Matthew 7: Seek and you will find!

Lieutenant Ana Layton invites us to discover God’s good gifts.

Key texts

• Matthew 7:7–12

Please, sir, I want some more,’ pleads Oliver Twist in Charles Dickens’s famous novel as he, in bold yet fearful hope, holds out his empty bowl to the workhouse master. Perhaps praying to God is sometimes viewed in the same way. Do we dare to approach God, the one who holds our lives in his hands?

In our study passage, Jesus presents his followers with a clear invitation: ‘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; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened’ (vv7 and 8). Jesus invites us to ask God for ‘good gifts’ (v11) and to be persistent in asking, because he will answer.

Pause and reflect

• What have you asked of God recently?
• What were your intentions?

‘Ask and it will be given to you.’ Taken out of context, these words could suggest that we can ask God for whatever we want and he will definitely give it to us. Prayer, however, is not to be regarded as a blank cheque.

‘Ask’ denotes a posture of humility – to not only present our requests to God but also acknowledge that we need him to fill our cup in a way that only he can. We recognise his authority by surrendering to him our requests and choosing his will, believing that only God can sustain and fill us.

The presence of the Holy Spirit alone will satisfy our hunger and quench our thirst. That is why Jesus encourages us to keep on asking.

Pause and reflect

• What are your inner desires when you pray?

‘Seek and you will find.’ We need to be constantly searching for who God is and what is in his heart, rather than just seeking what we can get from his hands.

As we hold out our empty cup to God, we can trust him to fill it. God promises that he will never turn away those who seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Jesus illustrates this saying: ‘Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? … 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 the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!’ (Luke 11:11–13).

Anyone who seeks to be filled with God’s Spirit, who comes humbly before him trusting in his will for their lives, will receive, will find, will have the door opened. We may seek lesser goals, but God calls us to find a fuller, closer relationship with him and to submit to his plan for us, which is far greater. He is our Shepherd and knows what is best for us. He ensures that our cup overflows (see Psalm 23).

Pause and reflect

• How do you search for a deeper relationship with God?

Knock and the door will be opened to you.’ The verb ‘to knock’ in Greek indicates a persistence, building upon the previous verbs and reflecting a progressive aspect – we are to keep on asking, seeking and knocking. Such repetition displays a desire to petition God without giving up. We are to go to our Father with every need and develop the kind of trust shown by a child asking for the help of a loving parent.

Jesus taught his disciples to pray with this closeness – holding nothing back and confessing to God daily what was on their hearts. He taught them to address God as Abba, Father, and ask for their daily bread. This reflects Jesus’ teaching in the Lord’s Prayer found in Matthew 6:5–13. He teaches us to pour out our hearts before God, recognising his holiness and authority, and seeking his daily provision and protection.

Pause and reflect

• How has God answered your prayers in the past?
• How did this compare to what you asked for?
• How do answered and unanswered prayers affect your relationship with God?

Sometimes, it can take time to discern how God has answered our prayers and met our needs, to recognise his ways are not our ways.

God never fails to draw close to those who seek his presence – who seek his will and knock repeatedly on his door. He promises that he will answer – that, if we seek him with all our hearts, we will find him.

It may be that we are praying for God’s answer, to know his will and see his presence in our lives in particular circumstances. We need now to trust that God will respond in his time or understand that perhaps he has already responded, according to his agenda.

Pause and reflect

• How much do you trust God to respond to your asking, knocking and seeking?

Jesus calls us to pray with humble, trusting hearts. In doing so we will find something much more valuable than we were originally searching for. Verse 11 of our study passage explains that God loves us so much that he does not want us to settle for less than his perfect will in our lives. As his Holy Spirit works in us, he calls us to love others the same way too.

We ask and receive, we seek and find, we knock and the door opens to know God, who is so much greater than anything we could be seeking in this world. So, the question is not: ‘Have you found what you are seeking?’ Rather, it is: ‘Are you seeking what God so wants you to find?’