Ask Seek Knock

Is there something you’ve been asking God for this week?

James 4:2-3 says,

“You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.”

If we aren’t asking of our heavenly Father, it’s because we’ve lost sight of the power of our prayer. Prayer is heaven’s prescription for every need. Prayer is the doorway through which the kingdom of God comes to earth. Jesus taught His disciples to pray “thy kingdom come; thy will be done” (Matthew 6:10). When we pray, we ask the Father to invade a situation and He will answer.

Before teaching “the Lord’s prayer,” however, Jesus said,

“When you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” (Matthew 6:7-8)

In this statement, I believe Jesus was correcting two things. First, He addressed performance-based prayers. Obviously, Jesus didn’t mean that they couldn’t pray together, but that they shouldn’t pray in public to be seen others. Next, Jesus addressed their view of God’s heart. In telling them not to “heap up empty phrases,” He was not teaching them not to unburden their hearts to God. Instead, He was correcting the posture of their hearts in prayer. He said, “for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.”

Prayer, without understanding that the Father both knows our needs and wants to give us good things, will be fruitless. Jesus came to the earth to destroy all the works of the enemy (1 John 3:8) and to correct mankind’s view of His Father. He said, “If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father” (John 14:9). He wasn’t saying He is the Father, but that He is the perfect representation of the Father’s heart. What did Jesus do on the earth? Only good things.

Matthew 11:5-6 describes the ministry of Jesus:

“The blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.”

The heart of heaven on the earth is good news for every human being. It’s salvation; it’s healing for the sick; it’s deliverance for the oppressed.

We are God’s ambassadors on the earth and it’s only prayer that keeps us in alignment with heaven and allows God to move in and through us.

James 5:16-18 says,

“The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.”

James reminds us here that Elijah was not a man born of a virgin. He wasn’t the son of God or an angel. He was a human being in alignment with heaven and when he prayed, God heard and answered.

That’s God’s desire for every one of us. Matthew 14:12-14 says,

“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”

Jesus said, “whatever you ask me in my name.”

When we live in agreement with His name, we will ask according to His will. Smith Wigglesworth said it this way:

“It is more than repeating the name; it’s the nature of that name in you. It’s more than that, even. It’s the divine personality of God…which has come to dwell in you, and when He becomes all in all then God works through you.”

Jesus said that we would do greater works in His name, for His glory, than even He did. We’ll only do that when we learn to ask! Jesus modeled a life of prayer, seeking desolate places to be alone with His Father. What if we lived like we believed everything He said? Our lives would look like His.

Matthew 7:7-11 says,

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are 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!”

Ask, and you will receive. It’s impossible to ask my Father and not receive.

Seek and you will find. It’s impossible to look for Him and not find Him.

Knock and the door will be opened. It’s impossible to knock on heaven’s door and be turned away.

At the end of that scripture, Jesus again corrects an erroneous view of the Father. We don’t ask, seek, and knock, like we’re trying to change the mind of an indifferent ruler. If we view God that way, we’ll “heap up empty phrases.” As Jesus reminded us, the Father knows what we need and He desires to give it, to those who ask Him.

If we consider these things in light of past disappointments, it will be difficult to ask in faith. We must consider Him, only; Consider His goodness, His faithfulness, and the power of His Word. Jesus didn’t say what He didn’t mean. We can’t ask in faith and not receive. We can’t seek and not find. We can’t knock and the door not be opened. It doesn’t matter what experiences you’ve had. The Word of God always stands true! Faith considers only Him and when we keep our attention focused on His word, we’ll receive like children. This week, I encourage you to allow His truth to refresh your mind and your spirit. He has good things for you. His mercies are new every morning. There is hope for everything that’s seemed hopeless. If you’ve tried before, try again! His Word will not fail. By faith and prayer, we will be conduits of heaven’s heart to the world around us! It’s the will of a good, good Father.