Ask, Seek, Knock

This week, I’m joining other bloggers for Autumn Inspiration Week. Yesterday, I shared a verse that I’m reminded of at this time of year. Coming up this week, I’m going to be sharing a short devotional each day, with a verse starting with each letter of the word autumn. For today, we’re looking at the verse for the first letter.

A: Ask and it shall be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. -Matthew 7:7

That verse is full of such promise - not a promise of prosperity or riches, but a promise that God will meet us where we are, and provide for our needs.

He doesn’t just promise one time, though, He promises 3 times, just in that one verse! If someone, anyone, is promising 3 times in a row, I’d say they’re pretty serious about what they intend to do.

But when that promise comes from God? Three times in one verse? I think it’s safe to say that He plans to fulfill that promise!

But…

God doesn’t just say He’s going to make sure we wake up each day to have our needs met. Granted, a lot of days that does happen - and praise God for that!

God gives us some work to do in receiving what we need from Him. What is our work? We have to ask, seek, and knock.

If you’re a parent, you’ve likely been through stages with your children where you know what they need - no doubt about it. But you watch to see if they can work it out on their own, or if they ask for your help. You patiently wait to supply them with exactly what they need, but you watch to see what work they are capable of doing on their own.

It’s the same with God - He is waiting to pour out His blessings to meet our needs, but He wants us to ask, to seek, and to knock.

How do we do that?

Maybe you’re struggling in your parenting. You would certainly ask God to help you, to give you insight into your child’s heart, and you would probably ask for heaps of patience. And those are all good things. But I think sometimes God wants us to explore other avenues as well.

You might check if your church, or a local church, is hosting a parenting seminar. You have asked, and now you’re actively seeking help or additional resources. Maybe you ask a friend for help, or just to listen while you vent. You could search out some families (knock) who are seeming to make it all work right now, and learn from them.

God wants to hear from us - the most important thing we can ever ask for is salvation. Have you done that?

We can confess our sins, ask for God to forgive us and to be in our hearts and lives. And His promise, when we ask for salvation, is that we will be in heaven with Him, for eternity, after we die. Won’t that be wonderful?

Have you asked for salvation? It’s easy, and God will help you to change your life, to grow to be more like Him! If you have never done that, start there today - there’s nothing special about this prayer, and different people use different words. But you just need to say a simple prayer, like this:

Dear Lord, I know that I have done wrong in my life, and you call that sin. I ask you to forgive me of sins, and to be in my life. I ask you to make me more like you. Thank you for what you will do in my life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

If you prayed that prayer, please tell someone so that they can work with you to help you grow in your new life in Christ! Feel free to send me a message (see the Contact section at the top of the page) and let me know of your decision for Christ - I would love that!

As we begin this week focusing on devotions for autumn, let’s make sure we’ve taken care of the most important thing - our relationship with Jesus. He’s waiting to bless us, but we need to do our part in asking, seeking, and knocking.

Be sure to check out others who are joining in Autumn Inspiration Week.