“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.” (Matthew 7:7-8)
Ask, seek, knock. These three simple actions sound so easy and so harmless. However, behind them lies the true intent of Jesus. When you look deeper, you understand that He’s saying we should be persistent in our prayers. We should always keep on asking even when it seems pointless. We should never stop seeking even when we’re discouraged. We should keep knocking even when our knuckles are sore, and we don’t hear a peep from the other side. These behaviors don’t produce magical results. They aren’t the ingredients for a cookbook recipe for prayer results. Instead, they are the central attitudes we should have in our prayers and in our lives.
Even though we should always be persistent and faithful, we should always check our motives. We shouldn’t do so to acquire and achieve for ourselves. In the model prayer, Jesus focuses on God’s will, on His kingdom, and on His glory. He also instructs us to ask for our most basic needs, namely our daily bread and the forgiveness of our sins. In His prayer, Jesus was reminding His disciples and us that if we pursue these things, we will receive them and will be changed for our good and His glory in the process.
Today, as you prepare for the prayer and fasting emphasis, make a list of your recent prayer requests. Write out the purpose of each request. Then, as you pray during the emphasis, share the purposes for your requests with the Lord as you ask, seek, and knock.
Prayer - Lord, thank You for these upcoming 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting. Please help me to be faithful in my fasting and help me to be diligent as I prayerfully ask, seek, and knock to hear from You and see You work in my life and in the lives of others.
Reflection - What do I need to ask from the Lord during these 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting? How do I need to seek after the Lord during this time? And for what things do I need to knock until God opens the door persistently?
