Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
Matthew 7:7-8 KJV
One of the most basic conditions of answered prayer is that you must pray. Sounds simple.
- Ask = Receive
- Seek = Find
- Knock = It shall be opened.
If that’s all there is to it, why don’t more people pray, and why doesn’t God answer the prayers of more people? Prayer is hard work, and for those prayers to be answered, you must pray for the right things with the right attitude and for the right reason. And if you know God’s Word, it helps you to know for what you should pray, how to pray, and why to pray. Then, when you allow God to guide in this area, you can “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you…”
How does God’s Word enable you to know how and why to pray or for what to pray?
II Timothy 2:15 says, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
The answers are in God’s Word, but we need to keep it in context. In today’s text, Jesus didn’t say that there are conditions to receiving, finding, and having doors opened. But as we study the Bible, we realize those conditions are there.
Pray for the right things. Scripture is full of verses that guide us.
- Matthew 26:41 “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
- I John 5:14-15 “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.”
Pray with the right attitude. We must have an attitude of thanksgiving with a heart that’s right before God.
- Philippians 4:6 “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”
- Psalm 66:18 “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:”
Pray for the right reason. Our prayers and requests should ultimately glorify God and edify others; they should not be self-serving.
- James 4:2-3 “Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.:”
- Ephesians 6:18 “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.”
- Jeremiah 29:13 “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”
To the best of your ability, follow God’s guidelines when you ask, seek, and pray. Then trust God to do the rest.
Romans 8:26-27 says, “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”