Bible Study

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Ask, Seek, and Knock

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In the Gospel of Matthew, chapters 5 to 7, Jesus delivers a series of teachings at the beginning of his ministry. This block is usually called The Sermon on the Mount and is Jesus’ longest discourse in the New Testament. The Sermon on the Mount was not delivered primarily to the multitudes but to Jesus’ four first disciples: Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John (the sons of Zebedee). Jesus started his ministry by teaching about the ethics of the Kingdom of God, the identity of the citizens of the Kingdom, spiritual practices and life in the community. And in chapter 7, Jesus makes one of the boldest statements: Ask, Seek, and Knock.

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

Matthew 7:7

The passage is about prayer. The boldness in Jesus’ words is remarkable. There is no room for doubts. God truly answers prayers. He is a caring Father. He is an ever-present caring Father who deeply cares for you.

Here Jesus gives three commands: ask, seek and knock. The commands are followed by some analogies that help us understand God’s provision to his children when they ask. The promise here is that all of these actions will receive a response.

Ask, and it will be given to you

We ask for what we wish. We ask for what we want. But, how do we know what we want is God’s will for us? Or, what if there is something better than what we wish for? The good thing is that there is nothing that we cannot ask for. Since in God’s presence there is freedom, we can freely ask God whatever is in our hearts. The only Biblical guidelines are:

  • Ask in Jesus’ name (John 14:13)
  • Ask with and in faith (Matthew 21:22)
  • Ask while abiding in Jesus and his word (John 15:7)
  • Ask according to God’s will (1 John 5:14-15)

Seek, and you will find

We seek what we think we are missing. You seek a job because you are missing a job. You seek to finish school because you are missing the education you need to grow your career. So, Jesus commanded his disciples to seek so they could find. What should they seek? What were they missing?

Well, they were not to seek self-promotion, the praise of men or treasures on earth. Jesus had been clear that this was not how things should go for them. They’ve been called to represent and serve the Kingdom of God. So, then, what should they seek? A couple of verses before this section, Jesus clarified what they should seek. Jesus told them to seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness (Matthew 6:31-33).

God delights in meeting the needs of his people. So, you don’t need to worry about that. He has your back. Instead, God wants you to seek his Kingdom first and his righteousness. That is something we cannot miss.

Knock, and it will be opened to you

The last action of Matthew 7 is knocking. But wait a minute. The fact that you are knocking on a door doesn’t mean that you will open the door. The verse says, “knock, and it will be opened to you.” It doesn’t say, “knock and open.” It says, “knock.” That’s it.

But also, we knock for that from which we feel ourselves shut out. You can trust that when you ask God to show you the way you should go and when you seek him and follow his will, he will show you the door you should knock on.

However, quite often, we need to wait for the door to be opened. That waiting is crucial. In the waiting is when people quit. In the waiting is when people lose hope. The waiting is when people leave where they are supposed to be to go after what looks easier.

If you feel shut out, don’t become bitter. Knock on that door again. Ask God first, seek his presence, align your desires to his, make plans according to God’s master plan and then knock. Knock once and wait. Knock twice and wait. Keep on knocking. Don’t force your way in. Wait. If God has told you this is where you belong, that this is the right door, just knock and wait for him to open it for you.

When Jesus asks, seeks and knocks

Revelation 3:20 says:

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.

Revelation 3:20

It’s a healthy spiritual habit to take time every day to remember the time when God knocked at your door. That precious moment when you felt his presence in your heart calling you to come to him. When that happened, did he force himself in? Did he give up on knocking? Did he leave you alone and just move on? No, he didn’t. He kept on knocking, kept on waiting, kept on calling, kept on asking you to come to him.

Ultimately, you can see how Jesus’ teaching on prayer in Matthew 7:7 could also be used as an analogy of what God has done to bring you closer. His wish is for you to come to him, so he asks and calls your name. If you would just stop and listen! He was missing your presence at his table, so he went out to seek for you. He felt you shut him out of your life, but he is eager to return and dwell with you. Your heart is his place. It is his home.

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A Prayer for Peace in the Storm

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As I write these lines, I’m contemplating one of those great prairies storm through my window. I love thunderstorms. I always did, even growing up in Argentina, in a place very similar to Saskatchewan. While listening to the wind, I remember the time when Jesus calmed the storm in the gospels (Mt. 8:23-27; Mk. 4:35-41; Lk. 8:22-25). And there’s so much we can learn from this episode.

On the one hand, in the storm, we see Jesus in all his humanity: tired and needing some rest. The three gospel’s narratives say that the Lord was sound asleep when this windstorm broke off. But in this same passage, we see Jesus’ divinity in all his glory, rebuking the wind and speaking to the raging sea: “Peace! Be still.” (v. 39).

On the other hand, even though most preachers would use this Scripture to point out the lack of faith and the fear of the disciples, I think here we find one of the most simple and powerful prayers in the Scriptures: “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” (Mat. 8:25).

In its original Greek, the prayer starts with the most cited Christological title in the New Testament: Kyrios (Lord). This title presents the sovereignty, power and government of Jesus Christ over all creation. The significance of Kyrios is evident in the passage we are meditating on today.

The second Greek word that composes this short prayer is sōson, which means “to save, heal or rescue.” Without a doubt, the context of fear, uncertainty, and danger that the disciples were facing brought forth a collective supplication: Save us! This is the kind of prayer that comes out of a heart that is wholly surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus.

The third and final word in this prayer is apollymetha, which means “we are perishing.” This was the kind of word you would use when facing the risk of total destruction.
This is the prayer you would raise to God when you have no clue how to get out of the mess you are in. It’s the prayer of the desperate.

It’s interesting to note that in Genesis 1:2, we read of the Holy Spirit sweeping over the waters (CEB). The image described by Moses in the creation account is also of a dangerous storm: dark over the deep sea (CEB), no firm ground at sight (“the earth was without form and void,” ASV). In the Bible, the sea represents chaos, uncertainty, and confusion, precisely what the disciples were facing that night when heading across Lake Galilee. But, on both occasions, God spoke. In the creation account, to disperse the darkness and bring in the light. And in the Gospels, to stop the furious sea and bring forth peace.

In this time and hour, the whole world is facing maybe the most turbulent storm of the beginning of this century: a global pandemic of a novel virus, economic collapse, and other “waves” that are making the boat of many to be swamped. Christians are not exempt, but the difference is that we are facing this storm together and with the Lord in our boat. We know that, as he promised us, he will take us to the other side of this.

Today I would like to invite you to have the same prayer of the disciples: Lord, save me, that I perish. Let me encourage you to entirely yield your life to the Lord, trusting that he is with you. In the middle of all this chaos, he will bring us peace and rescue us and will show, once again, that he is Lord over all.

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God’s Glory & Service: The Goal of our Lives

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This year, in our church, for a total of sixteen Sundays, we managed to cover the 433 verses that compose the most relevant and important epistle of the New Testament, Apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans. I invite you to visit our Church’s website (click here) and listen to the messages again. Since Romans is a book that covers both the doctrine and praxis of our Christian faith, I believe it is a book that every believer should read, study and meditate on.

In this blog post, I would like to ponder with you the verses with which Paul closes his greatest letter of Romans. From verses 17 to 23 Paul stops his greetings to leave a final warning against the false teachers that were provoking divisions and putting obstacles in the way of the growth of many Christians back then. The commandment of Paul to the believers is to simply avoid these kinds of people. These false teachers only pursue the purpose of serving themselves and not Christ. This warning is still valid for us the church of the 21st century. In an era where communication has expanded to every place, at a time where anyone can use a computer or cell phone to present any message or doctrine to the world and spread it everywhere, we Christians should be alert and wise about what we are consuming to satisfy the hunger and thirst of our spirits.

The mark of the true servant of Christ, Paul points out, is not his eloquence or charisma but his love and service to Jesus Christ. The true servant of Jesus does not seek to be served but seeks to serve others. In the following verse, Paul then commands the church in Rome to be wise and be alert and “to be innocent as to what is evil” (v. 20).

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Then Paul, guided by the Holy Spirit, gives to the believers in Rome and us here and now, one of the most powerful promises of victory over the enemy that we can find in Scriptures: The God of peace will soon crush Satan under our feet. Because of this promise of victory, believers can burst out in praise and worship declaring that only God is wise and worthy of glory, through his son Jesus Christ, forever and ever, amen. God’s glory is then the goal of our lives and the joy of our hearts.

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Church: A Place for Encouragement and Hope (Romans 15)

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I love the last chapters of the book of Romans since these chapters offer to us a glimpse of the kind of person apostle Paul was. Frequently, I imagine Paul as a really approachable, humble and friendly person. Someone that is always looking for opportunities to present the Gospel of Jesus in a relational way. The last chapters of Romans teach us that the Gospel is 100% relational. It is something that we ought not to only enjoy but share with others.

In the first 13 verses of Romans 15 Paul continues explaining how Christians should treat each other. In these verses, Paul explains to us the importance of helping each other bearing our burdens, the vitality of a church where we seek in every moment the opportunity to build each other up. The key to this, explains Paul, is Christ himself. He gave us the model that we should follow, never pleasing himself but looking to please always the Father and those He gave Him.

I believe this kind of behavior is something rare in today’s society where it seems that everyone is submerged into an individualistic and self-centered lifestyle. But we the Church are just different. I believe that in this time and season the most relevant and significant mark of the church would be not its prosperity, or facility, or cultural popularity but the unity and sense of community of those who form it. The Church is a body, not an institution, a people and not a business modeled structure. The Church is the place where God decided to put us.

' I believe that in this time and season the most relevant and significant mark of the church would be not its prosperity, or facility, or cultural popularity but the unity and sense of community of those who form it.'Click To Tweet

As we read Romans we realize the importance of the Church. And we are called to be an active part of it loving and sharing our lives with others. Romans 15 shows us that it is in his Church where Jesus poured out the encouragement and endurance we need to have hope and be resilient against the constants attacks of this world and the enemy. Take a moment to thank God for his Church and rejoice with other believers in what God is doing and will do with us.

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