“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” (Luke 11:9 NIV)

Most of us are good at the first baby step of prayer. It is easy to ask God to do something! Unfortunately, after the asking, we think that we are finished; we think that since we have already asked, we are expected to do nothing more.

The first step in any journey is critical. We do need to ask in order to receive. But asking is just the first step. It takes many more steps to continue a real journey of prayer.

Jesus offers his disciples a model for such a prayer journey. Ask—yes, of course! But then seek. And finally, knock on the doors that you find.

Seeking God’s will is much more work than simply asking; seeking takes time, attention, listening, looking, searching. That journey of prayer will lead us far past asking, deep into new paths of seeking God’s way for our lives. Along those paths we will discover doorways—places where choices and decisions must be made. Do we have the courage and commitment to knock on those doors? And when those new doorways are opened, will we step into a new way of life?

Simply asking demands little of us. Seeking means searching for God’s will in our lives, and such seeking will undoubtedly change us—redirecting us in God’s way. Knocking on the doors that God would open to us may well lead us down paths that we never imagined! We do not know what God has in store for us when we begin such a journey, but one thing is certain: such a journey of prayer will change our lives. After all, changing us has always been the real power of prayer.

~Mick Tune

Reflection

Are you seeking God’s will? Have you asked God to lead you down God’s paths and open doors?

Challenge

During your prayer time, write down in your journal what you are asking and what you are given, what you are seeking and what you are finding, what doors you knock upon and what is opened to you.

From A Generous Life: 28 Days of Devotion. Copyright © 2019 Abingdon Press. All rights reserved.