-- Matthew 7:7-8
7 Ask and it will be given to you;
Seek and you will find;
Knock and the door will be opened to you.
8 For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.

-- Jeremiah 33:3
Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.



Jesus is using graphic images, ordinary experiences to contrast human generosity with divine generosity. If humans can give good gifts, show genuine kindness, care for their youngest, imagine how much more God will care for you. What we experience of kindness in our families and communities is but a foretaste of the great compassion of God, who hears us when we pray and is ready to respond to our needs.

St. Augustine once said, "Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in God." God has put a restlessness in us that keeps us searching, asking, and knocking. People are hungry for meaning of life, for something that last longer than the joy of the latest purchase or the most recent success. God is ready to hear our stories and open the door to a deeper relationship.

Asking is most often a verbal activity. We ask a question for information or direction. In our address to God, we ask for guidance, for help. We go to the One who can answer the difficult questions of life, who can show us love, acceptance, and forgiveness. God welcomes our questions, is eager for our interest.

Searching implies some movement and an awareness that something is lost or missing. If God has placed a hunger in our soul, a restlessness in our spirit, then we are on a quest for the divine. This is not some search for an object, career, relationship, or feeling. It is a search for Home, for the Place where we dwell with our loving Creator. God welcomes our search and promises that we will find our Home in God.

Knocking at a door means we wish to enter another room or place. There is somewhere else we wish to go or explore. God is waiting for our knock and is ready to open the door to a life of meaning, joy and forgiveness.

Asking, Searching, and Knocking are wonderful images that beckon us to move toward God. God is ready and waiting for our inquiry. God put the very desire and hunger in our hearts and promises to hear our prayers, meet our searching, and open the door.

-- The Promise of Hope (W.L.R.)
+*+*+*+*+*+*+

-- Revelation 3:20
Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with Me.

-- John 16:23-24
23 And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. 24 Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

-- Psalms 145:18-19
18 The LORD is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth. 19 He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and saves them.

-- Philippians 4:4-7
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.
++ 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.



+ Our confidence in the power of prayer is rooted in the promise that God is continually working for good in the midst of ambiguous situations and that God's purposes will prevail in the end. -- Marjorie Thompson.

+ Keep praying, but be thankful that God's answers are wiser than your prayers. -- William Culbertson

+ Prayer is the nearest approach to God and the highest enjoyment of Him that we are capable of in this life -- William Law

+ O magnify the Lord with me;
With me exalt His name;
When in distress to Him I called,
He to my rescue came.
The hosts of God encamp around
The dwellings of the just;
Deliverance He affords to all
Who in His goodness trust.
-- Nahum Tate

+ Come near to the holy men and women of the past and you will soon feel the the heart of their desire after God. They mourned for Him, they prayed and wrestled and sought for Him day and night, in season and out, and when they had found Him, the finding was all the sweeter for the long seeking. -- A.W.Tozer

+ Who among us has the Spirit of Prayer? They are mighty who have this Spirit, and weak who have not. -- J.Hudson Taylor

+*+*+*+*+*+*+

-- Romans 8:26
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.

-- Ephesians 6:18
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

-- Jude 1:20-21
20 But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. 21 Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.



-- Mark 11:24
Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer,
believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

-- 1 John 5:14-15
14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us -- whatever we ask -- we know that we have what we asked of Him.

-- John 15:5-7
5 I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not remain in Me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.
++ 7 If you remain in Me and My Words remain in you,
ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.

-- Matthew 6:33-34
+ 33 But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. + 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

-- Matthew 26:41
Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.
The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."

-- Luke 18:1
Then Jesus told His disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.

-- Hebrews 11:6
And without Faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.

-- James 1:5-6
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6 But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

-- 1 Timothy 2:1-6
1 I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and Thanksgiving be made for everyone -- 2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior,
++ 4 Who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is One God and One mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, 6 He gave His life to purchase freedom for everyone. This is the message that God gave to the world at the proper time.

+*+*+*+*+*+*+

-- Psalms 69:13
But I pray to you, O LORD, in the time of Your favor; in Your great love, O God, answer me with Your sure salvation.

-- Psalms 119:145-149
145 I call with all my heart; answer me, O LORD, and I will obey Your decrees. 146 I call out to You; save me and I will keep Your statutes. 147 I rise before dawn and cry for help; I have put my hope in Your Word. 148 My eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I may meditate on Your promises. 149 Hear my voice in accordance with Your love; preserve my life, O LORD, according to Your laws.

-- Psalms 86:1-12
1 Hear, O LORD, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. 2 Guard my life, for I am devoted to You. You are my God; save your servant who trusts in You. 3 Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I call to You all day long. 4 Bring joy to Your servant, for to You, O Lord, I lift up my soul. 5 You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to You.

++ 6 Hear my prayer, O LORD; listen to my cry for mercy.
7 In the day of my trouble I will call to You, for You will answer me.

8 Among the gods there is none like You, O Lord; no deeds can compare with Yours. 9 All the nations You have made will come and worship before You, O Lord; they will bring glory to Your name. 10 For You are great and do marvelous deeds; You alone are God. 11 Teach me Your way, O LORD, and I will walk in Your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear Your name. 12 I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify Your name forever.

-- Isaiah 55:6-11
6 Seek the LORD while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near. 7 Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the LORD, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.

8 "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," says the LORD. 9 "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts. 10 For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater,
++ 11 So is My Word that goes out from My mouth: It will not return to Me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."

-- Jeremiah 29:11-13
11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart."