“7 ‘Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. 9 Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for bread, will give a stone? 10 Or if the child asks for a fish, will give a snake? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:7-11)
In Matthew 6 Jesus gave a model for praying. Now he invites the disciples to “ask,” “seek,” and “knock.” I suspect we often treat this like an invitation like to write our wish list for Santa Clause. It’s not exactly give-me but also we don’t exactly expect to get everything. We might even attach, “thy will be done” to cover our bases so we are not disappointed.
What if we were to put a conversational tone to these verbs? Asking, seeking and knocking are more process words that imply relationship than list words that imply wants. When we ask questions, we must sit stil and listen to the answer and then ask a follow up question if necessary. Seeking is not playing peek-a-boo with your fingers, hiding your eyes as with babies, but a process of pondering, researching, and investigating. Knocking could conote more of a testing out or checking in to a request. We are impatient people who like our TV episode to finish in a half hour or hour. Prayer is relating to a God who we are confident is rooting for our best life, for the best solution, who cares not only with us but for all factors involved. Jesus reminds us that we are not just dealing with a fast food machine but with a God who is on our side.
Lets spend a few minutes thanking God for the privilege of asking, seeking and knocking. Our thoughts are being processed and acted on perhaps not on our time line but within God’s wisdom. Do we truly want our way or God’s way? Good question to ponder! Blessings.
On the Way to Wonder 