The Commands of Christ, Part Seventeen

Command 17 comes from Matthew 7:7-11 (NASB20)

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 the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or what person is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf of bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? So if you, despite 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!

It seems really simple, right? Ask. Seek. Knock. I’m not sure about you, but I’ve asked God for some things that I have not received. I’ve asked God for things that have taken far longer than I’d like to receive when I specifically stated I needed them quickly. So…what gives? Let’s start with “Ask…”

Take a look at the examples that Christ gives: “…his son asks for a loaf of bread…” and “Or if he asks for a fish…” I’ve asked God for a late 90s era Suzuki Sidekick. I was really specific too. I wanted an automatic with four wheel drive. I wasn’t picky about the color. At the time of this writing, I still don’t have one. Could it be a matter of time and timing? Sure. But, if I’ve learned nothing else from working on this study it’s that God’s promises apply to my needs and my pursuit of Godly things. If I end up on my death bed having never received one of those cool little SUVs, I’m not going to die feeling like God didn’t keep his promise.

Why? Because I didn’t ask him for bread. When my family was in desperate need, and times we’ve been in need that wasn’t quite as desperate but felt like it to me, God has always made sure we had our bread and fish. Sometimes, He does it in a way that seems like an abundance of miraculously mercy and sometimes, I don’t see it until I’m looking back at a moment and realize that God was teaching me through the struggle. I can see where He moved and where He kept things from falling completely apart, but the seams had to unravel a little for me to learn. And at no time that I’ve asked, even for selfish, earthly things, has God ever given me a snake or a stone.

We know from our study so far that God already knows our needs. He already has a plan to provide them. We ask as part of communicating with our friend. It’s a process of inviting His help into our lives, not just expecting it. So, we’ve asked for a thing that’s a genuine need. Next, we seek.

God’s blessings are all around us, we just need eyes that see. That’s why we have to seek. If I ask God to provide me with an extra $2,000 this month. He may provide it directly or He may provide me with opportunities to earn it. It depends on many factors, maybe God’s plan is that in my process of earning the money, he wants to introduce me to someone who will either help build up my faith or whose faith He needs me to help build up. Maybe, there’s a life skill God wants me to acquire for a future task that’s part of his plan. I’ve asked God for what I need, so now I actively seek the opportunity or blessing He will provide.

I talk a lot about coincidence versus providence. I can look back over my life at all the times I thought there was just a convenient coincidence and, in hindsight, each one was an act of God’s providence. See, you can choose to believe in the coincidence or you can choose to see how God moved in that moment for your benefit. That’s what it means to seek. It means looking for how God is moving to answer that prayer. I’m sure we’d all prefer that each answer to a prayer came as just a random blessing that showed up on our door step or in our bank accounts, but that’s not how God typically works.

There are also many of us who, when we ask God for bread, scoff that He gave us white bread instead of honey wheat. The audacity! It seems like a silly thing, but it happens more than we realize. Rather than appreciating the good thing God provided that we know we needed, we complain that God didn’t give us something fancier. It’s like praying for God to open up a job, seeing something you’re perfect for become available, only to complain that the salary isn’t high enough or the title isn’t glamorous enough. All too often we ask, we seek, God provides, but we treat his provision like it isn’t good enough.

And, when we fail Him, when we have to tuck our tails between our legs and walk up to his door to apologize because we finally see what He was trying to do but we got in our own way of receiving it, that’s when we knock. When we need that moment to repent and to realign ourselves with our Father who knows how to give us the best gifts, we knock on His door and He will open it to talk with us again. He’ll even do it with a smile. We knock, we ask for forgiveness, and we seek to do better.