A.S.K.

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 

  Matthew 7:7

Been thinking about the progression of Ask, Seek, Knock in the above passage of Scripture.  Can you see it too? 

A.    Ask.  When we're lost, and not sure which way to go in order to get to our destination, we generally ASK someone who does know the way, in hopes of them sharing their knowledge and pointing us in the right direction.  

                        

S.  Seek.   This is after we've ASKED for the directions, and now we're on our way. . or as Strong's puts it:  "to go about, endeavor. . . " 

      

K.  Knock.  The final step.   First we were lost, and then we asked for directions; after that, we began to seek (or "go about") on our journey to our destination.  Now we've arrived, and we just have to "knock" on the door. 

The next verse says, "For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened."  This makes sense, doesn't it?  In order to receive, you must first ASK.  Then what will we do with the directions we've received?  We will seek to follow them, right?  We better seek, or that's the end of our quest.  When we continue to seek (and endeavor to follow the directions), that's when we will FIND what we were looking for:  which is our destination.  Once we arrive at our destination, we must not just stand there, on the outside, but we must KNOCK on the door. . .and God says it will be opened unto us.  Even after seeking and getting closer to our destination, once we arrive, we must still knock on the door.   This implies a continual process, a gradually "getting closer" to our destination, until it's opened to us.

 

           

The gradual process of Asking, Seeking, Knocking, requires increasing faith on our part.  I can finally arrive at the door, but become afraid to go ahead and "knock on that door," because of a lack of faith.  I might begin to worry, "What will happen?  Will He even open the door?"   I wonder how many times I've arrived at a door that I sought, but because of a lack of faith, I never knocked, and that's why it was not "opened unto me."



Doubt keeps doors closed.

We can be "lost" in so many different ways.  Of course, to be lost in the ultimate "spiritual sense" is to be headed in the wrong direction~our final destination will be eternity in hell, forever separated from God, if we're lost in our sin.   Are you this person, lost and on the road to hell?  You must ask someone who knows THE way to get to heaven, and do it now, before it's too late.  Jesus said, "I am THE Way, THE Truth, and THE Life, no man comes to the Father, except by Me." John 14:6  Since Jesus is THE Way, Seek HIM.

          

Even for us who are already saved, there are times when we can feel as "lost as ever."  Maybe we need guidance regarding an important decision, or just with the challenges that life can bring.  Let's remember to A.S.K.    Ask God.  He certainly knows the answer, because His way is always best.  Seek His wisdom, seek His way, continue on "going about" His business in your life.  Soon you'll have the destination in sight, and don't stop there.   Go on and knock.  He will open the door of opportunity for you.  

                    

God the Father has already opened the door of heaven to us through His only begotten Son's shed blood on the cross.  Surely He will continue to open the doors of increasing wisdom, strength, comfort, understanding, knowledge, opportunity and spiritual growth on our behalf . . .if only we'll just A.S.K.

What "Door" are you seeking?  I pray you've already sought and found THE Door---the door to heaven:  Jesus.

                           

                              

Have a wonderful week everyone!  Thank you all so much for your thoughtful comments. . they've been such an encouragement to my heart, as always! :)

Love and prayers for all of you.  

Heavenly Father, we thank You for always answering our prayers. . . You've said no good thing will You withhold from those who walk uprightly.  Please enable us to let go and quit trying to walk uprightly in our own strength. . . but to just allow YOU to live and breathe through us.  Touch others' lives through us this week, Father. . in a mighty way.  Equip us with Your strength, Your power, Your wisdom, Your love and understanding, and enable us to be on guard, for our enemy seeks to devour us.  We thank You for the privilege to A.S.K. You for whatever we need. . and that You have promised to meet our every need, by and through Christ Jesus.  In His name we pray, Amen.

 

Food for Thought

This morning I felt led to write two verses on 3x5 cards.  Just wanted to share them with you too.  Little did I know just how much they would mean to my heart at the end of the day. 

Be ye doers of the Word, not just hearers only, deceiving yourselves. James 1:22  Ironic how easy it was for me to read the following words of wisdom found in Proverbs this morning and think "Wow, that's good advice."  But the first time someone did a "wrong against me," how quickly my flesh became offended, hurt, wanted to defend or fight back.   I  had completely forgotten the Word of Advice the LORD had given to me this morning. 

Now that I look back, I can see myself, as a little child running to my Heavenly Father ~ not seeking "to tattle," but to find His wisdom while trying to swallow the lump in my throat, and have Him dry my eyes.  In the midst of my prayer, the Holy Spirit reminded me of the two verses He led me to write on those cards many hours ago at the start of my day.  And He also reminded me of just how unlovely I am apart from Him.  That's when I found the ground to be level at the foot of the cross.

Hope these will bless you too:

A wise person is P A T I E N T .  He will be HONORED if he IGNORES a wrong done against him.  Proverbs 19:11 

From this, we can gather a promise from GOD.  God has promised to honor us if we ignore a wrong done against us.  How can we do this?  Oh...I'm so glad you asked! :o)  God is able to make all grace abound to us.  II Cor. 9:8  And sometimes that's exactly what it's going to take: GOD's grace!

Better a dry crust with peace and quiet than a house full of feasting with strife.  Proverbs 17:1

Feeling slighted?  It would be wise to patiently ignore this offense, and gracefully "take the dry crust given to us"  while remaining peaceful and quiet instead of demanding to be heard and having an over-abundance of material things.

Thank You, Father, for loving me, and for prompting me to come to YOU in my time of need. How easy it would be to pick up the phone and call a friend and "V E N T," but this is not what You want.  You want us to come to You just as soon as we feel the need, just like a child would run to its mother when it falls down and gets hurt.  We should just automatically RUN TO YOU in our time of need, so that You can make all grace abound to us.

Thank You for your patience with me. . and this is an understatement!  In Jesus' Name I pray, Amen.