God Gives Good Gifts to Those Who Ask
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!” (Matthew 7:7-11)
1. God Gives Good Gifts to Those Who Ask
God does not want His children to suffer from poverty and disease but desires every affair in their lives to go well. However, if we just sit idly without making any effort, we will not reap anything. Although God could give us everything in the universe for everything in the universe belongs to Him, He wants His children to ask, seek, and achieve on their own just as there is an old saying, “You’d feed the crying baby.”
If there is a person who wishes to receive everything as he idly stands by, he is no different from flowers planted in a garden. How disheartened would parents be if their children behaved like stationary plants and spend all day in bed without making efforts to live their own lives? Such behavior is like that of a lazy man who wastes all his time waiting for a fruit from a tree to fall into his mouth.
God wants us to become His wise and assiduous children who zealously ask, seek, and knock, thereby enjoying His blessings and giving glory to Him. That is precisely why He commands us to ask, seek, and knock. No parent will give his child a stone when the child asks for bread. No parent will give her child a snake when the child asks for a fish. Even if a parent is so evil, he desires to give good gifts to his children. Don’t you think our God – who loved us to the extent of giving His only begotten Son to die on our behalf – will give His children good gifts when they ask?
In John 15:16 Jesus tells us, “You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.” This is the solemn promise of the almighty God of love that when we zealously ask, seek, and knock, He will open the gates of heaven, bless us, and even answer the desires of our heart.
With the passage on which this Chapter is based, let us learn how to ask, seek, and knock and receive everything we ask for from God so that it will be great glory for Him and great joy for us.
2. Ask and It Will Be Given to You
God tells all people, “Ask and it will be given to you,” and desires everyone to be a blessed person who receives everything for which he asks. For what, then, is He telling us to ask?
1) Ask for God’s Strength and Seeing His Face
God, after He created the heavens and the earth and everything therein, created man. And He blessed and told the man to be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.
After the first man Adam disobeyed God’s Word, however, he lost those blessings and hid from God upon hearing His voice (Genesis 3:8). In addition, mankind who became sinners have been estranged from God and driven into the path to destruction as the slaves to the enemy devil.
For these sinners, the God of love sent His Son Jesus Christ on the earth to save them, and opened the door to their salvation. And if anyone accepts Jesus Christ as his personal Savior and believes in His name, God forgives him of all his sins and gives him the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Furthermore, the faith in Jesus Christ leads us to salvation and enables us to receive the strength of God. Only when God gives us His strength and power, can we successfully lead religious lives. In other words, only by the grace and strength from the above, can we overcome the world and live according to the Word of God. And we need to receive His power to defeat the devil.
Psalm 105:4 tells us, “Seek the LORD and His strength; Seek His face continually.” Our God is “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14), Maker of the heavens and the earth (Genesis 2:4), and Governor of all history and everything in the universe from the beginning and forever. God is the Word and by the Word He created everything in the universe and thus, His Word is power. For man’s words always change, they carry no power to create or make things happen. Unlike the words of man that are untruthful and always changing, the Word of God is alive and full of power, and can bring about the work of the creation.
Therefore, no matter how powerless one may be, if he hears the Word of God that is living and believes it without doubting, he, too, can bring about the work of the creation and create something from nothing. The creation of something from nothing is impossible without one’s faith in God’s Word. That is why Jesus proclaimed to all those who came before Him, “It shall be done for you as you have believed.” In sum, to ask for the strength of God is the same as asking Him to give us faith.
What, then, does it mean to “seek His face continually”? Just as we cannot be said to “know” someone without knowing his face, “seeking His face” refers to the effort we are to make in discovering “who God is.” It means those who have previously avoided seeing God’s face and hearing His voice now open their hearts, seek and understand God, and try to hear His voice. A sinner is unable to lift up his head and tries to turn his face away from others. Once he receives forgiveness, however, he can lift his head up and see other people.
By the same token, all men have been sinners through the disobedience to God’s Word, but if one is forgiven by accepting Jesus Christ and becomes God’s child by receiving the Holy Spirit, he can now see God who Himself is the Light, for he is declared to be righteous by the righteous God.
The most crucial reason God tells all people to “ask for seeing God’s face” is because He wants each of them – the sinners – to be reconciled to God and receive the Holy Spirit by asking for seeing God’s face, and to become His child who can come face to face with Him. When one becomes a child of God the Creator, he will receive heaven and eternal life and happiness, above which nothing else is a greater blessing.
2) Ask for Accomplishing God’s kingdom and righteousness
A person who received the Holy Spirit and became a child of God is able to live a new life, for he has been reborn of the Spirit. God who deems more precious one soul over the heavens and the earth tells us His children to ask to fulfill His kingdom and righteousness above all else (Matthew 6:33).
Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:25-33, “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! Do not worry then, saying, `What will we eat?’ or `What will we drink?’ or `What will we wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
What, then, is “seeking God’s kingdom” and what is “seeking His righteousness”? In other words, what shall we ask for to accomplish God’s kingdom and to fulfill His righteousness?
For the mankind who had been slaves to the enemy devil and destined to destruction, God sent His one and only Son to the earth and allowed Jesus to die on a cross. Through Jesus Christ, God has also restored us the authority we lost and permitted us to walk on the path to salvation. The more we spread the news of Jesus Christ who died for us and resurrected, the more of Satan’s force is destroyed. The more of Satan’s force is destroyed, the more lost souls will arrive at salvation. The more lost souls arrive at salvation, the more expanded will God’s kingdom be. So, “Seeking God’s kingdom” refers to praying for the work of saving souls or world mission, so that all people may become God’s children.
We used to live in darkness and in the midst of sin and evil, but through Jesus Christ we have been empowered to come before God who Himself is the light. For God dwells in goodness, in righteousness, and in the light, with sin and evil we could not come before Him nor become His children.
Therefore, “seeking God’s righteousness” refers to praying that one’s dead spirit may be revived, his soul prosper and he become righteous by living by God’s Word. We have to ask God to allow us to hear and become enlightened by God’s Word, come out from sin and darkness and dwell in the light, and become sanctified by taking after God’s holiness.
Casting off works of the flesh according to the desires of the Holy Spirit and becoming sanctified by living by the truth are accomplishing God’s righteousness. Moreover, as we ask for accomplishing God’s righteousness we will enjoy good health and all may go well with us even as our souls are prospering (3 John 1:2). That is why God commands us to ask first for accomplishing God’s kingdom and His righteousness, and promises us that everything else we ask for will be given to us as well.
3) Ask to become His worker and carry out God-given duties
If you ask to fulfill God’s kingdom and righteousness, you must then pray to become His worker. If you are already His worker, you must earnestly pray to carry out God-given duties. God rewards those who earnestly seek Him (Hebrews 11:6) and will render His rewards to every man according to what he has done (Revelation 22:12).
In Revelation 2:10, Jesus tells us, “Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.” Even in this life, when one studies diligently he could receive scholarships and enter a good college. When one works hard at his work, he can be promoted and receive better treatment and higher salary.
By the same token, when God’s children are faithful to their God-given duties, they will be given greater duties and greater rewards. Rewards of this world are no match for rewards in the kingdom of heaven in size or glory. Therefore, at his own position each of us must become eager in faith and pray to become God’s precious worker.
If one does not yet have a God-given duty, he must pray to become a worker for God’s kingdom. If one has already been given a duty, he must pray to carry it out well and look to a greater duty. A layman must pray to become a deacon while the deacon must pray to become an elder. A cell leader ought to pray to become a sub-district leader, the sub-district leader to become a district leader, and the district leader to rise above that.
This is not to say one should ask for the title of an elder or a deacon. It refers to desiring to be faithful to his duties, making most efforts towards them, and serving and being used in a greater capacity by God.
The most important thing for a person who has God-given duties is the kind of faithfulness by which he is more than able to carry out even greater duties than the duties he has currently. For this, he has to pray so that God may commend him, “Well done, good and faithful servant!”
1 Corinthians 4:2 tells us, “In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy.” Therefore, each of us must pray to become God’s faithful worker at our churches, the body of Christ, and at our different positions.
4) Ask for daily bread
In order to redeem man from his poverty, Jesus was born poor. In order to heal every disease and infirmity, Jesus was flogged and shed His blood. Thus, it is only natural for God’s children to enjoy abundant and healthy lives, and have every affair in their lives go well.
When we first ask for accomplishing God’s kingdom and righteousness, He tells us that all these things will be given to us as well (Matthew 6:33). In other words, after asking for the fulfillment of God’s kingdom and righteousness, we are to pray for things necessary to live in this world, such as food, clothing, shelter, work, blessings at our jobs, wellbeing of our families, and the like. God will then fill us just as He has promised. Bear in mind that if we ask for such things for our lustful desires and not for His glory, God will not answer our prayer. Prayer of sinful desires has nothing to do with God.
3. Seek and You Will Find
If you are “seeking,” that means you have lost something. God wants people to possess that “something” they have lost. For He commands us to seek, we must first determine what it is that we have lost so that we can search for that “something” we have lost. We must also figure out how we are to find it.
What, then, have we lost and how do we “seek” it?
The first person God created was a living being composed of spirit, soul, and body. As a living being who could communicate with God who is Spirit, the first man enjoyed all the blessings God had given him and lived by His Word.
Yet, after being tempted by Satan, that first man disobeyed God’s command. In Genesis 2:16-17 we find, “The LORD God commanded the man, saying, ‘From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.’”
Even though the whole duty of man is to fear God and keep His commandments (Ecclesiastes 12:13), the first man created did not keep God’s command. In the end, as God had warned him, after he ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, his spirit in him died and he became a man of soul, no longer able to communicate with God. In addition, spirits of all his descendants died and they became men of flesh, no longer able to keep their whole duty. Adam was driven out from the Garden of Eden to the cursed ground. He and all who came after him now had to live amidst sorrow, suffering, and disease, and only by the sweat of their brow could they eat. Furthermore, they could no longer live in a manner worthy of the purpose of God’s creation but as they pursued meaningless things in accordance with their thought, they became corrupt.
In order for an individual whose spirit has died and is only of his soul and flesh to live again in a manner worthy of the purpose of God’s creation, he needs to recover his lost spirit. Only when the dead spirit within a man is revived, does he become a man of spirit, and communicate with God who is Spirit, and will he be able to live like a true man. This is why God commands us to seek our lost spirit.
God opened for all people a path to revive their dead spirit and that path is Jesus Christ. When we believe in Jesus Christ, as God promised us, we will receive the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit will come and dwell within us, and bring back to life our dead spirit. When we seek God’s face and receive Jesus Christ after hearing His knocking on the door to our heart, the Holy Spirit will come and give birth to spirit (John 3:6). As we live in obedience to the Holy Spirit, cast off the work of flesh, zealously listen to, take in, make bread of, and pray on God’s Word, with His aid we will be able to live by His Word. This is the process in which the dead spirit is revived and one becomes a man of spirit and recovers the lost image of God.
When we want to consume the highly nutritious yolk of an egg, we must first crack the eggshell and remove the white. In the same manner, in order for an individual to become a man of spirit, his work of flesh must be cast off and he has to give birth to spirit by the Holy Spirit. This is the “seeking” of which God spoke.
Suppose all electrical systems in the world were shut down. No expert working alone could restore the systems. It would take a great deal of time for the expert to dispatch electricians and produce necessary parts so the electricity will be restored to every part of the world.
Likewise, in order to revive the dead spirit and become a man of complete spirit, one needs to hear and know the Word of God. Yet, for knowing the Word alone is not enough in making him a man of spirit, he must diligently take in, make bread, and pray on the Word so that he can live by God’s Word.
4. Knock and the Door Will Be Opened to You
“The door” of which God spoke is a door of promise that will be opened when we knock on it. On what kind of door did God tell us to knock? It is the door to the heart of our God.
Before we knocked on the door to the heart of our God, He knocked on the doors to our heart first (Revelation 3:20). As a result, we opened the doors to our heart and accepted Jesus Christ. Now, it is our turn to knock on the door to His heart. For the heart of our God is wider than the heavens and deeper than the ocean, when we knock on the door to His immeasurable heart, we can receive anything.
As we pray and knock on the door to God’s heart, He will open the gates of heaven and pour treasure upon us. When God, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens, opens the gates of heaven and vows to bless us, no one can stand in His way and the flood of blessing (Revelation 3:7).
We can receive God’s answers when we knock on the door to His heart. Yet, depending on how much one knocks on that door, he can receive either a great or a small blessing. If he wishes to receive a great blessing, the gates of heaven must be open wide. Thus, he needs to knock on the door to God’s heart all the more and diligently and please Him.
For God is pleased and delighted when we cast off evil and live by His commandments in the truth, if we live by God’s Word, we can receive whatever we ask. In other words, “knocking on the door to God’s heart” refers to living by God’s commandments.
When we zealously knock on the door to His heart, God will never rebuke us and say, “Why are you knocking so loudly?” It is precisely the opposite. God will be all the more delighted and desire to give us what we ask. Therefore, I hope you will knock on the door to God’s heart with your deeds, receive everything you ask, and thus give great glory to God.
Have you ever caught a bird with a slingshot? I remember once hearing from one of my father’s friends, who commended me on my skills in making a slingshot. The slingshot is a device crafted by carefully carving a piece of wood and shooting a stone from a rubber band tied around the Y-shaped piece of wood.
If I were to liken Matthew 7:7-11 to the slingshot, “asking” refers to finding a slingshot and a stone with which to catch a bird. Then you need to equip yourself with the ability to take a good shot at the bird. What good a slingshot and a stone would do if you did not know how to take a shot? You may want to build a target, familiarize yourself with the features of the slingshot, practice on the target, and determine and understand the best ways to catch the bird. This process is equivalent to “seeking.” By reading, taking in, and making bread of the Word of God, as a child of God you are now equipping yourself with qualifications to receive His answers.
If you have equipped yourself with the ability to operate the slingshot and get good shots out of it, you must now take shots and this can be compared to “knocking.” Even if a slingshot and a stone are prepared, and even if you have equipped yourself with the skills to take a shot with them, if you do not take a shot you could not catch the bird. In other words, only when we live by God’s Word of which we have made bread in our heart, will we receive what we ask from Him.
Asking, seeking, and knocking are not separate processes but an intertwining procedure. Now you know for what to ask, what to seek, and on what to knock. May you give great glory to God as His blessed child as you receive answers to the desires of your heart by diligently and zealously asking, seeking, and knocking, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ I pray!