Tag Archives: Matthew 7:7-8

Ask, Seek, Knock

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Discipleship Devotional Study Guide - Becoming Like Christ - Day 112 - Matthew 7:7-8 - Ask, Seek, Knock - Growing As Disciples

Discipleship Devotional Study Guide – Becoming Like Christ – Day 112 – Matthew 7:7-8 – Ask, Seek, Knock – Growing As Disciples

“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; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Matthew 7:7-8 (NIV)

Last Resort?

I have had a bad habit. What’s that? For much of my life, I have thought of prayer as a last resort. How so? Well, if after an exhaustive effort on my part, I couldn’t solve my own problems, then I would turn to prayer. Or if some need was far beyond my ability to meet, then I would turn to prayer. What’s wrong with that approach to prayer? You want me to live in an intimate relationship with you. You want me to come to rely on you. You are my loving Heavenly Father. You want to give good gifts to me. It is your joy to hear and answer my prayer. Yes, it is my desire to give you what you will need in life.

Why is it that you have been so reluctant to pray? Do you think that I am too busy to listen to you? Do you believe that your request will be some kind of bother to me? Do you regard it as some kind of virtue to solve your own problems, without my help? I don’t have any good answers. I do know one thing. I have learned one thing. What’s that? I have learned that apart from you I can accomplish nothing of true and lasting and eternal value. I don’t want to live a life apart from you. I don’t my life to be an accumulation of check marks off of an insignificant to do list. What do you want? I want to live in an intimate relationship with you. I want to hear your voice. I want to live in an ongoing prayer dialogue with you. I want to talk with you about anything and everything. I want you to teach me how to pray. I want you to give me prayers to pray. I want to be able to pray prayers that you will hear and answer. Those are all very good desires. I’m sure that these desires come from you. Yes, they do. 

What must you do if you want to live a life of prayer? What must you do if you want me to teach you to pray? What must you do if you want to be able to pray prayers that I will hear and answer? I must meet with you in prayer. I must set aside a time and a place when and where I can begin to develop a daily pattern of meeting with you in prayer. I must enter your prayer classroom. Will you do that? Will you ask, will you seek, will you knock in prayer? Yes Lord, I will. That will be very good. 

Lord, I will not remain silent. I will not “go it alone”. I will rely on you. I will make my needs known to you. I will be persistent, and passionate in the prayers I pray. I will ask. I will seek. I will knock. I will wait patiently for you to hear and answer my prayers. Amen

Key Question…  Why does the Lord want you to come to ask Him for what you need?

Living It Out…  Pray to the Lord and ask Him for what you need.

Seeing It Happen… Have faith that the Lord will hear and answer the prayers you pray to Him.

Get Ready To Share… Share with another person or your small group what prayers you are praying to the Lord.

Prayer To Bless Others…  May you keep on asking and seeking and knocking as you make your needs known to the Lord.

For today’s complete 4 page Discipleship Devotional Study Guide click here:

Becoming Like Christ – Day 112 – Matthew 7-7-8 – Ask, Seek, Knock – 4 Page Discipleship Devotional Study Guide

Please consider sharing these devotionals with others through the social media you use.

Individual users may save the Discipleship Devotional Study Guide to their desktop for private use. All the blanks in the study guides are fields that allow typed responses. To use the fields on the study guide you may need to open the guide with a free version of adobe reader.

By Jon Ulrich © All rights reserved                   Copying not permitted                      www.GrowingAsDisciples.com

Ask – Receive

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Discipleship Devotional Study Guide - Rhythms - Matthew 7:7-8 - Ask - Receive - Growing As Disciples

Discipleship Devotional Study Guide – Rhythms – Matthew 7:7-8 – Ask – Receive – Growing As Disciples

“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; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.  Matthew 7:7-8 (NIV)

Ask Me 

I haven’t been doing that. You haven’t been doing what? I haven’t been asking you for all that I need from you. I’ve noticed. That comes as no big surprise to me. Why do you think I want you to come and ask me for all that you need? I’m not sure. I could give you everything you need without you asking me for anything. I know more about what you need than you know about what you need. I do want you to come and ask me for all that you need. You don’t have a clue why that might be? Not really. Let me ask you a question. Go ahead, I’m listening. You have children. Do you like it when they come and ask you for what they need? Yes, I do. Why is that? I enjoy meeting their needs. It gives me great pleasure to see their joy when I have met a need of theirs. How would you feel if your children never came to ask you for what they needed? I would feel sad about that. I would think that something was wrong with our relationship. I would wonder why they weren’t asking me to help them with what they need. What answers would you come up with? I would wonder if they thought I wasn’t interested in meeting their needs. I would wonder if they thought I wasn’t able to meet their needs. Neither of those thoughts would be true. No, they would not be true. I am both interested in and able to meet the needs of my children. Do you believe that I am interested in and able to meet your needs? Yes, I believe that you are interested in and able to meet my needs. Will you come to me to ask me for all that you need? Yes, I will. That’s good.

I have another question to ask you. Do you give your children everything they ask for when they ask for it? No, I don’t give my children everything they want. Why not? There are lots of reasons. Let me hear them. Sometimes they ask for something that will not be good for them. Sometimes they ask for something before they are ready for it. Sometimes I want to know how seriously they want something. Have you ever wondered why I haven’t immediately answered your prayers? Yes, I have wondered why you haven’t answered my prayers. Your answers are my answers. My answers to your prayers will always be yes, no, or not yet. When you have not received an answer to your prayer what will you do? I will keep on praying. I will keep on asking. I will keep on seeking. I will keep on knocking. That will be very good.

Lord, I know I have seldom asked you for what I have needed. Forgive me. Now, I will keep on asking. Now I will keep on seeking. Now I will keep on knocking. I will be persistent in my prayers by continuing to ask you for all I need. Amen

Key Question… How are you making it the rhythm of your life to ask the Lord for what you need from Him?

Living It Out… Make it the rhythm of your life to keep on asking the Lord for what you need from Him.

Seeing It Happen… Have faith that the Lord will hear and answer your prayers as you keep on asking Him for what you need.

Get Ready To Share… Share with another person or your small group something you are asking the Lord for right now.

Prayer To Bless Others… May you ask the Lord for all that you need from Him.

For today’s complete 4 page Discipleship Devotional Study Guide click here:

Rhythms – Matthew 7-7-8- Ask – Receive – 4 Page Discipleship Devotional Study Guide

Please consider sharing these devotionals with others through the social media you use.

Individual users may save the Discipleship Devotional Study Guide to their desktop for private use. All the blanks in the study guides are fields that allow typed responses. To use the fields on the study guide you may need to open the guide with a free version of adobe reader.

By Jon Ulrich © All rights reserved                   Copying not permitted                      www.GrowingAsDisciples.com

Given

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Discipleship Devotional Study Guide - Be - Matthew 7:7-8 - Given - Growing As Disciples

Discipleship Devotional Study Guide – Be – Matthew 7:7-8 – Given – Growing As Disciples

“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; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Matthew 7:7-8 (NIV)

Ask, Seek, Knock

Is there something that you want from me? Is there anything that you would like to ask of me? What do you want? What do you need? Why are you asking me these questions? I am not hearing many prayer requests from you. Why is that? Is that because you have nothing that you need? Is that because you have everything you want? No, I don’t have everything that I want or need. I’m sure of that. Do you think it would be an inconvenience for you to ask me for what you want or need? Do you think I might be too busy to hear and answer your prayers? No, I am sure that my prayers are never an inconvenience for you. I’m positive that you would never be too busy to hear and answer my prayers. Do you doubt my ability to hear and answer your prayers? No, I have no doubt in your ability to hear and answer my prayers. Do you feel that it would be better for you to try to solve your own problems rather than to ask me for my help? No, I am certain that you want me to come to rely on you. I am sure that it is your delight to hear and answer my prayers. You are a good giver who delights to hear and answer prayers. You aren’t giving me many opportunities to be a good giver that hears and answers your prayers. I can see that now. I am sorry that I have not come to ask you for what I want and need. That is about to change. How so? Every day from here on out, you will hear from me. I will ask you for what I need. I will be passionate and persistent in my prayers for what I want and need from you. I will not give up. I will keep on asking, seeking and knocking in prayer for all that I need from you. That will be very good.

What will happen to your faith as you keep on asking, seeking and knocking for all that you want and need in prayer? As you hear and answer my prayers my faith in you will grow. As I hear and answer your prayers what will you keep on doing? I will keep on praying. Will you ask me for more? Yes, I will ask you for more. That is what I want. I am asking you to come to me to ask me for more. Rely on me. Pray to me. Ask me for what you want and need. I will hear and answer your prayers. That is what I will do. That will be very good.

Lord, I will be passionate, intense and unrelenting in my prayers. I will keep on asking, seeking and knocking in prayer for all I need from you. Thank you for all your goodness, kindness, mercy and love for me. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayers. Amen

For today’s complete 4 page Discipleship Devotional Study Guide click here:

Be – Matthew 7-7-8 – Given – 4 Page Discipleship Devotional Study Guide

Please consider sharing these devotionals with others through the social media you use.

Individual users may save the Discipleship Devotional Study Guide to their desktop for private use. All the blanks in the study guides are fields that allow typed responses. To use the fields on the study guide you may need to open the guide with a free version of adobe reader.

By Jon Ulrich © All rights reserved                   Copying not permitted                      www.GrowingAsDisciples.com