Matthew 7:7 

New International Version (NIV)

 Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you

For Meditation

1. Isn’t it a shame that God’s children do not maximize the use of prayer? Why then do we complain about the things prayer could have taken care of?
2. Have you observed a young couple in love? Isn’t it beautiful to behold their sunset walk on the beach, holding hands, going out to eat, talking for hours on the phone?
3. Do you need a rocket scientist to reveal the intimate desire of the young man to you?
4. But, why is he tongue-tied? How can the woman become his wife, if he never proposes?
5. Can you understand why the young lady is being led to the altar, but into the arms of another man?
6. Now, why is he disappointed? Why is he complaining? “After all we’ve shared and been through, Dinah, is that how you reward me? Didn’t I sacrifice everything to please you?”
7. Can the lady’s response surprise you? “But Steve, all those years, I waited for you to ask. I dreamt and visualized our moment at the altar. I was there for your asking, but you never did. I thought maybe you wanted my friendship, but not a commitment in marriage.”
8. Isn’t the moral of this story the same as that of the older brother in the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-31)?
9. Yes, he was obedient and worked hard for the father, but did he ever ask the father for what he yearned for (29)?
10. Do you see how his negligence drained the joy out of his service and turned it into a drudgery? “All this time I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders.” Really?
11. Is that how you feel about your relationship with, and service to God?
12. Think about the father’s response to his older son (Lk. 15:31). Was he not simply saying to son, “All you had to do was ask, son.”
13. Hasn’t God told us to do the same in prayer (Matt. 7:7)? Has He not opened His throne of grace to us (Heb. 4:16)?
14. So, why don’t you ask? Why do you complain about the things you could have prevented by praying?

I pray you will apprehend your riches in Christ and be bold in prayer (Eph. 1:3; Rm. 8:17). For, God “knows what you need before you ask” (Matt. 6:8), and He delights in giving “good gifts to those who ask Him” (Matt. 7:11).

Shalom