So I say to you: 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; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. [Luke 11:9-10 NIV]
There is a crescendo of sorts in these verses. It begins with asking. A verbal request. Proceeds to seeking. A heart expression. And ends with knocking. A physical action. These three words are linked together. Words. Thoughts. Action. Each related. All necessary.
This passage is preceded by a parable. In it Jesus speaks of a man who went to neighbor at midnight to ask for three loaves of bread. He knocked and his neighbor eventually and begrudgingly accommodated him. In the verses following Jesus contrasts the annoyed neighbor to God.
I love how Jesus compares the earthly with the heavenly. One speaks of coming as a beggar. The other, coming as a son. I think that this is important for us to remember. When we come to God. When we ask, seek and knock. We come to discern his will. Not to demand something of him.
We ask to receive understanding. We seek to discover. We knock that the eyes of our hearts might be opened. In this sense, I am comfortable to say that prayer is not about getting things from God. Prayer is about getting to know God better. In doing so we are made like his Son.
Lord. We knock. Open the eyes of our hearts that we might see you clearly.
... this devotion is part of the z2a bible words series.
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