“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:” (Matthew 7:7 KJV)

As we were winding up our Week of Prayer at my church, Zion Family Ministries, I wanted to share some things I’ve seen about prayer in the above verse. Ask-Seek-Knock – A-S-K. Is that a coincidence? I think not. I’ve also seen this as a progression: First we ask God then we may go seeking our answer, (Seek my face, 2 Chronicles 7:14), and then we act on our request, we do something. I heard a preacher once liken this to a situation at home. It’s supper time and Mom calls the family to eat. But the child, who’s upstairs in their room, does not come down. She knows he’s up there, so she calls again. Still no answer. Does she quit calling? No, she goes upstairs seeking him. Then she knocks on his bedroom door. Just because he didn’t answer the first time, she kept on calling then acted on it. Another version of that verse is: “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.” (NLT). We don’t understand God’s ways, (Isaiah 55:9), but we should ask according to His will, have faith that He’s going to answer, and thank Him. #Godisincontrol.

Think about this. Three levels of prayer: 1-Wishing/hoping 2-Expecting 3-Acting. Let’s say you order a piece of furniture for your living room from Amazon. You don’t wish or hope it will be delivered; you expect it. And, you go and rearrange space in your living room for it when it arrives. Do we have more faith in Amazon than in God? I knew a young lady once who had applied and interviewed for a job. The following Sunday, she paid a tithe on what her first paycheck would be when she got the job. Guess what? She got the job! She asked, she expected, and she acted on it.

Let’s determine to move up to another level, as our Youth Pastor Jonathan preached recently, in our prayer life. “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;” (Philippians 4:6).