Matthew 7

Matthew 7:7 Matthew 7:7: 7 [Note:e]"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

Asking: Strong's Enhanced Lexicon reveals the following on this word. "αἰτέω [aiteo /ahee•teh•o/] [Note:v. Of uncertain derivation; ][Note:TDNT 1:191; ][Note:TDNTA 30; ][Note:GK 160; 71 occurrences; ][Note:AV translates as "ask" 48 times, "desire" 17 times, "beg" twice, "require" twice, "crave" once, and "call for" once. ]1 to ask, beg, call for, crave, desire, require."

Asking is definitely the easiest of the three steps because it requires the least amount of effort. Let's take a look at verse 9-11 of the same chapter.

  9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If you then, being 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!
I wonder how many people have read this verse and thought, "Yeah, right; how many times have I asked God for something and it never came to pass?" Have you ever watched a child pray for the Holy Ghost? I remember preaching a message a couple of years ago that was one of the most difficult messages that I've ever had to preach; when I got through a young boys mother walked up to me and asked me to pray for her son. I laid my hand on his head and within a few seconds, he was speaking in other tongues. Later, in the same service, I was asked to pray for a grown man in his thirties. I repeated the same method, but after several minutes of prayer, nothing happened. No wonder the bible says, "Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings comes perfected praise." Children have no reason to doubt. They haven't known the disappointments of life. However, child-like faith is possible for adults, but I am sorry to admit that this kind of faith is hard to find in this day and age. We second, third and fourth generation Pentecostals have experienced disappointment after disappointment. I like what Jesus said in Matthew 19:13-15, "Let the little children come to me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven." If we want to simply ask and receive, we must develop a child-like faith.

 Seeking: Of uncertain affinity; [Note:TDNT 2:892; ][Note:TDNTA 300; ][Note:GK 2426; 119 occurrences; ][Note:AV translates as "seek" 100 times, "seek for" five times, "go about" four times, "desire" three times, and translated miscellaneously seven times. ]1 to seek in order to find. 1a to seek a thing. 1b to seek [in order to find out] by thinking, meditating, reasoning, to enquire into. 1c to seek after, seek for, aim at, strive after. 2 to seek i.e. require, demand. 2a to crave, demand something from someone.

This step of faith requires a little more effort. When I think of the word, "seek", my mind recalls the parable of the lost coin in Matthew 15:8, "8 Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it?" Notice the steps that this woman takes to find her coin.

1.  Lights a candle
2.  Sweeps the house
3.  Seeks diligently until she finds it

Light a candle: Jesus is the light of the world. I preached a message one time called "Has your candle lost its light in the midst of the fight?" Sometimes we get so distracted by the things of this world that we lose our focus. Peter walked on the water until he took his eyes off of Jesus and started paying attention to the wind and the waves. If we're not careful, we can lose our focus in the midst of the struggle. If this has happened in your life, ask God to light your world again.

Sweeps the house: Jesus had to clean out the temple before the blind and the lame could come in and be healed. (Matthew 21:12-14) Sometimes we need to do a little house cleaning. If you've lost your faith; look within your heart. Have you cluttered up your spirit with earthly pleasures? It's time to get out the broom and sweep the corners of your soul.

Seeks diligently until she finds it: Once you've completed the other two steps, it's time to start searching. Bro. Elms preached about finding Christ on the other side. The woman with the issue of blood had to find her way through the crowd in order to get to Jesus. She probably felt like giving up at some point, but she kept on searching until she found her miracle.

Knocking: Apparently a primary verb; [Note:TDNT 3:954; ][Note:TDNTA 475; ][Note:GK 3218; Nine occurrences; ][Note:AV translates as "knock" nine times. ]1 to knock: at the door.
This word doesn't carry a double meaning, but it simply means, to knock at the door. Some people can simply ask and they receive. Some people seek and they find; but some must approach the throne of God and keep knocking until they get an answer from God.

I am reminded of the story in the Mark 7:24-30, "  24 And from thence he arose, and went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and entered into an house, and would have no man know it: but he could not be hid. 25 For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell at his feet: 26 [Note:†] The woman was a Greek[Note:f], a Syrophenician by nation; and she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter.  27 But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it unto the dogs. 28 And she answered and said unto him, Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs. 29 And he said unto her, For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter. 30 And when she was come to her house, she found the devil gone out, and her daughter laid upon the bed.

I wonder how many of us would have given up after the first request. I'm sure many of us would have walked away and thought, "That snob." Perhaps we would have kept on until he turned and rejected us verbally. At that point some of us would have turned away and decided to never come back again, but this woman wouldn't give up so easily. She didn't get offended; she just realized that her need was bigger than her pride. I wonder what would happen if we would come to the realization that our needs are bigger than our pride? Jesus told a story about a woman who needed justice from an unjust judge. After pleading with him day after day, he finally surrendered and gave her justice. We don't serve an unjust God! He is merciful and compassionate; slow to anger and abounding in love.

If you need something from God, ask, and if that doesn't work, seek, and if you still don't receive the miracle, keep knocking until you do receive it! Stop doubting and believe!!!


Jordan Mills