ASK

MATTHEW 7:7 “ASK, AND IT SHALL BE GIVEN YOU; SEEK, AND YE SHALL FIND; KNOCK, AND IT SHALL BE OPENED UNTO YOU.” (KJV, ASV)
      “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” (NKJV, NIV, NASB, ASV, RSV)



      For us Bible verse memorizers, this Scripture is a gold mine. In addition to being found in Matthew 7:7, which should be easy to remember (77), the verse comes with a built-in acrostic! The letters A, S and K literally remind us of what we are trying to remember: Ask, Seek and Knock. You have half the work done at the start!

     I’m sure the acrostic is a happy coincidence…Jesus spoke those words in the Sermon on the Mount, most likely in Aramaic. Matthew wrote them in Greek. Ask is “aiteo” meaning to beg, pray, urge or request. Seek is “zeteo” meaning to request, look for, call for or beg. Knock is “krouo” meaning to beat, strike or bump to gain admittance. We should knock loudly and keep knocking. I would encourage you to memorize the easy acrostic: Ask, Seek and Knock.

     It is impossible to miss the instruction here. Jesus seems to be encouraging anyone who will hear to ASK for what they want and need. In our modern culture, we would think that would be it…I ask, you give me. If we take it literally, that is exactly what He is saying. “Ask, and it shall be given to you.” I need no more encouragement. I have asked, please give me. And, there are numerous cases in Jesus’ ministry where the asker simply had to ask and He gave them what they asked for.

     However, if you live life, it doesn’t take too many times asking and not being immediately given what we ask for to understand that there might be something more here. In fact, Jesus did not heal everyone who needed healing. In some cases, He had to literally ask the plaintiff what they wanted Him to do for them.

     The danger of extremes here, of course, is literally thinking that we can make Jesus our “Genie in a bottle.” He is not the granter of three wishes. On the other hand, everything about His ministry seemed to demonstrate that He was anxious to give wonderful gifts to those He met.

     He seems to be saying here, “go ahead and Ask”. Then keep going…Seek what you want. Put some feet to your faith. I am not your waiter…get up and go seek for what you want. Add seeking to your asking. You might even need to get a little aggressive about what you ask for…go Knock on the door. Maybe He would tell us to “go after it.”

     I have never been what is currently called a “name it and claim it” preacher. I agree that there is power in our words, both good and bad. But I hold no illusions that just because I believe in what I want enough and claim that it is mine, Jesus is obligated to give it to me. But He sure does say “ask” a lot!

     In Matthew 6:8, He says that the Father knows what we need even before we ask Him. Matthew 7:11 says that, like we give good gifts to our children, the Father wants to give good things to those who ask Him. Matthew 18:19, Jesus says that if two of us agree on what we ask, it will be done for them by the Father.

     Matthew 21:22 says that ALL THINGS that we ask in prayer, believing, we shall receive. In Mark 11:24 He said whatever we desire, when we pray, believe that we have them and we shall have them. Sounds like this asking thing is pretty powerful. But it might also require some believing on our part too.

     So, why don’t we have when we ask? John 14:13-14 adjures us to ask in Jesus’ name. He says, “If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.” James 4:2 warns us that we “have not, because we asked not.” I try to make sure I am never guilty of not asking. He also notes that we do not have because we “ask amiss,” most likely because of impure or false motives. He blames that we ask so we can consume our request upon our own lusts. How many times have we not had the answer to our prayer because it would bring harm upon us?

     John 15:7 seems to give a qualifier to our asking: “If you abide in me and my words abide in you, you shall ask whatever you will and it shall be done unto you.” How’s that for a motivator for memorizing the Word? How can we make His words abide in us if we don’t know them? What a great way to abide in the word! Memorize it, meditate on it, call it to heart all day long. Seek the wisdom of its instruction. Then ask.

     James 1:5-6 tells us to “ask in faith, nothing wavering.” 1 John 5:14 advises us to “ask any thing according to His will.” One would think it might be important to be in the will of the Father before asking for something.

     The instructions of Jesus and the New Testament writers seem to be very clear. We have the right to ask. We have been told to ask. We have also been told to seek and knock. Why would we not do so?

     As an elder, I tended to be the one to whom children would come up to during prayer time. In their innocence, they were never afraid to ask for prayer for the thing they found so important. I never turned one away. I have often prayed for the sick and disabled. I have never felt it was ever inappropriate to ask the Lord for their needs. I don’t believe it is ever inappropriate to ask the Lord to heal us. It may not be His will to heal us, but we can always ask.

     As we all know, however, we don’t always get the answer we want. We don’t always get an answer immediately. We hopefully do not get answers because we ask wrongly or in a way that is against the Father’s will. Hopefully, we can’t be accused of not having what we want or need because we didn’t even ask.

     This memory verse is very important. Ask and it will be given to us. Seek, go after it, chase it down…and we shall find. Knock…knock the door down if you need to (remember the insistent neighbor who got his needs answered because of his persistence?) Put feet to your faith. The answers to our prayers are worth the asking, seeking and knocking.

     Questions to ponder: The number one question to discuss—why does it appear that the Lord does not answer our prayers? What are some of the reasons that have been revealed to you why the Lord waited some period of time to answer? Is there any prayer the Lord will not hear? If the Lord already knows what we need, why does He think we need to ask? How much or our prayers depends on us asking? Does the Lord answer prayers we never ask? How can our prayers affect the hearts and souls of others leading to their salvation? What possible purpose can the Lord have for not granting healing to one who is sick?

     Other Scriptures to consider: James 5:16 “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” Matthew 6:8, Father knows before we ask. Matthew 18:19 Two agreeing. Matthew 21:22 Ask in prayer believing. Mark 10:35-40, James and John asked. Luke 11:9. Luke 11:13 Asking for the Holy Spirit. John 11:22, Jesus gets what He asks the Father for. John 16:24 Ask that your JOY may be full.

     A song to remember: We introduced this song in Chapter 20. Listen to it again and apply the second verse to memorizing Matthew 7:7:
     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3S1wfXmYPw