Matthew 7:7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you
When you were a kid, likely one of your brothers or sisters was the asker in the family and the rest of your siblings were the annoyed in your family. There is one child in every family who has no problem asking favors of mom, dad, grandpa, grandma, or whoever. They have no inhibitions from asking. If you need or want something, why not ask? On the other hand, you had some faithful quiet sibling standing in the corner of the room observing all this asking and quietly getting more and more annoyed that they would be asking all the time.
In Matthew 7 the Lord addresses the asker and the provider, although it does not address the annoyed party. Matthew 7:7-8 says, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” So, provision is based on two things here, your asking and God’s character. Certainly God knows our need before we ask, but God has made your provision to be based on your asking and God’s character.
When the Bible says, “Ask…seek…knock,” you may well know that the grammar indicates continuous action. Keep on asking; keep on seeking; keep on knocking. Have you ever prayed and weren’t sure if you were praying for the right thing? You thought, “Am I just being greedy or a wimp or is this something I should ask for?” If you don’t know what to ask for, then start asking. How are you going to know until you start asking? Better to ask and for God to show you that you are asking for the wrong thing than to not ask and not know. Sometimes people say, “Faith is not believing that God can, faith is believing that God will.” No, those are two kinds of faith, and often when I am praying, I know God can, but I’m not sure if He will or wants. That is why I am asking.
In any event, my provision is based in part on my asking, continual asking. So, ask and you will receive. Keep on asking and it shall be given unto you. Here is a child who comes to Mom and asks for a cookie. Mom replies, “Well, we will see.” What does “we will see” mean to a child? It means keep asking. Five minutes later the child comes back to ask for a cookie again. Mom says, “Maybe after lunch.” The child comes back an hour later. It’s the same old question. You keep on asking until you receive an answer. Does God say no? Of course He does. He is a good God and a good Father, not a reckless judge, so if He says no, that is the good. But how am I going to know until I ask?
Seek and ye shall find. You keep on seeking. Yesterday afternoon I got a text from a neighbor who lives off the back of the Ranch. Three of his cows got out and he can’t find them. A dog had chased them into the brush, so they were somewhere between the back of the Ranch and the front of his property. I got ahold of our head cowboy to ask him to be on the lookout for our neighbor’s three cows. How long is my neighbor going to look for those cows? He will look until he finds them. Keep on seeking.
Keep on knocking. Suppose I come up to the door of your house and knock one time. Then I stand there waiting and wondering why you don’t answer. Tapping the door once is not knocking. Knocking means a flurry of taps on the door. You keep on knocking. So, provision is based upon your asking.
It is also based upon God’s character. Matthew 7:9 says, “Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?” Here’s a teenage kid who gets home from school. What is the first thing he is going to ask for when he gets home? Food! He asks, “Mom, can I have some toast?” Mom says, “I don’t have that, but here you go,” and tosses him a rock. That is absurd and it is supposed to be. No parent, even a poor parent, would toss a rock to a son who is asking for bread.
It continues, “Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?” Will a parent give their son a boa constrictor when he asks for a tuna sandwich? It is supposed to be absurd. No parent would do that. Do you think you are a better parent than God? Verse 11 says, “If he then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?” I’m limited by the house and money I have. God lives in heaven and is unlimited. God is good. He is your father. He is a better parent than we can be.
I have a dog named Bromley. She is about six pounds and is dependent on me. If she were left on her own for very long, she would die. She is not much of a hunter. She is a beggar though. When I arive home, even if I’ve been gone for only thirty minutes, my dog is overjoyed to see me. She says in dog language, “I love you. Where have you been? I’ve missed you.” We have this arrangement. I keep her alive and she tells me how great I am. Literally, I feed her; she loves me. She has nothing to give but herself and she does do that. She throws herself at the front door when I come home. She gives herself and asks for everything else. I don’t ask Bromley for anything because she’s got nothing. Bromley asks me because I have everything she needs.
The gap between me and a holy God is infinitely wider than the gap between me and another species like a canine, but I give myself and ask for everything else. Provision is based on your asking and God’s character. The fact is that you are the servant, the child. God is God and a father. He is good. I don’t know what you need today or what answer God should give to your prayers, but I know we ought to be praying. Provision is based on your asking and God’s good character.