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Pray that this pandemic will end soon and the resumption of the postal service.
Subject 22 : The Gospel According to LUKE
[Chapter 11-2] Ask, Seek, and Knock (Luke 11:9-13)
(Luke 11:9-13)
“So I say to you, 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. If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
Today, I want to share the Word about praying to God. It says in today’s Scripture passage, “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Luke 11:9). That is true. The Lord told you and me to seek from God whatever we need physically and spiritually as we live in this world and that He will fulfill them.
“Ask, and It Will Be Given to You”
Whatever it is that we are seeking, God says that we shall ask God as long as it pleases God. The Lord promises through the Word that He will fulfill all that we seek if we just ask Him. I believe that we need to depend on God’s Word and ask God all things that we need if we really believe in the righteousness of God.
We all need many things. Our God the Father promised that He would fulfill whatever we ask if we who have become children of God just ask Him. That is right. God promised that whatever His children ask Him, He would give even better thing to them. “Ask, and it will be given to you” means that we shall seek God for whatever we need.
Then we need to contemplate what things we need, and then we need to ask that to God. God told us to “ask.” What are the things you need? You must pray first for the things that are needed in the Kingdom of God. God absolutely fulfills that.
Find the Lost Souls
God said, “Seek, and you will find.” It is saying that we must seek before the presence of God. Then we shall definitely find it. Then what can we find? We know that there really are many things we shall seek and find.
First, we must seek and save the lost souls; the souls who need to receive the remission of sins spiritually. We must also seek the things we need for our life because God said that He would definitely give the things we seek if we pray to God. However, there is something important we need to think about. It is whether we believe in God who answers our prayers. God promised us clearly through His Word, and we must believe in God. Our Lord fulfills all things according to our faith.
“Knock on the Door”
God said, “Knock, and it will be opened to you.” We must consider what door we should knock on. We must knock on God’s door for the things we really want before the presence of God. We must first constantly knock before the presence of the Lord for the salvation of the souls of our family members. We must pray, “Save the souls of my family. Lord, open the door of their hearts.” We must first knock on the door of salvation with faith before the presence of the Lord like that.
We must knock on the door of gospel preaching before the presence of God. We must knock on the door even for the salvation of many souls who are overseas praying, “Please open the door of gospel preaching to them,” even though they are invisible to our naked eyes. God said, “Knock, and it will be opened to you.” That is true. We must first pray, “God, please save those souls,” and knock on the door before the presence of God. Even when we are to preach the gospel to souls, we must first pray before the presence of God so that God would knock on their hearts with His hands.
In addition, we must knock on the doors of our future, too. We do not know anything about what will happen to our future.
Knocking on the door of the future before the presence of God is same as knocking on the door of faith. We must pray with faith and knock on the door before the presence of God saying, “God, please protect us. Bless us in body and spirit.” We do not know about our future, but we must knock on the door of God for Him to hold onto us, bless us, and make us follow the Lord until the end of the world. You and I have not yet faced whatever is going to happen to us in the future. But we are looking at our future with the eyes of faith and expect God to bless us and protect us perfectly and give us faith. Moreover, we want to meet the Lord after preaching the gospel of the Lord thoroughly until the end, and living together with the Church without deteriorating our faith until the day the Lord comes.
We must knock on the door before the presence of our Lord, for our future and for the souls. We must knock on the door. As the Lord said that the door would be opened to one who knocks on it, we must pray with faith, “I believe in You, God. I believe that God will fulfill what we have prayed for.” We must knock on the door with prayers. The door will surely open if we knock on it with prayers.
Do You Believe God’s Word?
Verses 10 through 13 from today’s Scripture passage say, “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
What does this Word, “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened,” mean? It means that we must believe that God surely fulfills the things we have prayed for. Can you and I believe that God is our Savior? If yes, we can believe that God will fulfill whatever we pray for. Therefore, we believe in that God who answers our prayers in the end. We must believe that God fulfills bountifully all things that we have prayed and asked Him for. That is the faith of believing in God’s Word. We must believe that Our Lord fulfills everything we have prayed for. God fulfills everything we have prayed for if we have the faith of believing that professes before the presence of God, “I believe in You, God. I believe that You will fulfill all these things.”
Remember this. God’s work does not manifest if we just pray and do not believe in the promise of the Lord’s Word. After we pray to God, we must definitely believe that the prayer will be answered. The faith of believing that God answers all things that we have prayed for moves the hand of God. Our faith of believing in God moves Him so that He personally fulfills all things that we ask from Him. This is the point of today’s Word of God.
It says that God gives the most wonderful thing to us when we seek and knock for something. Take a look at a person who has become a father in flesh. Who among the fathers in flesh would someone give his son a serpent when the son asks him for a fish, and give a scorpion when the son asks for an egg? It is saying, if you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, “How much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” That is true.
It says that God gives the most wonderful things to His children. Giving us the Holy Spirit is the most wonderful among the things God has given to us in our lives. God the Father surely gives all things to us, not just the Holy Spirit, if we seek to God the things we need spiritually and physically, if we knock on the door for the future with faith. God definitely answers all things we have prayed for if we pray with the faith of believing in God.
The Faith Based on God’s Word
God always gives the things we have asked, sought, and knocked on. Therefore, we must pray with the faith of believing in God’s Word. This Bible is the Word of Almighty God. We must pray based on the Word of God and believe in God based on the Word. That faith is the truly upright faith. God surely fulfills as we have prayed according to our faith, even though it may be just a small faith like the mustard seed. Therefore, we receive God’s help, no doubt, in all things we do if we tell God our wish with faith that professes, “I ask whatever I need before the presence of God. I seek what I need. I pray for our future to God before hand. I knock with faith before the presence of God.”
God answers with the most wonderful thing among the things that we pray for. We must believe that God answers with the most wonderful thing. We believe in God. Our God gives the most wonderful Holy Spirit to people. The Holy Spirit is the most precious gift of God that He gives to the people who have received the remission of sins. It means that among the things we pray and ask God for, He answers the prayer seeking the salvation of souls for a certainty. Remember this passage: “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” Like this Word, we are beings that must live with God’s help in His time by believing in God and praying.
Let us live with faith that “God fulfills everything we have prayed for. He gives us the most wonderful thing.” Let us live with faith of believing in God’s promise for the things we pray to God. Let us pray with faith and believe in God who will fulfill the things we pray for. Then, it is God who fulfills all our wishes. It is God who gives everything to us. The Scriptures said, “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” This Word is saying that the only thing we must do is to pray to God.
Do you have many concerns, worries, and anxieties and things you need now? Are there many things for you to seek after?
Pray to God with the faith of believing in God’s Word. God said that He would give us everything that we pray for. God gives the most wonderful thing among the things we ask and pray for with faith. It really happens. Expect God’s answers to your prayers if you have prayed to God with faith. God hears your prayers and gives you back the most wonderful things when you have this expectation. God promises that He really gives us the most wonderful things to each one of us.
Is there anyone among you who thinks that your prayer was not answered even though you had prayed with faith? God gives us the most wonderful things. However, there are people who do not really understand what the most wonderful thing God has given is because they have their own criteria. Therefore, we must throw away our own criteria. We must throw away our own criteria and realize what is the most necessary and wonderful thing for us now, and look at the things that God has given to us.
The Scriptures said, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.” What does this Word mean? It means that we should seek first the expansion of the Kingdom of God by preaching the gospel of the water and the Spirit and then seek all tings we need in this world. Then God shall answer our prayers. Therefore, we must understand that the most wonderful thing that He gives to us is the salvation of souls of the people we have been praying for. That is the most precious promise of God to His people of prayer.
We give deep thanks to God with faith in Him. I give thanks before the presence of God Almighty who gives us all these Words of promise.
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