Ask, Seek and Knock
“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8
As children of our heavenly Father through faith in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:26), we have the great privilege of coming before the LORD God in prayer. Jesus Himself commands and invites us to do so, promising that when we ask, we shall receive; when we seek, we shall find; and when we knock, it shall be opened unto us. “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”
John writes in his first epistle: “And this if the confidence that we have in Him [God the Son], that, if we ask any thing according to His will, he heareth us; and if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him” (5:14-15).
James also writes: “Ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts” (4:2, 3).
Jesus commands and invites us to pray to our heavenly Father and to ask, seek and knock. We are God’s adopted children through faith in Jesus Christ and have the privilege of approaching our heavenly Father as dear children approach and make request of their earthly fathers. And, God promises to hear and answer our prayers for the sake of Jesus Christ and His innocent sufferings and death in our stead. Thus, when we ask for what is good and in accord with His will, we will receive. When we seek Him and His will, we shall find it. When we knock and seek to come into His very presence, He will open the door unto us and receive us. All this is so because Jesus took the guilt and punishment for our sins upon Himself, suffered and died in our place, and rose again in victory on the third day!
Though God promises to hear and answer our prayers, if we ask amiss that we may fulfill our own selfish and sinful desires, God has not promised to give us all we desire. In the same way as our earthly fathers had to consider what was good and best for us, so our heavenly Father must, at times, withhold things from us because they may cause harm to our body or soul. When He denies our request and withholds some thing that we have desired of Him, He does so for our good and for our eternal welfare.
When we consider this great privilege that is ours for Jesus’ sake, what a shame it is that we fail to make use of it! We often have not because we ask not; and, when we do come to the LORD God in prayer, it is for things we desire to fulfill our own sinful ambitions. Thus, we miss out on so many blessings God wills to give us!
Jesus would have us come to the very throne of God in faith that He will accept and receive us for the sake of His blood shed for us upon the cross. He would have us ask our heavenly Father for those things we need and desire, trusting in His perfect will for us. Jesus would have us seek the LORD God and His righteousness, for the one who truly seeks Him will find Him. And, Jesus would have us knock, knowing and trusting that our heavenly Father will open the door for us and receive us into His very presence for Jesus’ sake.
Dear Father in heaven, we thank You and praise You for the gift of Your Son and for His holy sacrifice upon the cross for our sins. We thank You for the privilege of coming before You with our prayers. Grant us forgiveness for all our sins. Fill us with Your Holy Spirit. Move us to seek You with our whole heart, and open the door to us that we may delight in Your presence. We pray in the name of Jesus our Savior. Amen.
[Scripture in this devotion from the King James Version of the Bible] 
