is good to those who ask Him!
The Greek word for “Ask” in these verses, “aiteó”, literally means to beg, to call for, to crave, to deeply desire, to require. It is in the “imperative mood” which expresses a command to the hearer to perform a certain action by the order and authority of the one commanding. Thus, the word Jesus uses, “Ask”, is not at all an “invitation,” but an absolute command requiring full obedience on the part of all hearers.
It is the same for the Greek word for “Seek”, (zéteó), which means, to seek in order to find out by thinking, meditating, reasoning, to inquire into; to aim at, strive after, to require, to crave, to demand something from someone. This, too, is in the “imperative”.
To “knock”, (krouó), is also in the imperative and carries the idea of “unfailing”. This is saying that it is not enough to ask and seek, but you must not fail to knock.
God tells us we must pray fervently to have effectual prayers.
In other words, you must use all resources at your disposal, praying fervently, seeking intensely, knocking persistently, with the purpose of obtaining the thing you seek, keeping in mind that God tells us that His Word will achieve the very thing it is purposed to achieve.
Most importantly, Jesus reminds us that He can only do what He sees the Father already doing, and we, AS HIS DISCIPLES, can be no greater than our Teacher. It is God, Who accomplishes His Will through His servants, as we pray.
“THE EFFECTIVE PRAYERS OF THE RIGHTEOUS CAN ACCOMPLISH MUCH” James 5:16
Now, it is your turn:
HOW CAN YOU DO THIS? _____________________________
HOW CAN YOU TEACH THIS? __________________________
Your Brother and Friend,
Mike Young
Whitestone Fellowship 