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

Matthew 7:7

For Meditation

As I considered this promise from our Lord Jesus, my mind flashed back to the request of Bathsheba to King Solomon on behalf of Adonijah (1 Kings 2:13-26). When Bathsheba came to the young king, Solomon acknowledged their relationship. He showed her respect as his mother and honored her with a seat of authority and the right to close attention to the request she would make (19). Solomon promised not to deny her request, but he did (20-22). My interrogation of this story is: Did Solomon break his promise to his mother? I leave you to think about it as we look at what Jesus has promised us in Matthew 7:7-8 as part of His Sermon on the Mount. It is one of the most beautiful promises of God to His beloved children.

“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.” 

That sounds like a blank check to me. But if you contemplate the promise, you realize Jesus predicated it on all that He is and His unmitigated love for us. That qualifies the promise and challenges the requestor to a wholesome consideration before we say a word. How well do I know Him to know His will and tendencies, what will be a delight to Him and what will offend Him? 

Considered in context, it also becomes clear that our welfare is His utmost consideration. He is a good Master, and He will never give us anything that will not be useful or will not meet our needs (9). Neither will He grant us what will harm us (10). Then, He nails it.

“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets” (12).

God will give us only what is pleasing to Him. That sums up the extent of His love for us. What is good for Him is what is right for us! He does not break his promise if He refuses us anything that would harm us.

Bathsheba did not consider the motive of Adonijah and the implications of his request. It was a veiled claim to the throne, and communication of it to the Israelites, should Solomon had obliged. And that would not have fared well for Bathsheba herself. 

So, let us rejoice in the Lord’s invitation to ask and His promise to give us what we ask, seek, and knock on His door for. But let us reflect on what will bring glory to Him before we request. It will eventually serve us better than our selfish delights.