WEEK 7:  DEVOTIONAL ON PRAYER

“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

The wonderful promises contained within this verse are guided by a premise. The premise is that we must ask, seek, and knock. The promise is that God will give, that we will find, and that the door will be opened. The promises of God are always experienced within the context of obedience to His premises.  God will always keep His promises and do His part, but we must be faithful to do ours. Prayer is a way we can cooperate with God.  It is God, and God alone, who can give us gifts from the storehouse of heaven, but we must ask. It is God, and God alone, who can enable us to find, but we must seek. It is God, and God alone, who can open doors, but we must knock. Prayer opens up the door for God to do the things He desires to do in our lives. It is not so much that prayer moves the hand of God, but that prayer enables God to move His hand.

There are some things God will not give us unless we ask. Many blessings of God are never received because there has been little asking.  To ask very little is to live in the poverty of our own pride and stubbornness of heart. To ask is to admit and acknowledge our need for help and dependence upon God. It requires the surrender of our self-sufficiency. Pride is the great enemy of the praying soul.  

To seek requires effort and energy. It is doing our part in prayer. It is where faith and action come together and bear fruit.  It is stepping out of the house of our own slothfulness and taking the steps of obedience, using the strengths and gifts He has
given us.

To knock is to pray with fervency and earnestness. Prayer is not for the timid at heart. It speaks of boldness that steps up to the door and knocks with the faith that God will hear and answer. It is the faith that knows someone is home. It is praying with a passion to enter the open doors of God’s love and grace.

This verse uses three present imperatives. Literally it reads, “keep on asking,” “keep on seeking,” and “keep on knocking.” Prayer is not something we do occasionally. It is a lifestyle of dependence upon Him. Prayer requires stamina and persistence and the “I will not quit attitude.”