Dare I Ask?

“Ask, and it will be given to you; 

seek, and you will find; 

knock, and it will be opened to you. 

For everyone who asks receives,

and the one who seeks finds,

and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 

Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 

If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!”  Matthew 7:7-11

Have you ever felt like your prayers weren’t being answered? Or, maybe you have wondered if your requests just weren’t important enough for God to answer them? The truth is that God is a GOOD Father. He cares about everything about you. He wants to talk with you about every part of your life and He promises to respond: 

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. James 4:8

He wants us to draw near. 

Some of us grew up hearing a phrase that goes something like this, “Children are to be seen and not heard.”

The Truth: Children are a delight. We can learn a lot from them. They are joyful, playful, curious and inquisitive. They approach life with wide-eyed wonder. And they are FULL of faith. And God LOVES children:

but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 19:14 

See also: Psalm 8:2; Psalm 127:3-5; Psalm 139:13-14

One of my favorite experiences when I first started volunteering in children’s ministry was to observe a class of two year olds watching the teacher dramatize a Bible story, eyes and mouths agape. They believed it. All of it.

Many of us learned in middle school (if not earlier) that if you can’t see it, touch it, weigh it or measure it, it’s not real. Young children do not require such “proof.” They haven’t been taught to do so. 

This kind of teaching can make it difficult to conceive that a God we can’t see or touch even exists, let alone that He hears and answers our prayers. In my personal experience, nothing could be further from the truth. 

He is a GOOD Father and wants to help us. 

In Luke 18 Jesus shares the parable of the persistent widow. This widow was not about to let the judge have any rest until he gave her justice. And, it is because of her relentless pursuit that the judge gives her justice. After sharing the parable, Jesus adds these words…

”’And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? DAY and NIGHT.

In Luke 11 Just after teaching his disciples to pray, Jesus presents this parable to his disciples—

‘And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs.’

Impudence is a kind of shameless boldness without concern for the opinion of others. 

Jesus follows the illustration with these words—

“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!’

The language we usually read in this passage uses the present indicative, “Ask, Seek, Knock.” But as the original Greek language uses the imperfect tense, it would better read, “Keep Asking…Keep Seeking…Keep Knocking.”

This correlates well with Hebrews 11:6

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Diligence requires consistency—the kind of persistence demonstrated by the persistent widow and the friend who came at midnight. I have not seen every prayer answered but I have seen many answered. Some in ways that testify undeniably to the existence of the God who hears, and answers.

Our daughter exemplified this kind of persistence well in her childhood. At about the age four she began to express a desire for a puppy. She was constantly asking when we were going to get a dog. On one occasion she even argued, “everybody else has a dog!” She did not let up until she held Sasha, our first family dog, in her arms. 

Several years later we added gerbils. She just loved to nurture creatures. 

The truth is, we wanted her to have these creatures because it brought her joy. And her joy brought us joy. 

I had to say no to “Peppermint” the garter snake she found outside. Although, I eventually discovered her toy box had been converted into some type of habitat. It wasn’t until years later that she told me it was actually for Peppermint. Apparently he didn’t like the accommodations and moved to some other location in our house. I like to think he escaped out the back door so we’ll leave it at that. 

I digress…

Our part is to not give up. Luke introduces the account of The Parable of the Persistent Widow that Jesus taught this way,

“And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.”

And Jesus finishes the parable with these words, 

…”Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”  Luke 18:8