Ask | Seek | Knock

Matthew 7:7

“Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened to you.”

This is one of the primary verses used to encourage those distant in faith to persist…yet many of us read instant gratification all over it. “If God doesn’t answer me now, He isn’t there.” “If God doesn’t give me what I want now, He doesn’t hear me. I don’t matter.” Right? Haven’t we all done this at one point or another? I know I have. However, of the three actions mentioned here, all require a natural period of waiting afterwards…

Ask: Means you aren’t just instantly entitled to something, it must be requested.

Seek: Requires patience and discernment.

Knock: A repetitive action usually followed by waiting.

None of these three should suggest that God will instantly answer you. Perhaps you asked Him for something and it was granted through your own faith, but just not in the timeframe you would have viewed as a “response”? What if the answer came in a way you didn’t instantly notice? Did God still not move?

My dad has always told me, “God’s delays are not God’s denials”. I have done my best to live by this and remember it in seasons where I feel God is just “too busy” with everyone else to take time for me. In those times, I feel like what I’m asking for would be nothing for Him to just answer really quick, then He can get back to helping those with a terminal illness or more serious life issue. However, that’s not how God works. He heard you. He doesn’t need to multitask the way we do. He is not limited. He is all and all at once. Viewing Him through the lens of our own adequacies or inadequacies can be our biggest pitfall.

So many people may be drawn back into faith by this verse and its promise, only to be pushed promptly away again when it seems unfulfilled.This verse should never be used as a means to reinforce someone’s accusation that God ignores them. God ignores no one. It is, however, ok to acknowledge God not reacting in your timing, because He may not. Perhaps it was designed to test and refine one’s character, who knows. I do know from evidence in my own life that God rewards the persistent. He calms the anxious. He acknowledges the eager.

So don’t just wait. Expect.
Whatever goodness He has, you deserve!
Thank Him in advance for fulfilling your requests.
Desire acts like prayer.

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