“And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”
Luke 11:9 (ESV)
Jesus gave us permission to ask away. Keep reading through verse 11 to see that our Heavenly Father wants to be generous with us. Everything good comes from him.
Persistence
The NLT translation makes this idea more clear by saying ”keep on asking,” “keep on seeking,” and ”keep on knocking.” In context, these words are the third of a four-part lesson on prayer. Before this verse, right after the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus gives an analogy of a man who is bothered in the middle of the night by a friend who needs to feed his guest. He knocks, but the man shouts from his window that everyone’s in bed and essentially, ”Go away!”
The punchline is that the man will eventually get food for the friend, but not out of friendship. He will do it because the guy just won’t stop knocking.
If you travel down to Luke 18, you’ll read another persistent prayer success story about a widow who demanded justice from a bad judge, who cared nothing for anyone. He gave the woman justice only because her persistent asking was driving him bonkers.
God—who is THE Judge and loves everyone and doesn’t sleep—will give even more generously than a pestered man and a grumpy judge. So ask away.
Being Christ-like
You know the saying, ”It doesn’t hurt to ask?” Sometimes—often times—I really, really wish these words weren’t true. I have a VERY persistent AuDHD child. She is never afraid to ask for what she wants. Where I am often too nervous to ask or too worried about seeming rude, Kayla will even ask a sales clerk if she can just take something from the store without paying. Ha! That’s always an interesting conversation to witness. They get so nervous having to say no, I’ll see them sweat bullets. And with my daughter’s logic, it’s hard to argue with her. Kayla has successfully gained more free candy, animal pets/holds, and random stuff just by being bold enough to ask. Sometimes I wish I had her gumption.
And not being God, I get really annoyed when she asks and asks and asks. The word please grates my nerves. But to be more like Christ means to be patient with her asking and even try to say yes whenever possible. My parental heart should be generous, not stingy.
Tempering Expectations
Does this mean if I ask for that Lamborghini, I should expect it in my driveway tomorrow morning? No. God isn’t a genie in a lamp or Santa. He’s our sovereign God who knows what’s best for each of us. He loves me too much to give me a Lamborghini. Praise him! I would more than likely wreck it in the snow on the way to church. My AWD SUV is much more practical.
Not only does God say no at times, he also says wait. When it came to becoming a mother, I prayed and prayed for years. Eventually, I was blessed with Kayla. There’s a saying….”Be careful what you wish for.”
Just kidding😜
In all seriousness, though, waiting is hard. Taking the no is hard. God isn’t a yes man. He knows us inside and out, and we aren’t the best judges of what we need. And…we don’t always want what we should. Our desires can’t be trusted, but God can. If he says no, there’s a good reason. If he says wait, there’s a good reason. If he says yes, rejoice!
Trust God. Keep asking. Keep seeking. Keep knocking. God wants us to ask, so ask away.
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