Ask, Seek, Knock

7"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
9"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! 12So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. (Matthew 7:9-12)

God’s giving to us is the foundation for our praying to God. God who gives us all good things also wills that we pray to God for all good things that we ask, seek, and knock. This does not mean that God has to wait on us before acting or that we have to tell God what we need; there are many times in the most important things that God takes the initiative and does for us that which we cannot do for ourselves--remembering us even when we forget him, saving us even when we neglect him, caring for us in ways beyond our realization. Yet it is clearly the will of God that we pray to God for all the good things that God is so ready to give us. It is the will of God that we exercise our faith by asking, seeking, and knocking. “For everyone,” Jesus says, “everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” This is astounding! Prayer is not an empty ritual, prayer is not mindless gibberish, prayer is not the resigned distortion of our spirit to fit the cruel fate of the world; instead, prayer is the joy of coming empty-handed and expectant before God who is eager to give us all good gifts: faith, hope, love, joy, peace, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, gospel, salvation, courage, assurance, reconciliation, community, life eternal.

Peace and love,

Sue

"This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. " (1 John 4:9-10)