By Petey Prater
What
do you need today? Scripture invites us to ask our Father in Heaven for
everything.
“Ask
and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be
opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him
who knocks, the door will be opened.” Matthew 7:7,8
My
husband and I are first generation believers; our parents didn’t serve God. We
longed for them to know Jesus, apart from faith we wouldn’t see them in Heaven.
We
spent years asking, seeking, knocking (a-s-k) for their salvation. It
took 35 years for Dad Prater; he asked Jesus into his heart 2 weeks before he
died. Don’s mom trusted Jesus 2 hours before she went to Heaven, at 94. Talk
about the skin of your teeth!
I
prayed for salvation for my own Dad forty years. Nine hours before an
incapacitating stroke and four days before he died, he asked Jesus to be his
Savior and Lord. Mom surrendered her life to Christ at 81, two years before she
died. Wow, pretty close calls! But we serve a faithful God.
Forty
years is a long time to pray, a lot of askin’, seekin’, knockin’. What if we’d
given up? But we didn’t. We believed God’s word and kept knocking until Jesus
changed their doubts to faith. And although we live 600 miles apart, Jesus
nudged me home at the right time to lead them all in the sinner’s prayer right
before their death. How awesome is that! Talk about faithfulness to the
intercessor.
Webster’s
dictionary defines what ask, seek, knock mean. You might be as surprised as I
was at what I found.
Ask: “to request, to require,
need, or desire.” We request with our voice, our mouth.
Seek: “to look for, search for” We
look or search with our eyes.
Knock:
“to strike
or hit, especially with a noise.” We strike or knock with our hand.
(My
Amplified Bible says we should knock “reverently”)
So
my voice requests, my eyes, both spiritual and physical, look for God’s
answers, and my hand is knocking, by faith on His door. All three senses are
involved in prayer. I hadn’t understood that before. Persevering faith
believes God. And He answers, sometimes fast, sometimes slow.
Jesus
said if we know how to give good gifts to our children, “how much more will
your Father in Heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him!” Matthew
7:11
What
gift do you need today? Are you asking God for help? For healing? For
salvation? Need rent money? Ask out loud, Jesus will hear. Seek
His face, fasten your eyes on Him. Keep on knocking ‘til Heaven’s door
swings wide. He loves to meet our needs.
Lord
Jesus,
I
pray for my friends. Give them the gift of faith to ask, seek, knock. To
persevere in prayer until they hold the prize they seek. We trust you, Generous
Faithful Father. Amen.
Petey Prater writes from Beaverton, Oregon.
peteyprater@yahoo.com