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any years ago my body spontaneously developed a blood clot in the subclavian
vein going to the heart. This was serious and life threatening. The doctors
used an experimental drug to remove the 3 inch blood clot. The danger
was great. My fellow elders came to pray for me and the Lord Jesus miraculously
healed me. After I left the hospital, I was on an anti-coagulant drug
for several years. The doctors were puzzled as to why the blood clot
developed. I was a topic of conversation in the local medical circles.
I went through many tests and nothing showed up except for a borderline
condition called lupus. The Lord completely healed me even eliminating
the scarring in the vein. It was a wonderful time of life as Jesus challenged
me about who I was serving. The Lord comforted me with friends. One unknown
person gave my family one thousand dollars to meet expenses. It was an
unexpected gift. We did not ask, seek or knock on the gates of heaven,
yet it was given at a time of need. This is what Jesus wants to talk
to us about: giving, providing and opening doors for others. Jesus’ next
words in the Sermon on the Mount are,
Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it shall be opened. (NASB) Matthew 7:7-8 Asking, Seeking and Knocking. Jesus’ words
are simple ones. His idea is easy to understand. If someone is asking,
he/she will receive. If he/she is seeking, he/she will find it. If he/she
continues knocking, someone will open the door. Jesus does not tell us
who is doing the giving, providing or opening, but it is implied that
God is doing it.
Jesus’ three words: “ask, seek, and knock” have
the idea of repetition and progression. He is talking about constant
asking, repeated seeking, and continuous knocking. This is not just one
request or one knock. But it is not a demanding spirit either. Jesus
is talking about someone who is humbly pleading. Notice, Jesus does not
use words like, “demanding,” “insisting,” or “crashing
down the gate of heaven.” His words remind us of an inferior asking
a superior: asking, seeking and knocking.
Jesus is not giving us a basket of three or more wishes
that will all come true just as we want. This is not a promise to grant
your request for riches, a girl friend, a new spouse, honor and respect,
or power. In other passages of scripture, God has clearly told us that
Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight. (NASB) 1 John 3:21-22 This statement is almost identical to Jesus’ statement here in
Matthew. “Whatever we ask we receive . . .” and then comes
the condition, “because we keep His commandments and do the things
that are pleasing in His sight.” In 1 John 5:14-15 we read,
And this is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him. (NASB) 1 John 5:14-15 Jesus assumes the one who is asking, seeking and knocking has a right
relationship with God - a Christian who is obedient and desires His will.
This is the one who by asking, seeking, and knocking will receive, find
and have the door opened.
You Have Doubts? Jesus anticipates the
doubters when he says, |
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