"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 he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? 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 good things to those who ask Him!
Matthew 7:7-11
These five verses are best taken together before looking at the component parts. What is the obvious big picture Jesus paints with these words?
PRAY!
For me, prayer is the most challenging spiritual discipline, and I bet I am not alone. Why? On the human side, I am more prone to “doing” than to praying. Doing is important, but prayer is arguably more important. On the spiritual side, we need prayer more than many of us realize. Why? Because what we do is nothing apart from what God does in answer to prayer. May I suggest you read that sentence again slowly and thoughtfully? (And be reminded that this is what Jesus was saying in John 15:4-5).
There is a convicting quote about prayer. It is attributed to more than one person, and the words vary slightly depending on who is credited with saying it—but the message is the same:
You can never do more than pray until after you pray.
By the way, the oldest version of that quote that I can find was from John Bunyan (1628-1688), the author of The Pilgrim’s Progress.
I remember a sweet older lady (she was likely younger than I am now!) in the first church Frances and I attended after we were saved. Her name was Susan. As a new believer I did not understand the importance of Susan’s constant gentle reminder to us about the importance of prayer. I remember several occasions when I thought, “Yeah, but what are we going to do?” Susan was right. I was immaturely wrong in my lack of understanding of the importance of prayer.
Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:7 resound three times using three different words: ask, seek, and knock, to sound the same alarm: pray. The three words are progressively more intense and require greater effort. All three words can rightly be understood as being in the “ing, verb tense, indicating that the action of prayer is to be not only ongoing, but continuously ongoing. We need to pray first, but not first and then suspend. Rather, prayer is never to stop, even as we are start “doing.”