Asking, Seeking and Knocking

Encouraging prayer, God offers an open invitation for his people to talk with him at any time about anything encouraging prayer Dr. James Banks authored the best-selling and many other books on prayer provides weekly biblical insight help you learn to love and valve today, encouraging prayer were going to look at asking the King and knocking. In Matthew 77 Jesus said ask and it will be given to you seeking you'll find knock and the door will be open to James you believe that each of these things.

Asking, seeking, and knocking represent different ways to pray right, you're that guy. So let's talk like the idea from Charles Spurgeon. I was reading one of the cervical prayer certain of success where he points out that each of these commands asking, seeking, knocking, referred to an ascending scale of intensity I'd never seen that before, but I think it's right. Jesus always made his words count.

You know some reason just using different words to say the same thing. Each one is different and it matters because sometimes we can just stop asking when we need to take a step further and if we don't take that step. It can cause us to wonder if our prayers make any difference at all. So how do you respond as a person says we don't always get what you ask for and pushing harder doesn't always mean that we will either God is God and he will do what he will will you know I agree with that but I would add that if we don't make the effort to draw closer to him. We won't have the strength to actually understand that will or to accept it. So let's go deeper. How are asking and seeking, and knocking different great question asking is just that, putting our requests before God seeking that takes another step. Spurgeon said that when we see completely marshal our arguments and plead reasons that we begin to wrestle with God for the mercies needed so seeking is basically taking the time to make your case with God.

Why what you're asking for matters, I can see why that's really important because you're not just making a request you're putting more of yourself into it right right and in the more we get real with God, the more he makes himself real to us. So this is a way of loving God with your mind you think it through completing your case and and you see that kind of praying all over Scripture. Here I mean Abraham did it. Moses did Jacob did it. Eliza did it. David did it. Jesus did it all that I could keep going on. You really good thing is we don't always pray that way. Usually we just ask you know we put up our requests. We stop at that and most of the time we don't start to seek until a request hasn't been granted and and so then we start to push back a little, but I think we have more success in our praying by asking and seeking together when we first start to pray it especially because it takes us a step closer to God in our hearts and minds, and that will help us pray in the ways that we need to when I believe that this means that were praying with more faith because were focused and engaged in our asking and and were interacting with him when we do so could you say it's like were loving the Lord by engaging him with our thoughts when we seek what right you see how were going deeper. So what about knocking okay.

That's what gets even better. Each of these approaches draws closer to God asking starts at the distance seeking steps closer and knocking is making noise and God loves it when we come to them dissuaded and again this isn't pitching a fit before God and saying you know my will be done, that that's no prayer to distance because our eyes are only ourselves and what we want, not on him. So the key didn't knocking his love.

Love for him above all else with our hearts reaching for him suite we go to him with humility but also with this passionate boldness because we know that we can because were his children and and Spurgeon explained each step of prayer this way. He says faith asks because she believes God will give hope, having asked expects and therefore seeks for the blessing, love comes nearer still and will not take a denial from God, but desires to enter into his house and to sup with him, and therefore knocks at his door till he opened some knocking is really loving the Lord with all your heart and soul and strength and mind right right and we need to remember that when the door opens it opens to a :-) I went when we knock we lay it all out there but the thing that makes knocking so effective if it were not just you know going after God's hand whereafter his heart were recognizing that he means more than anything else or seeking his comfort and wisdom and strength in the moment even while were making our case and end at the same time we entrust ourselves to him and we recognize that he is our our father, who knows how to give good gifts to his children, and so so if it's an act of worship when we knocking when we pray like that. He has a way of drawing near to us and giving us what we need, even if the answer to our prayer that were looking for doesn't come right away to see Jesus himself exactly and we can never out. Love him when we pray, so when we go to meet with him with love. He has a way of of meeting us there is very cool.

What a helpful way to understand prayer and the importance of going deeper in it once wrapped things up by praying and we can all apply this to our lives. Let's do it. Thank you that we can come thinking that we can ask it all. But thank you Lord that we can take the next step that we can see and that not only can we seek that we can knock that you long to hear from us that you listen to us and that the door opens to your :-) thank you that you want us to pray, help us to want. Always seek your face in Jesus name, amen. Hear more from Pastor James by visiting the website James Banks.org or by visiting these church in Durham, North Carolina. May God bless you and encourage you to pray