Matthew 7:7-8, “Ask, and it shall be given unto 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.”
What does it mean to ask for something? Ask is defined as “to say something in order to obtain an answer or some information; to request (someone) to do or give something.”
Jesus tells us that if we ask Him, it shall be given unto us. We can ask the Lord by praying to Him. There are so many other verses in the Bible that teach us about asking.
Matthew 21:22, “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.”
Mark, 11:24, “Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and he shall have them.”
1 John 5:14, “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us.”
John 14:13, “And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”
John 15:17, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”
John 16:24, “Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.”
The centurion in Luke 7 asked the Lord to heal his servant. He had the faith that Jesus could, and would, heal his servant. And do you know what happened? The Lord saw his faith, and he healed him.
In Matthew 20, two blind men heard that Jesus was passing by, and they cried out to Jesus. Even when people told them to be quiet, they continued asking for Jesus. Then Jesus asked them, “What will ye that I should do unto you?” They answered, “Lord, that our eyes may be opened.” The Lord saw their faith, and He had compassion on them, and healed them.
Luke 11:11-13, “If a son ask bread of any of you that is a father, will, he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?”
When we ask of the Lord, we need to realize that it is according to His will that we receive. He knows what is best for all of us. Obviously if someone asked for something evil, that is not God’s will. He is not going to give us something bad.
The scripture at the top of the page is repeated again in Luke 11. It gives some examples to us about asking.
Luke 11:11-13, “If a son ask bread of any of you that is a father, will, he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?”
The Lord is good, and He will give us the Holy Spirit if we ask Him.
James 4:1-3, “From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.”
In this passage they asked for things, but they were asking for something sinful, so they didn’t receive. The Lord gives out good, not evil.
Seek
To seek means to attempt to find, attempt, or acheive something; to try to discover; to try to aquire or gain.
“Seek, and ye shall find.” In order to find something, we need to go and look for it. We need to try to get it. We need to seek God.
Proverbs 8:17, “I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.”
Deuteronomy 4:29,”But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.”
1 Chronicles 16:11, “Seek the Lord and his stength, seek his face continually.”
Psalm 34:14, “Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.”
Matthew 6:33, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
If we seek God, He will reward us.
Hebrews 11:6, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”
Psalm 27:8, “When thou saidst, Seek my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek.”
An example in the Bible about seeking is when Paul was in Rome, a man named Onesiphorus sought him out diligently until he found Paul. He continued to look and did not stop until he had found him.
Matthew 6:33 says, “ But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
Seeking to obey and please the Lord needs to be first in every Christian’s life. Before any relationship, before anything that we want, we need to put Christ first in our lives and seek Him.
Wicked people do not seek after God, because He is not in their thoughts. (Psalm 10:4). They are only concerned with themselves; they don’t want to put Christ first in their lives because they don’t love Him. They don’t seek to do the will of God.
Knock
“Knock” kind of goes with both ask and seek. If you knock on someones door, you are expecting them to come and answer. You expect them to open the door and speak with you. Once we ask Jesus for forgiveness and eternal life, the gates of Heaven are opened to us so that we can be with Him in Heaven.
Jesus is the door to Heaven. John 10:9, “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved…” No one comes to God the Father except through Jesus. (John 14:6)
Ask the Lord for forgiveness of your sins. Seek Jesus and follow His teachings. Knock so that the door of eternal life is opened to you.
In Christ, Andrew
Teufer Lake King James Bible Church 