"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; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
"Which of you, if his 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.
Just ask
I do not like to ask for things. Perhaps that is why I struggle with a Christmas list every year. I really do not need anything. Karen and I are frugal with our money and we can buy what we need. The things I would like to have (tools etc.) I am a little particular about. I would rather wait and get a good quality tool than three cheap ones that break after one or two uses. I love to give things to other people, but struggle to ask for things in my own life.
This tendency to live “self-sufficient” meanders into my spiritual life as well. I too often find myself thinking if I would just work a little bit harder or longer I would be able to make things happen in the church. I don’t need to ask, I can do it myself. For this reason, I suffer at times with despair (depression?) when things do not go as well as I want them to. In my weakness, I realize if I had only asked, God would have provided.
Spiritual growth cannot be manufactured. Church growth, program growth, or financial growth can be, but spiritual growth is always a gift from God. It is humbling to ask God, but that is God’s desire for my life. Ask, seek, knock and then experience the open doors of blessing.
God, help me to understand my limitations not as failures, but as a gift that opens the way for you to enter into my life. Change my attitude from self-sufficiency to reliance on you. – Dan Jones
No “Do Not Knock Days”
I’m living in a parsonage right next to the church I pastor for only the second time in my 27 years of pastoring. This means I am re-learning what it means not to have much of a private life and very little personal space, except squirreled away inside and behind curtains. It’s kind of claustrophobic. Like the last church I pastored that plunked me down in the middle of public space, a few people (not many, thank God) have little conception of a pastor’s day off. Just yesterday I thought of reversing this passage and turning it into a day-off sign for my kitchen door.
Knock, and I probably won’t answer. Seek, and you’re trespassing. Ask tomorrow, and I’ll gladly make an appointment.
I am glad God doesn’t need to separate from his creation in order to be whole and healthy like I need to separate from my work, which is people from beginning to end. He’s available night and day without getting grouchy or offering muddled or tired thoughts. He doesn’t reach the end of the rope like I do. So there’s never a sign on his kitchen door begging to be left alone for a personal Sabbath experience.
I think we misunderstand Jesus when we use his words to hint that simple asking isn’t enough. He doesn’t intend to suggest that we need to build intensity in order for him to hear us and respond. He doesn’t mean that we have to keep after him because his busy schedule creates forgetfulness. I think Jesus ask-seek-know trilogy is simply a visual way of saying “I’m always available.” This isn’t a formula for effective prayer – just an invitation to share hearts, hurts, and hopes.
Neither is this an invitation to use God as servant to our wants, plans, and self-defined needs. God gives good gifts, not everything I ask for or when I ask for it. Sometimes, perhaps often, that wouldn’t be good at all. If we understood that God gives us that which is good according to his understanding, then perhaps we would give in less to the demands of needy people around us who expect us to give them what they want if we were truly good. After all, Jesus calls us to give good gifts just like the Father does.
Father, I am so glad you never need time off from me. I do, but you don’t! Help me to trust your goodness when I come asking. Thanks for welcoming me into your heart when I knock and making it easy for me to find you when I seek. - Mike Leamon
1 comment:
Isn't "giving to others" self-sacrifice instead of "self-suffcient"? And is it not a good thing to die to self or lay your life down or passions for others, such as, the brethern, so they may grow more spiritually and feel special? In return, does the person laying their life down grow too?
In this world of self, self and more self and even within the church, I think laying your life down for others in the everyday is needed.
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