God did not create us to live this life by ourselves or operate in our own strength. He created us to rely on Him and the strength He carries. This will involve coming to Him consistently, praying to Him persistently, and abiding in His presence continuously.
In Matthew 7:7-8, while giving His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”
It is obvious that in these verses, Jesus is talking about persevering in prayer. He mentions three verbs in these verses: ask, seek, knock. It’s not a coincidence that the first letter of each word forms the acronym A.S.K. This is what Jesus wanted for the multitude. He was encouraging them to A.S.K. Just like the people on the Mount, Jesus wants us to be proactive in our prayers not reactive and wait for God to hand us things. Asking requires a position of persistent praying, seeking involves being diligent in praying, and knocking is a desire to enter into the intimate places of the Father while you are praying.
Prayer represents a form of humility. It is acknowledging God is the only One who can truly answer our prayers and do things for us we will never be able to do on our own. But let me bring this to your attention: God should be seen and reverence as the Holy One He is, not as a genie who grants our every wish. Sending up selfish requests will not move the hand of the Father. Do you know how dangerous and destructive of a state we would be in if God answered every prayer request everybody sends to Him? He will never do that, but He will give more of Himself to those who A.S.K. and remain consistent with doing so.
Ask. Asking is a verbal action that the Father wants us to utilize when we come before Him in prayer. He wants us to ask because He is our Source and everything we need is in Him. When we ask in prayer, we are expressing our desires and needs to God. Prayer involves remaining in constant communication with the Father. It is an ongoing journey that takes commitment. This is important to know because there are some people who believe that if their prayers aren’t answered after praying once, they should no longer pray to God. God answers prayers; the problem comes when people try to put limitations on God pertaining to how God should answer their prayers. Whenever they do this, they do not recognize the form in which their prayers are being answered and miss it altogether.
The Father knows what we want before we come to Him, but He still wants us to ask. There will be times when we will not get what we asking for because what we asking for may not be according to His will, having a doubtful heart, or unrepented sins so it is important to check how we come to God in prayer. Are we coming to God asking or telling Him? Are we praying sacrificially or are we praying selfishly? Do we ask wanting the Father to change our hearts or do we come with the expectancy of changing His mind? If we ask for the Father’s love and peace, we will receive this from Him because these are blessings He desires for us to have.
Seek. To seek means to inquire about, look/search for, or investigate. It involves diligence when you are seeking the Father for His wisdom, knowledge, understanding, and the ability to identify them through discernment for the promise He has for us. This is why it is important to seek God before we find what we looking for. The Father responds to those seeking Him, but the only way to do that is by allowing yourself to draw closer to Him. Seeking God involves us taking initiative on our part. This includes letting go of ourselves so that we will be able to grab hold of the Father. We do this by submitting to God and releasing ourselves completely over to Him, which will involve putting Him first.
Seeking is more than asking; it involves setting priorities and focusing on the heart. What is it that we should be seeking? It is God Himself, and His way of doing things. Seek the Father in Scripture by reading, reflecting, and meditating on the promises He has for you to receive. Set aside daily prayer time so that you will remain in constant communication with Him. Discipline yourself through fasting, and combat it with prayer, so that breakthroughs will take place in your life. God is not hiding from us. If we seek Him with a sincere heart, we will find Him.
Knock. When you think of knocking in the natural, it requires something that has to be physically done so that we will be able to take action, the same applies to our prayers. As you ask and seek God for His will, it is now time to knock in faith for that which awaits you. This means leaving what is familiar for the unfamiliar, letting go of the comfort walls of your life and heading towards that which makes you uncomfortable, even if it means suiting up for a spiritual battle when the enemy and his demonic forces try to stop your prayers from reaching God.
You will also have those moments when the enemy isn’t blocking your prayers. Sometimes, it’s the Father holding the door shut to strengthen your patience. He’s not denying your prayers, He’s delaying them until the time is right for you to receive the answers or the actions, to the prayers you are sending to Him. It is God who opens and closes the doors in our lives that are according to His will, not our own. We must go to the Father in faith knowing that His promises will be released to us, and He will withhold no good thing from us.
When we take the time to A.S.K., we have to know that the Father hears us, and will answer the prayers being brought before Him. We must have the confidence in knowing that when we ask, it’s given to us. When we seek, we will find. When we knock, the doors will open. Some people may think that if God doesn’t answer their prayers the way they think He should, He didn’t answer their prayers, not true. The Father answers prayers that are according to His will. Even if the answer He gives you is silence, guess what, His silence is still an answer. God will always hear the prayers that we send to Him. He is a God who is all-knowing so therefore, He knows everything we need before we come to Him and ask, but He still invites us to A.S.K. because He loves us. Some people do not have because they simply do not ask. The enemy will convince them to believe that they are not worthy to go before the Father in prayer. When they allow condemnation to overtake them, not only are they depriving themselves of the blessings that the Father wants to give them, but also of the relationship that He wants to have with them. Ask in faith, seek in confidence, and knock with persistence.
My prayer is that you will understand the importance of asking, seeking, and knocking whenever you go before God in prayer. That you will allow the Father to assist you with asking, seeking, and knocking and not reject the help that will lead you to the answers you need during your time of prayer. That you will ask, seek, and knock according to God’s will so that not only will you be greatly rewarded, but also that the Father will get the glory. That you will ask with good intentions and sincerity, not with selfish motives. That you will seek God in prayer for His face, not for His hand or what He can give you. That you will knock out of persistence, not out of impatience. That the Father will continuously direct your path with asking, seeking, and knocking in Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.
