Knock And The Door Will Be Opened

“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

Ask, And It Will Be Given To You

There is one little verse in 1 Chronicles 28:4 where David mentions Judah being chosen of all the tribes.  He goes on to say, of all the families of Judah, his was chosen, and then he says, "and among the sons of my father he liked me to make me king over all Israel."  I love that verse.  Do you want to be liked by God?  I want to be liked by God.  And that one verse has changed my prayer life and walk with Jesus.

When we look at Matthew 7:7 in the Greek, the words for ask, seek and knock are in the present continuous tense.  The way these words actually show up are, "ask, and keep asking; seek, and keep seeking; knock, and keep knocking."  Doesn't that change your perspective completely? 

In fact, the Amplified Bible has it written the way we should understand it.

“Ask and keep on asking and it will be given to you; seek and keep on seeking and you will find; knock and keep on knocking and the door will be opened to you." (Matthew 7:7 AMP)

The word for ask is aiteo, which means to beg, call for, crave, desire, or require.  It's a very strong word!  When we come to the Lord and ask for something, He's saying beg for it.  Crave it or desire it so strongly that you quite literally require that I answer you!  That's what He's saying to us and to His disciples.  When you ask for something from the Lord, do you come into His presence with meekness, wondering if He wishes to answer your prayer?  Or do you fall prostrate before Him and beg Him to answer you?

That is the one reason I believe that God has answered so many of my prayers.  I can't leave the throne alone.  Most days I live there.  I literally refuse to leave God's presence and give up on my prayers!

There are times when I go through seasons of doubt and wondering.  I wonder if God hears me or cares about me, but then I remember this verse and it fuels me.  Does it fuel you?  If you have a need, and the only one who can answer it is God, then ask God to do it!  Get to a place of total dependence that you literally require Him to do it!  And don't stop asking until He either changes your heart's desire, or moves heaven and earth for your miracle to happen.

The times when the Lord has blown my mind in the ways He has answered my prayers have been when I begged Him, when I literally required Him to answer me because I needed Him to.  He loves this type of prayer.  He's attracted to this type of prayer.  He loves to be needed!

Seek, And You Will Find

The Greek word for seek here is zēteō.  It can be meant in either a positive sense or a negative sense.  In the positive form, it means to worship God.  Seeking His Face, worshipping Him and following after Him is what this means.  In a negative sense, it means to plot against.  Ne

I find it interesting that there are wolves in sheep's clothing, doing this very thing in churches all over.  They plot against God, seeking out places where He is worshipped to poison people against Him and bring down entire church bodies.  This is why we need to be alert!  Be aware of anything that goes against the Word of God. 

Zēteō also means desire, endeavor, enquire, require, and seek after (something).  It's another strong word!  When we ask for something from God, pray for something, we must also seek His face.  Seek after His heart on the matter, and worship Him.  Do you want to see God answer your prayers?  Worship Him!  There's a reason that the worshippers were put on the front lines of battle.  There's a reason why worshipping God brings down our enemies!  w

The same word for seek in Matthew 7:7 is used in 1 Peter 5:8: "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour."  Satan plots against anyone he can eat, trying to make them believe lies, be anxious, and troubled in heart.  But those who seek after God, won't have to worry about the devil.  When we seek the Lord, He becomes our rear guard.  (Isaiah 52:12)  God protects our fronts when we seek Him, and our backs because we seek Him!

When you pray and ask God for your miracle, don't forget to seek His face and worship Him for the God He is!  Go before the Lord and desire Him, require Him to answer you, seek Him out and pray with all your heart.

Knock, And The Door Will Be Opened To You

The Greek word for knock is krouo, which means to rap, to knock.  Pretty simple!  So simple in fact, that I had to meditate on the word knock to get anything out of it.  As I was pondering the word, thinking on it and mulling it over, the Lord showed me different pictures of people knocking. 

When you go to your friend's house, you knock knowing they want to open it to you.  You might give a funny knock on the door, or a series of knocks that plays out a melody.  There are also times when I feel like that with God!  I'm cheeky with Him, I tell jokes and laugh about it, or I'll pray for something kind of silly and then smile at Jesus, feeling Him smile at me.

Then there are knocks for emergencies.  We've seen the movies, or maybe you've had an urgent knock on your door before.  And sometimes that's how it is with our God.  We knock with urgency, we yell out to Him, "answer me!  This is an emergency!  No one but you can do this!" 

And then there are desperate knocks.  The knocks where you are crying, on your knees, with what feels like bloody fists and all you can do is put your palm on the door and plead with God to open it to you.  The only words you have are tears and desperate sounds.  And God asks that you give Him those knocks too.

Don't Stop Asking, Seeking, Knocking

There are days when it's hard to pray.  There are season when I've been asking for something for weeks, months, years, and yet there is still no reply.  Those are the days when my faith fails, and it feels like every demonic principality has put a target on my back and they're winning.  Those are bad days.  On those days, I can barely summon a prayer.  But my tears are a prayer.  My sighs are heard from the throne of heaven.  My desperate pleas reach His ears.  And so do yours. 

When life gets tough and it doesn't seem like anything is happening, all I have to say is keep asking and seeking and knocking.  Get to a point where nothing will stop you from coming before the throne. 

I want to know my God with everything in me, and I want Him to know me.  I want Him to like me like he liked David.  And so, I have bad days, but then I wake up the next day and dust myself off, and move forward.  I keep praying, worshipping, and mediating on the Word of God.  It sustains me.  It gives me life.  It gives me hope.  And it reminds me that He is faithful, and He hasn't failed me yet.

When I hear of miracles happening to other people, I always think it can happen for me too.  If God answered their prayer, He can answer mine too.  Why?  Because He's my God too.

Is He your God too?  Then when you hear of miracles happening around you, of God answering other people's prayers, remind yourself that He's your God too.  Heaven doesn't have a supply issue, we have a demand issue.  He wants to answer you, but you have to require Him to do it. 

Today, don't stop asking, don't stop seeking, don't stop knocking.  When you ask, it will be given, when you seek, you will find, and when you knock, then the door will be opened and you will walk forward into your future of answered prayers.

With joy, Jessica