DO YOU ASK, SEEK, AND KNOCK FOR ALL THINGS

Ask, seek, knock. I bet all of you have read Matthew 7: 7-8 that tells us how to invite the Lord into our lives. I know that I’ve read it many times, and each time I read those verses, I come away with a new perspective. Yesterday, I had a God-wink moment, which led me to another perspective that I want to share with you.

First off, let’s take a look at Matthew 7:7-8.

Matthew 7:7-8

⁷ Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: ⁸ For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

These verses are part of the Sermon on the Mount, and these are highly comforting words. The call to action is laid out in simple terms.

Ask

This is a simple term, but I decided to look up the meaning. Ask means to “say something in order to obtain an answer or some information,” or to “request (someone) to do or give something.” I think that is pretty straightforward instructions. If I am unsure what I need to do, I need to ask the Lord. If I want healing, forgiveness, help with my marriage or finances, etc., then I need to ask the Lord.

Seek

This is another term that I am sure most of us already know the meaning of, but here is what the dictionary said. Seek means “attempt to find (something).” This word is an action word, and it requires that we put some effort into our request. So, if I have asked the Lord to give me wisdom and discernment, then I need to be “seeking” His answers in His word. If I have asked for help with healing, marriage, or my finances, I need to seek doctors and counselors that the Lord will put in my path to help me.

Knock

To knock means to “strike a surface noisily to attract attention, especially when waiting to be let in through a door.” If someone comes to the door of your house and doesn’t knock or ring the doorbell, you probably won’t go and let them in. The Lord is like that too. He wants us to knock, maybe even pound, on His door to show that we are serious about wanting Him to open the door.

The rest of the verse says that everyone who asks will receive. Who doesn’t love receiving something, especially if it is from someone you love with all of your heart? But, receive is also an action word. When someone is giving you a gift, you have to reach out your hand to receive it. Not only do you have to take the gift, but you have to open the gift for it to be of any use.

Nowhere in Matthew 7: 7-8 did the Lord put a limit or guidelines on what we should ask for, nor did He tell us to only seek for certain things. So many of us only think that the Lord doesn’t want to be bothered by our mundane, ordinary lives, but I think differently. I believe that the Lord wants us to ask, seek, and knock with EVERY aspect of our life.

God Wink Moment

Yesterday, the Holy Spirit gave me wisdom. This wisdom wasn’t for anything life-changing; it was just wisdom to find some things that had been missing for a very long time. Early this spring, I went to grab a pair of sunglasses that I love from my handbag. I pulled out the sunglasses case, opened it up, and found that the glasses were missing. I looked everywhere for those glasses and tore the house apart, looking for them. I finally decided that I must have left them in the sunglass holder in a car that we sold in December because they were nowhere to be found.

Recently, I lost my AirPods. I use those AirPods all of the time, and I once again tore the house apart looking for them. You would have thought that these would have been easy to find, especially since they were in a bright red silicone case. These AirPods had been missing for about two months, so I finally decided that they were gone for good and that I needed to go ahead and buy another pair.

Ask, seek, and knock in every area of your life… Yesterday, I was loading up my car to travel to Abingdon, and I grabbed a black handbag to take with me. The handbag was one that I had gotten out of the closet for an earlier photoshoot, but I ended up not using it. Since the bag was black, I haven’t carried it this spring and summer because I usually carry black bags in the fall and winter.

When I picked up the bag, I thought that it was heavier than it should have been. So, I looked inside and found some items that I had left in it from last year, and when I looked in the side pocket, I found my sunglasses! You should have heard me shouting and seen me dancing around like a crazy person.

I continued to load my car, but this time I had a little pep in my step. It didn’t take me long to fill up the tailgate area, so I opened the back door to put a few other items in the back seat. In the panel of the back door, there are two storage areas. One is a long slot, and the other is a slot for a drink. For some reason, there were two unopened water bottles in both of those slots. I reached down to remove one of the bottles, and as I reached for the other bottle, I noticed that it looked red. When I picked up the bottle, there were my AirPods in their red silicone case.

Did I shout for joy?!? You better believe it, and I am sure that my neighbors wondered what was going on. I screamed, “thank you, LORD!!!”

There was no reason for my AirPods to have been in the back of the car. I have no idea whose water bottles those were, and I wouldn’t have ever put one on top of a bright red case. And, what was the odds that I would find TWO items that I had been missing for months in about 10-15 minutes???

I believe that the Lord was laughing as I danced around and praised Him. Some might think that the Lord isn’t a Genie in the sky that grants us wishes, and I agree with that. But, I believe that as our Heavenly Father, He delights in giving us gifts and being a part of our everyday mundane lives. So, invite the Lord into EVERY thing that you do!

To God Goes The Glory!

Have A Blessed Day!