Verse of the Day 6/10

Verse of the Day 6/10

Luke 11:9-10  And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find;knock, and it will be opened to you. ¹⁰ For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.  English Standard Version (ESV)

When I think of "ask, seek and knock" the passage that first comes to mind is Matthew 7 from Jesus' sermon on the mount.  The passage in Luke is a little different in that this verse is within the passage of the Lord's prayer, which starts with "Father, hallowed by your name and your kingdom come".  We are to pray consistently and fervently, but always with this as the core that we are praying for His will, His Kingdom and His glory.

I've heard it said before that the verbs ask, seek and knock are all in the "perfect" tense, meaning that it could be said, "keep asking, keep seeking and keep knocking".  In a devotional on today's verses Pastor Greg Laurie expands on this, "The words ask, seek, and knock Jesus used in the above verses indicate an ascending intensity. When we ask, we realize our need and ask God for help. It would imply being humble and maybe even somewhat low-key about it. The next word, seek, denotes asking plus action. It involves effort. Last, the word knock implies asking plus action plus persevering. It's the idea of pounding on a closed door. We aren't taking no for an answer."

Putting them together, when we keep asking we realize and acknowledge our need for God's help; we keep seeking in anticipation, it involves effort and is not a totally passive act; and when we keep knocking we are persevering, not taking no for an answer, knocking until the door opens.  In The Message paraphrase verse 10 starts with "don't bargain with God...be direct..ask for what you need.  The picture is of being up front, no deals, no strings attached just straightforward requests to our Creator.

Does that describe our prayers and our prayer life?

--   In Christ,  Mike    Folllow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com  Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,  in accordance with the riches of God's grace.  NIV    

Luke 11:9-13The Message (MSG)

⁹ "Here's what I'm saying:

Ask and you'll get;
Seek and you'll find;
Knock and the door will open.

^10-13 "Don't bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need. This is not a cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game we're in. If your little boy asks for a serving of fish, do you scare him with a live snake on his plate? If your little girl asks for an egg, do you trick her with a spider? As bad as you are, you wouldn't think of such a thing—you're at least decent to your own children. And don't you think the Father who conceived you in love will give the Holy Spirit when you ask him?"