“Ask and it shall be given you;” Matthew 7 v 7
My life is full of questions. I always seem to be trying to
find out ‘Why?’ In this respect I have continued to be like a small child who
constantly asks why in order to
understand the world around them.
Children invariably go to their parents, or care-givers, for
their answers. Usually they get what they are seeking. The child learns step by
step and the emerging world becomes less daunting to them. As I have grown up
I, like most people, believe that I have outgrown my parents’ knowledge. I
stopped going to them for answers in my early teenage years. Many queries remained unasked and therefore unanswered for
many years after that.
What I have found is that it is usual to seek answers from a
source that you trust. From a source that you believe can provide the answer
you are searching for.
I still have an enquiring mind and I like to read so I have
managed to find out some answers to a few burning questions that had remained
with me for years. However, there are some areas that stump me and it’s at
times like this that I may turn to the Bible. Matthew 7 v 7 says “Ask and it shall be given you”. I
wondered if this was accurate for all things that I could desire so I read
further. In John 14 v 13 it states, “And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name,
that will I do”, that sounds just perfect, but this is not a formula for
selfish requests, the verse continues in this way, “that the Father may be
glorified in the Son.”
Therefore the request to God has a precondition, they will
be granted as long as the Father is glorified by fulfilling the request. I
wanted to know how I could know if God would be glorified by what I was asking.
As with many questions, one generates another. I have
frequently found myself to be in a spiral of queries and not able to see the
way out of them all. Again, I reach for the wisdom of trusted friends or the
guidance to be found in the Bible. I reason that if I don’t get the full answer
from one place then at least I will have gained some light and be able to look
in another place for the rest.
This is what the Bible has to say about asking for things, “Therefore
I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye
receive them, and ye shall have them.” Mark 11 v 24. Therefore in exercising
faith my desire and belief are fulfilled. There is an additional verse in 1
John 3 v 22 that explains why the requests are granted; it’s about obedience to
the commandments of God. “And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we
keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.”
It appears that all our questions will be answered if we act
in accordance with God’s commands.
The obvious next question for me is “What are God’s
commandments?” As I said, one question often leads to another. I always gain insight
from my search, but sometimes I end up with many more questions than answers. So
I go back to the beginning and ask all over again.
In this way, I think that I never grow up; I remain
child-like as I constantly seek guidance and direction from God. And I don’t
think that’s a bad thing.
©MHMorgan 2011
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