After clarifying the seeming contradiction between the free offer of the gospel and its pricelessness, Rev. Sang Ho Bae encouraged Christians to pray inspired by faith in the Father's goodness.
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you (Matt 7:7).
This word is a promise that has upheld the lives of countless believers and a word through which they have experienced the hand of God, who makes a way in a dead end. Before problems that cannot be solved by human strength, in despair where every side seems blocked, this word has stirred up courage and hope to rise again.
One of the privileges given to the children of God is the right to ask God. A believer who has become a child does not receive only the forgiveness of sins and eternal life but also enjoys God’s help while living on this earth. Just as a child relies on his father, so the believer relies on God the Father. In life, problems come that we cannot solve by ourselves; the way becomes blocked, methods do not appear, and the heart collapses. But the reason the believer does not despair is that he can go to the Father and ask.
God is the One who opens a way we could not have imagined. The God who made a path through the Red Sea still today opens a blocked way for His children. Therefore, Scripture commands,
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God (Phil 4:6).
When anxiety rushes in, it means to run to the Lord, who is our refuge.
The Lord said, “Ask, seek, knock.” In Hebrew expression, the threefold repetition is the highest degree of emphasis, meaning to earnestly plead with God with all your heart. Scripture mentions in many places that persistent prayer is answered. The persistent request of the friend who came to ask for bread at midnight (Luke 11), and the story of the widow who did not give up but kept appealing for her injustice to be resolved (Luke 18), are all examples showing that God answers earnest prayer. God answers the prayer of the one who seeks with all his heart, not formal words.
The Lord guaranteed the certainty of answered prayer by repeating it three times.
For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, it will be opened (Matt 7:8).
Then the Lord explains the Father’s love with a parable.
Which one of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone, or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? … How much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him? (Matt 7:9–11).
What we must remember when we pray is that the One who hears our prayer is a good Father. When we deeply recognize this Fatherhood, we can have even greater assurance of His answer.
However, there are times when we believe and pray, yet the answer does not come. This is because we ask for things that go against God’s will, or we ask according to our own selfish desires. If God were to grant every human desire as it is, the world would fall into chaos. If He were to answer prayers asking that both teams win or that everyone succeed, the order of the world would collapse. Jesus prayed in Gethsemane, “Let this cup pass from me,” but if that prayer had been fulfilled as it was, there would have been no cross and no salvation. God hears our prayers, yet answers in the way that is most beneficial for us and most glorifying to Him. Sometimes He answers not in the way we want but in a better way. When Monica prayed that her son Augustine’s journey to Rome would be stopped, that prayer was not answered; yet Augustine’s going to Rome became the occasion through which he eventually experienced conversion in Milan.
God works with a plan greater than our thoughts and with wisdom deeper than we can fathom. Sometimes the time in which the answer is delayed becomes the time in which we are trained. In waiting, faith matures, and in silence, the soul seeks God more deeply. Even in moments we do not understand, God is accomplishing His good purpose for us. Even when a door appears to be closed, God is preparing a new way in places unseen. When we trust Him and ask and seek and knock, God leads us in the most excellent way.
For the AI-generated song version of this article, check Ask, Seek, Knock.
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