Who’s there?
The Bible tells us that God knocks on the doorway of our hearts, patiently waiting for an invitation to come in and share His Life (what in Greek is referred to as the Zoe kind of Life or rather a Spirit filled Life) with us.
It doesn’t seem to make much difference what people are doing, or how busy they may be, if the phone rings, or someone knocks on the door, we invariably drop everything and answer it. Our key verse says, “Knock, and the door will be opened”. This principle is true, and works, for most any situation.
I recall, on more than one occasion, where I have gone to a meeting, or a doctor’s office, and was unaware, at the time, that this was a walk-in office, with a waiting area and a desk about 20 or so feet away, because the door was closed and I was unable to see inside. I had assumed it was a small, one man, office and supposed it to be rude to just walk in, so I knocked. Someone did, eventually, come and open the door and explained that I did not need to knock, I could just walk in, which was obvious to me the moment I stepped inside the office. This was a bit embarrassing but the point is that, when you knock, the door will be opened to you.
Our Key verse comes from the book of Luke in the New Testament of the Bible, Chapter 11 and from verses 9-10. I wish to include all the verses from verse 5 through 13 because Jesus carries a continuous thought here and, throughout the years, I have learned that, when someone quotes a passage of scripture to me, I should always look at the verses before, as well as after, the verse being quoted, in order to get the full impact of what was meant, at the time, and not just this persons point or perspective.
Therefore, we encourage you to do likewise (and, incidentally, any time you see the word THEREFORE in the Bible, follow this same principle because, you need to know what it’s there for). In Luke 11 verses 5-8, Jesus talks about a man going to his friends house, in the middle of the night, to borrow a loaf of bread, to feed a hungry guest who has travelled far and arrived unexpectedly, finding him unprepared to feed him; the friend and his family are asleep and refuse to come to the door but, because of the man’s persistence, the friend finally opens the door and gives him what he wants.
This passage illustrates the importance of being persistent. Many times, people will say no but, if you want something bad enough and you know a certain someone can give this to you, you must persist. My dad told me that, one particular year, when my siblings and I were young, he found himself out of work and with a large family to feed, he needed a job desperately. He was a good strong worker and dependable, but jobs were scarce. He went to a local lumber mill, which was in our neighborhood, to apply for a job. They told him there were no jobs, but he continued to show up every morning, at the same time as all the regular workers did, and they kept sending him away. Eventually, after about a week of this, the boss said to him, “You are more reliable than some of my regulars, so I will put you to work in their place”.
It pays to be persistent but, above that, it is also very important to MAINTAIN INTEGRITY; meaning, say what you mean and mean what you say and, if you make a promise, keep it; more on that in another post.
Verses 9 & 10 say, “Ask, and it shall be given unto you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and the door shall be opened unto you; for all who ask, receive, and all who seek, find, and to all who knock, the door shall be opened unto them.
ASK God to come into your life; it’s easy; talk to Him with an audible voice, it doesn’t need to be loud but, you should be able to hear it in your own ear because, the Bible tells us that Faith comes by hearing, so when you hear yourself talking to God, it will build your Faith. Speak to Him as you would to anyone, in normal language and, sincerely, tell Him, in your own words, that you admit you are a sinner, as explained in the book of Romans, in the New Testament, and ASK Him to forgive you of ALL your sin, and then, ASK Jesus to come into your Heart. The Bible promises that, when you do that, He will come in and be your Savior and write your name down in “The Lambs Book Of Life”, which guarantees you a place in Heaven; not only when you die, but here and now, you will have a direct link to God through His Holy Spirit who will take up residence in your heart from that moment on and He will speak to God on your behalf, but you still have to make your requests made known verbally.
After doing that, it is imperative that you SEEK out the TRUTH, in the Bible, so you can familiarize yourself with the way God thinks (and do yourself a favor and get a Bible written in modern English; no one talks like Shakespeare anymore; as an example, try the NKJV[New King James Version] or the GOOD NEWS).
The last 3 verses, from Luke 11, state that, if any of you have a child, that asks for food, you would not give them a poisonous snake instead and, if humans, who are evil by nature, compared to God, can do good things for their children, how much more willing is God to give His Holy Spirit to anyone who ASKS.
We encourage you to take what was said here seriously because we believe the Holy Spirit of God interjected our lesson to include this mini-lesson on A.S.K. because He wants to be a part of your life and wants to share His Life with you and help you accomplish EVERYTHING your heart desires, REALLY.
PLEASE, understand, we are not trying to make you religious or have you join a church or necessarily even go to church; it’s ALL about you, having a relationship with your Creator; and, as we said before, your way isn’t working, His Way Always does.
In the Old Testament of the Bible, in the Book of Jeremiah, God tells us in chapter 29 and verse 11, “I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”. The Bible also tells us that God is not a liar, what He says, He will do and we know it to be true.
A.S.K. – ASK. SEEK. KNOCK.
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