Ask and keep on asking and it will be given to you; seek and keep on seeking and you will find; knock and keep on knocking and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who keeps on asking receives, and he who keeps on seeking finds, and to him who keeps on knocking, it will be opened.
Matthew 7:7-8
As long as I live, God continues to show me new things about His promises. These verses from Matthew took on more meaning for me this week as I read them in the Amplified Bible for the first time. If you compare the Amplified Version above with the New International Version below,
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.
you’ll notice what struck me as significant. The simple phrase, keep on, which the Amplified Version includes in these verses gave me an important reminder about the nature of faith and the practical steps of making my belief in God a way of life, not just something I give lip service to.
Keep on asking, Jesus told His listeners during the Sermon on the Mount. Keep on seeking. Keep on knocking. No matter what challenges I am facing in this world, if I keep on going to God with them, I will eventually make it through any and every crisis I face. I know this because of what Jesus says next:
Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will [instead] give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will [instead] give him a snake? If you then, evil (sinful by nature) as you are, know how to give good and advantageous gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven [perfect as He is] give what is good and advantageous to those who keep on asking Him.
Matthew 7: 9-10
God will give what is good and advantageous to those who keep on asking Him. That doesn’t mean God will always give me exactly what I ask for, but I can keep on asking and seeking and knocking knowing that when God gives me an answer, it will be the answer that does the most good for me.
Herein lies a formula for living without the worry of this world taking over my mind and wounding my spirit:
- I know that God is able to do anything in the world. He parted the Red Sea when His people needed to escape the Pharaoh. He saved Daniel from the Lion’s Den, and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the flames. He turned water into wine, raised Lazarus from the dead, and showed Thomas the nail holes in His hands.
- I know that I am able to do anything God-willed through my faith in Christ Jesus. “I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). Jesus tells us He came to heal those who are willing to admit their unrighteousness and repent of their sin. Through Christ’s strength, Paul nurtured churches and helped them grow, even when he suffered imprisonment and debilitating physical problems. Peter became the cornerstone of Jesus’ church and bore the ignominy of crucifixion even after denying he knew the Savior three times as Jesus lay mocked and beaten at the hands of His enemies.
- If I really want a plan of mine to succeed according to God’s standards, I must keep on asking, seeking and knocking. Keeping on helps me continue to place God at the center of my thoughts. If I ask, seek, and knock in full knowing of God’s intention to answer my requests in a way that brings the most advantage to me according to God’s perspective, my daily, or hourly, or minute-by-minute asking, seeking and knocking keep God in the moment with me. How can I be afraid knowing God means well for me and knows what is best for me? Asking, seeking and knocking without giving up keeps me moving in faith as a way of life, right where God wants me to be.
- If I really want to get the best solution for my problems, I have to hand them over to God and break the habit of worrying instead of believing. No matter what God’s answer is to my current dilemma, even if His answer is no to my question, I know His answer will lead me in the right direction for my life, a direction that may take much work but that will also make me ultimately into the best version of me that can serve God.
Keep on keeping on. It’s a phrase we throw out there, sometimes in response to those mundane, “what you up to?” questions. But keep on keeping on before Jesus, and you’ll find that your daily worry decreases while your faith in God’s good answers for your life keep on growing.
God is able. Through Christ, I will continue to ask on, seek on and knock on until all my uncertainties and daily stressors are put to rest. Abraham asked on, even as he led his son Issac to slaughter. Jesus asked on even as he prayed knowing exactly the bitterness of the cup from which He was soon to drink in the Garden of Gethsemane.
If I really want to walk my talk and not just pay lip service to my beliefs, then I must keep on loving God and seeking Him, keeping Him in my heart and mind until there is no place left for worry to stick around and keep me from fulfilling my God-given purpose.
What practical steps do you use on a daily basis to help you stay in God’s will and maintain your faith? I’d love to know what works for you, especially since I suffer from anxiety disorder, making managing my worry a constant problem.
There’s another keep on that’s important to this lesson, and that’s the keeping on we do when we continue to study God’s word, reading the Bible over and over, knowing our favorite texts and more by heart. In today’s fast-paced world, slowing down to ask, seek, and knock is more important than ever. Try it and see what results you notice in your spiritual life and your daily walk with Jesus Christ our Lord.
In Christ,
Ramona
The verses in this post were accessed online at Biblehub.com.
goodchristianfiction 