Matthew 7
The Sermon on the Mount
Vs. 7-11, Ask, Seek, Knock
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
This is the basis of The Secret, the World's program for amassing the World's abundance. And it works, because this is how God designed the system to work.
To ask, we need to know what it is we are asking for, to be clear in our desires for what we want. Then to actually say out loud or write down what it is that we want. This clarifies the concept in our minds, and we believe it's really possible.
To seek is to go for it. Don't just sit back and expect it to come to you, go out after it.
To knock is to do the actual work that will make it happen.
Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone?
Or if he asks for a fish, he won't give him a snake, will he?
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 what is good to those who ask Him!
If we, as sinful human beings, will give our children what they need to eat and grow, and care for them; how much more will our Heavenly Father, who is perfectly good and does everything perfectly, understand what we need and what our hearts' desires are. So we can trust Him to answer our prayer.
V. 12, the Golden Rule
In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
Here it is, The Golden Rule that every Nation and major religion has recommended. I've heard it expressed in several ways: to "do unto others as you would have others do unto you;" to "walk in his moccasins;" to "walk in his shoes;" to "put yourself in his place."
They all pretty much say the same thing: To love your brother as you love yourself. This is the basis of order in every society in the World. Everybody knows this concept, it's written on our hearts.
O Father, You are our good, good Father, Who gives us every good and perfect gift from Above. And You have put into this Earth all the resources to give every one of us great bounty to enjoy, no matter how many of us there are. When we do things Your way, then we reap Your rewards, both in this World and in the next.
Help me, Father, to be clear in my thinking, and faithful to pursue Your ways, and not lazy in doing the work that will bring about great feats in Your power, to bring Your Name great renown. I know that Your love for me is greater than I can imagine, and that Your gifts for me are beyond my ability to comprehend.
It's only my own lack of trusting You and asking, seeking, and knocking, that deprives me of all the fullness of Your gifting to me.
Lead me, Father, in Your paths of righteousness, that my life will be blameless before the World, drawing others to Yourself in Your mercy and grace.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
