God answers prayers according to his will and character as a loving Father. The passage encourages persistent prayer through "asking, seeking, knocking" which suggests increasing intimacy with God. It provides principles for effective prayer: only God's children will be answered; we should ask for what is promised; God hears all prayers and answers yes, no, or not yet; he gives what we need, not always what we want; and no prayer is wasted as seeking God brings us closer to him.

1. Ask, Seek and Knock” – 30th November 2015
“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart”( Jeremiah 29:13).
There is nothing that reveals more about a believer than his or her prayer life.How that individual approachesGod
and what that individual isaskingGod reveals how he or she views God. We frame our requests in accordancewith
what we know of the character of the one we are addressing.Itis very similarto how an child will makea request
from their father. The child with a kind, gentle and firm father, does not fear to ask anything,for deep down they
have the assurancethatthe father has greater wisdom and experience, and therefore would not give them
anythingthat would be harmful to them. This is also truespiritually.When we pray we must pray in harmony with
the view of God we have. As an example the individual who believes that God is vengeful wil l befearful.But the
individual who believes that God is gracious will ask for what he or she needs boldly.
We can read in Mark 7:“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened
to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be
opened.( Matthew 7: 7-8). Ask, Seek, Knock are imperatives or commands.. It refers to givinga peremptory
authoritativecommand; There are two imperatives in the New Testament. There is the aoristimperativewhich is a
command to do a particular thingatone specific time, and there is the present imperativewhich is a command not
only to do something but to keep on doingit indefinitely.Ask,Seek, Knock are not only imperatives but they are
present tense imperatives.We are told to ask and keep on asking,we are to seek and keep on seeking and we are
to knock and keep on knocking. There is also within theabove verse a suggested progression in prayer.The very
words; ask,seek and knock suggests an ever increasingintensity in prayer.
What we Ask is always in reference from God for something that the need, that is so clear thatwhen we ask,the
omnipresent God knows even before we ask. What we seek is a deeper level of prayer than justasking.Sometimes
we may doubt or be in darkness and we need to firstseek God’s will before we know what to pray for. But God has
made provision for us even in such times which we can learn in Romans 8:26-27,“In the same way, the Spirit
helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us
through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit
intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God..” When we areuncertain we must seek God’s will
because we don’t really knowfor certain whether itis good. Our human tendency is that what I ask “should be
good for me”. When Jesus is tellingus to Knock it denotes seeking entrance, or desiringfellowship. Wecan Read in
Matthew 7: 8, “For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door
will be opened”. Within this command that we read, we can learn five general principles aboutprayer.
Firstly thatGod does NOT promise to answer everyone’s Prayers. We must know that the promises apply only to
those who are really God’s children…who steadfastly believein Him and act within His teachings. Some would say,
“But isn’tGod the Father of all humans?” Yes he is the creator but sincesin separated us fromGod. He is not
obligated to answer the prayers of those who arenot His children.God is Father only to those who areborn again
into the family of God.
God does Not Promiseto answer everyone’s Prayers….
Secondly that we are expected to Ask for the things God Has Promised.“ask and itshall begiven.” This same
principleisstated in the negative in James 4:2, “You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot
get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God.” We livein an age of
hustleand bustle, of man’s efforts and man’s determination, of man’s confidencein himself and his own power to
achievethings… human scheming, and human achievement; In today’s context things from God means no real
achievement...When all thatfails they may then revert to God’s provision. As Christianswemust know that we are
expected to ask for the things God Has Promised …but not arbitrary things likewantingto own an additional
holiday bungalow…

2. Thirdly we must know that God hears and answers every prayer. As we read in “Matthew 7: 8, “For everyone who
asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened”.” There are two
certainties when we pray.One is thatGod hears every prayer.The other certainty is thatGod always answers.This
verse says for ‘everyone who asks receives,” did I read that right? Yes, itsays everyone receives! But we have the
misconception that the only possibleanswer to prayer is yes.There aretwo other possibilities.God can say,No or
He can say,Not Yet. But know that God hears and answers every prayer…
Fourthly we must know that sometimes God gives us what we need and not what we ask for. We can learn the
answer to Matthew 7:9 -11,“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a
fish, will give him a snake? 11 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! Even earthly fathers give good things
to their children.We do not give a child a red-hot chili pepper justbecause they ask for it. John Stott puts itthis
way, “So then if we ask for good things, he grants them; if we ask for things which are not good (either not good in
themselves, or not good for us or for others, directly or indirectly,immediately or ultimately) He denies them; and
only He knows the difference.” John Stott.
Finally wemust know that our Prayers arenever wasted. The underlyingprinciplebehind the significanceof
persistentprayer has to be the truth that no prayer is ever a wasted effort. We are told to ask and keep on asking,
we are to seek and keep on seeking and we are to knock and keep on knocking…We need to seek God more and
more…keep seekingtill you find Him! The very words; ask,seek and knock are imperatives for an ever increasing
intensity in prayer.
“You will seek me and find me when you seek me
with all your heart”( Jeremiah 29:13).