Friday 1/22/10 verse of the day

[xavier55]

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened."
— Matthew 7:7-8 (NIV)

Thoughts on Today's Verse...

Ask! So often we're afraid to ask for help because we have to admit we don't have the answers. Seek! Effort and interest and perseverance are necessary and that's sometimes hard. Knock! In an era of doorbells, this is a forgotten action. But God wants us to use the A.S.K. principle and bring our hearts before him. So let's don't just whine, complain, desire, and want. Let's A.S.K. our Father and seek his glory.
My Prayer...

Waiting Father, I am sorry that so often you only hear my whines and complaints and concerns. You have been so generous with your love. Help me to keep my heart set on you and your will today as I ask you to minister to the things on my heart. Through Jesus I pray. Amen.

 

[Durruck]

I read an interesting article a while back while preparing a lesson on prayer for my Sunday School class. Here's what it said, in part:

(Source, used with permission)

There is a progression built into this passage. While it is repeating the idea that God will answer prayer it also builds upon the previous thought. Each step in the progression demonstrates a deeper relationship with God.

Ask – You can ask anyone, anything. If you ask a stranger on the street what time it is, they will likely tell you. No relationship is needed to ask a person a question. The nature of the question and our relationship with the person will determine the answer we get. While we can ask a stranger for the time and get a positive response, we would not get a positive response if we ask for $20. If we ask a friend for $20 we are more likely to get a favorable response. We can ask anything of God but our relationship with him determines the response.

How does your relationship with God affect what you ask Him for?

Seek – You can seek anyone or anything but you have to know what you are seeking. If you lose money, you won’t seek for it unless you know it is lost. You also need to know where to look for something when you seek it. If you are seeking your car keys, you know that searching for them in the dishwasher probably isn’t going to help. When we seek God in prayer, we recognize that He is the one who can provide what we are looking for.

Do you know what you are seeking? Do you know where to find it?

Knock – We don’t let strangers in our homes too often, certainly not in this day and age, but God says that if we knock he will open the door. The only people we are likely to allow in our house are friends. This implies fellowship with God. If we go to God in order to fellowship with Him he will never reject our request. But if we are living our lives like we do not know God and are no friend of His, should we expect God to welcome us as a friend of His?

Are we a friend of God that He will let us in and not treat us like a stranger when we knock?

 

[Abba San]

Great verse today - thanks for the verse and the comments.