Tag: ask seek knock

Parables, Prayer

Always Pray and Never Give Up

meghanewhite
brown mountain near body of water
Photo by Johannes Plenio on Pexels.com  

Have you given up? Have you lost hope? Have you stopped praying?

It’s easy to get down and discouraged. Life is hard, but God is good. There are no perfect people, including Christ Followers. We are not super Christians. We are ordinary people, who serve an extraordinary God.

We can all take a deep breath and know that it’s perfectly normal to get down sometimes. Being down is a great opportunity to be lifted up by Jesus. When I am down there’s one direction to go, up.

Jesus is the ultimate encourager. He was consistently encouraging the disciples to have faith and to trust Him. One great example of this is a parable in Luke.

The Parable of the Persistent Widow

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’

4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”

6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

Luke 18:1-8 NIV

This unjust judge who has no faith in God, ultimately answers the widow’s plea and serves justice on her behalf. How much more will our perfect Father God answer our pleas? God is the true judge, without corruption. God who is just, will help His children. God loves us beyond our comprehension and delights in helping us.

Sometimes we give up on praying. We stop asking because we aren’t seeing any results. We may think, “Does God hear me?” “Does God see me and my struggle?” The answer is yes! God sees everything and knows everything. God sees our pain, and heartache, and trials. God has answers to our prayers in His perfect timing, in His perfect way, according to His perfect will.

Praying can be hard. Persistent prayer can be even harder. The unjust judge answers the widow because she persisted. We are to pray fervently. We are to be in a spirit of prayer. It’s a continual reliance on God all throughout the day, all the time. We are weak, needy humans. The only thing that can satisfy us is Jesus Christ. Persistent prayer strengthens our faith, and changes us to be more and more like Jesus.

Do not give up.

Things may look hopeless in your life today. Your circumstances may be impossible. God does some of His best work in impossible situations. God has no limits. He really wants our hearts more than anything. Ask Him for help. Ask Him for peace. Ask Him for wisdom. Ask for His will to be done in your life.

Always pray.

God loves you and has good things planned just for you. Trust God.

Love you all,

Meghan

I love to pray for you. Please send me your prayer requests meghanewhiteauthor@gmail.com

Prayer

Keep Asking, Seeking, and Knocking

meghanewhite

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Have you stopped praying? Maybe you didn’t get what you wanted, or you don’t see the point in prayer. It’s time to start praying again.

God loves His children. So much so, that He delights in answering our prayers. We are to ask, seek, and knock. This is one of my favorite passages of scripture in the New Testament. I have worn out this page in my Bible since I have read this time, and time again. The message is powerful, and true.

7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone?10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! 12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

Matthew 7:7-12, NIV 

Jesus spoke these words as part of The Sermon on the Mount. He said a lot in this awe inspiring sermon, and these few verses are just one part of it. 

Prayer is important. Jesus tells us to pray. These three steps of asking, seeking, and knocking are different aspects of praying to God. 

Ask humbly and confidently.

Seek with a hunger and a desire for God’s will.

Knock with expectancy and fervency,

We are not knocking on a wall. We are knocking on a door, God’s door. That door is meant to open for His children. 

Do you ever feel like you are pounding on a brick wall when you are praying? You are knocking on a door. “To the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” 

“His doors are meant to open: they were made on purpose for entrance; and so the blessed gospel of God is made on purpose for you to enter into life and peace. It would be of no use to knock at a wall, but you may wisely knock at a door, for it is arranged for opening.”  -Charles Spurgeon

How much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! 

God loves to give good gifts to us. Even more than that, He loves to give beyond what we have asked of Him. God loves to bless His children. How amazing is God! More amazing than anyone or anything. He is perfect, Holy God.

When my children are hungry, and ask me for something to eat, of course I am going to give it to them. I am an imperfect, sinful person and I like to give good things to my children. Yet God, who is perfect, will give us more than just a piece of bread. Sometimes it is just the bread, the basic necessities, and sometimes it’s a whole lot more. 

Needs and desires are an opportunity for us to come to the Father. To lay all our requests at His feet with expectation of an answer. The answer may not be immediate, or may not be what we want. When we release our desires to the Father we are giving Him full control over the outcome. God only does what is good for us, so we can trust our prayers in His mighty, sovereign hands. God is God, and I am not. 

So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

I love how this passage ends with Jesus reminding us to treat others the way we want to be treated. It takes the focus off of us and our needs. We are to put others above ourselves. We do not treat others the way they treat us, we treat others the way we want to be treated. The only way we can live out “The Golden Rule” is by asking, seeking, and knocking. We can’t be seeking God, and asking Him for help, and then treat others terribly. 

God is available to His children 24/7. His door is ready to be opened for those who knock.

There are blessings with your name on them from God. Keep asking, seeking, and knocking!

Love you all,

Meghan 

Please leave me your prayer requests. I’d love to pray for you!