Matthew 7:7-12 Response to Ask, Seek, Knock
“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; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or, if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If 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! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets” (NIV).
Our Father God gives appropriately to all who ask, seek, and/or knock. A stone may look like a loaf of bread, but it certainly is not edible. A serpent may also be an animal, but it certainly is not a fish, nor is it satisfying. I believe that it is important to note that the son in Jesus’ example asked for food, something appropriate, something good. He did not ask for something out of line or outrageous. That’s an important part of asking God—Is our asking appropriate? Is our asking in the will of God? God is not obligated to give us something that is not in His will. We are told in 1 John 5:14,15, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God. That if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we will have what we asked of him” (NIV). We can be confident that we will receive if what we ask is “in His will,” and we will not receive if what we ask is not in His will. That’s something important to check before we present our petitions to our Father God.
You may ask, “If it is in God’s will, why do we have to ask for it? Why doesn’t He just give it to us without our asking?” The answer to that can be answered by looking at our relationship with our earthy fathers. My earthly father may have wanted to give me a bicycle, but it is his joy to give it if and when I ask. He is fulfilling a desire of mine, and that is one of a father’s great joys—to fulfill the desires of his children. Our heavenly Father also has great joy in fulfilling our desires. Our heavenly Father offers us many gifts, but He gives only those we ask for or are willing to receive. Sometimes He wants us to make the effort to seek for a gift so that we understand all that the gift involves. Once He knows that we understand the gift and will make good use of it, He grants it to us. David Jeremiah says that in order to receive a gift from God, we must be right and the timing must be right. God realizes the danger in putting gifts of great power in the hands of someone who understands neither the power nor the proper use of the gift. So, if we expect to receive, we must have the understanding of the gift and the right purpose for its use.
Since the timing for the receiving of a gift is not always correct, we may have to wait for the gift. The timing may involve our situation in life or our inability to use the gift appropriately yet. So it is imperative for us to continue to draw closer to God and to continue presenting our petitions to Him. Our study and our persistence both indicate our willingness to enter into the will of God and to learn whatever we need in order to bring glory to Him. We can be assured that our heavenly Father will give us gifts that will bless us and glorify Him when they are used as He intends.
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