Ask, seek, and knock

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you (Matthew 7:7).

During His second Galilean ministry Jesus delivered what has become known as the Sermon on the Mount (so called because the scriptural account reports that "he went up into a mountain: . . . and he opened his mouth, and taught them" [Matthew 5:1-2]). The discourse is recorded in our present Bible as the fifth, sixth, and seventh chapters in the book of Matthew. Some of the same teachings also appear in the book of Luke (rearranged and scattered throughout chapters six, eight, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, and sixteen). Comparable passages do not appear, however, in either Mark or John.

The specific verse we are focusing on here in Matthew is recorded in virtually identical words in Luke: "And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you" (Luke 11:9). The Savior was teaching His disciples that they should pray to Heavenly Father simply and sincerely for whatever they lacked. In other words, they were to ask of God in faith as a child might ask of a parent. The Lord's promise is straightforward and sure: if they asked, it would be given; if they sought, it would be found; if they knocked, it would be opened.

When we pray to God, it is important to keep in mind the true relationship we have with Him: He is our Father, and we are his children.

Prayer thus becomes natural and instinctive on our part. It is simple communication between child and parent. It is the means by which the will of the Father and the will of the child are brought together. The object of prayer is not to change the will of God, but for us to come to know the will of God and then seek to incorporate it in our individual lives. Prayer can secure for ourselves and others blessings a wise and generous Father is already willing to grant but that are conditional on our asking for them. The blessings of heaven are free, but they are not cheap. They require some work or effort on our part before we can obtain them. Prayer is a form of work. It is the means Jesus appointed for us to obtain His merciful blessings. Thus He commands us to ask, to seek, and to knock.

The New Testament is filled with passages that teach the duty of prayer (such as Matthew 26:41; Luke 18:1; Luke 21:36; Ephesians 6:18; Philippians 4:6; Colossians 4:2; 1 Thessalonians 5:17; 1 Thessalonians 5:25; 1 Timothy 2:1; 1 Timothy 2:8; and James 5:13-18). Prayer is clearly something our Heavenly Father wants us to do. He wants to hear from us. Just as an earthly parent wants to hear from an absent child, one who is away to school or off in the military or simply living in a distant place, our Heavenly Father wants to hear reguarly from us, not so much for His sake as for our sake.

Now, obviously, not all of our prayers are answered in the way we would like to see them answered. Not all of our petitions are granted. Not all of the doors we want opened in our lives are opened to us. What is that all about?

There are undoubtedly many reasons. First, like any wise parent, our Heavenly Father knows it would not be in our best interest to satisfy every whim and desire we may have. That would not be good for us. It would not promote our spiritual growth. It would not require us to increase our faith. It would not help us learn patience. It would not allow us to become holy. Nor would it enable us to become more like our Heavenly Father.

The followers of Christ are expected to "be partakers of the divine nature" (2 Peter 1:4). In other words, we are to put on the nature of God. We are to incorporate His nature into our very being. The Apostle Peter goes on in the same passage to list some of the elements of God's nature: faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and charity (see 2 Peter 1:5-7). We are to grow into a fulness of the stature of Christ (see Ephesians 4:13). We are to put on the mind of Christ (see 1 Corinthians 2:16 and Philippians 2:5). We are to become Christlike. We are, in a word, to become like God. That is what children do, after all. They become like their parents. And prayer helps us do this.

Second, the followers of Christ are taught to pray to the Father in the name of Jesus Christ (see, for example, John 14:13-14, John 15:16, and John 16:23-24). We pray in Christ’s name when our mind is the mind of Christ (see 1 Corinthians 1:10, 1 Corinthians 2:16, 2 Corinthians 11:3, and Philippians 2:5), when our wishes are the wishes of Christ, when His words abide in us (John 15: 7). We then ask for things it is possible for God to grant. Many prayers remain unanswered because they are not in Christ’s name at all. They do not represent His mind but spring out of the selfishness of man’s heart.

Third, answers come in response to genuine, heart-felt faith. An important and instructive passage on prayer is found in the epistle of James: "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord" (James 1:5-7).

These verses of scripture inspired a young boy in upstate New York in the spring of 1820 to ask of God which of all the religious denominations of the day was right and which was wrong. His record states:

"Never did any passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine. It seemed to enter with great force into every feeling of my heart. I reflected on it again and again, knowing that if any person needed wisdom from God, I did; for how to act I did not know, and unless I could get more wisdom than I then had, I would never know; for the teachers of religion of the different sects understood the same passages of scripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible.

"At length I came to the conclusion that I must either remain in darkness and confusion, or else I must do as James directs, that is, ask of God. I at length came to the determination to 'ask of God,' concluding that if he gave wisdom to them that lacked wisdom, and would give liberally, and not upbraid, I might venture.

"So, in accordance with this, my determination to ask of God, I retired to the woods to make the attempt. It was on the morning of a beautiful, clear day, early in the spring of eighteen hundred and twenty. It was the first time in my life that I had made such an attempt, for amidst all my anxieties I had never as yet made the attempt to pray vocally.

"After I had retired to the place where I had previously designed to go, having looked around me, and finding myself alone, I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God" (Joseph Smith-History 1:12-15).

What occurred next dramatically verified what both the Savior (in Matthew 7:7) and James (in James 1:5-7) had taught about answers to prayer.

Joseph continues his account: "I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.

"It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!

"My object in going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join. No sooner, therefore, did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the Personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right (for at this time it had never entered into my heart that all were wrong)—and which I should join.

"I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt; that: 'they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof.'

"He again forbade me to join with any of them; and many other things did he say unto me, which I cannot write at this time. When I came to myself again, I found myself lying on my back, looking up into heaven. When the light had departed, I had no strength; but soon recovering in some degree, I went home" (Joseph Smith-History 1:16-20).

After centuries of apostasy and darkness, the heavens were opened once again in a marvelous theophany that verified the actual existence of God and that taught young Joseph that God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ were actual, distinct, separate personages as the Bible clearly taught before its truths were obscured by the wrangling councils and creeds of later centuries. The philosophies of uninspired men had hijacked traditional Christianity from the simple scriptural truths taught by the Savior and His apostles. That falling away or apostasy from the truth was foreseen and prophesied of throughout the New Testament record (such as in 2 Thessalonians 2:3; Acts 20:28-31; Galatians 1:6-12; 2 Thessalonians 2:7-8; 1 Timothy 4:1-3; 2 Timothy 3:1-7; 2 Timothy 4:3-4; and Jude 1:3-4), but that is a subject for another day.

Simple, straightforward prayer had been vindicated. "Ask," Jesus taught, "and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you" (Matthew 7:7).

© 2008 by Dean B. Cleverly. All rights reserved. This particular post is not intended as a definitive treatment of prayer but, rather, simply some observations on the Lord's answering prayer.