We will be heard and blessed
June 8, 2009 (Monday)
”My God shall supply all your needs” is the promise of Scripture. Jesus gave us a challenge and a promise: “Ask, and you shall receive; seek, and you shall find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives, and he that seeks, finds, and to him that knocks, the door shall be opened” (Matthew 7:7-8).
We have many needs. We need strength to overcome temptation. We need spiritual strength for spiritual service. We need inner strength to meet daily challenges of every kind.
Do we follow the directions of Jesus in meeting those needs? He said, “Ask, seek and knock.” Take action. In other words, pray. Our problem is, we don’t ask. We expect God’s answer without asking. We don’t seek. We expect to find what we need without searching for it. We don’t knock. We seem to think that God should take the initiative and open his door to us without our knocking. In other words, we expect God to answer prayers that are never offered.
Let us ask, seek and knock. We are doing a bold thing when we pray. After all, we are approaching the creator of the universe. No wonder the word, “bold” is used in Hebrews 4:16 to describe our coming to God.
Does prayer change anything? Yes. It always changes us, it frequently changes others for whom we pray, and it sometimes changes circumstances. We know, of course, our words in prayer don’t change anything, but God himself acts in response to prayer. So let us ask, seek, and knock. Let us pray.