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"Please, please, please say yes, (
Mom)
God" by Melanie Pipkin
Earlier in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus warned his followers against hypocritical prayer, and he provided a model prayer to help us on our prayer journey. That was the beginner lesson. Now he takes us a step further on our journey by teaching us about praying in faith. Three little words that seem simple at one level, but are anything but simple when we dive a little deeper. Ask, seek, and knock.
Ask seems easy enough, especially when it comes with the promise "you will receive what you ask for." This almost sounds like a prayer where we demand to get what we want, and some of our prayers probably are of this kind. Is this really the lesson that Jesus is teaching us? I doubt it. The point is that we ask for the things we desire from the One who can best provide, rather than trying to obtain them by ourselves.
I remember when my kids would ask me for the same thing repeatedly in hope that my answer would change. Admittedly, they did wear me down  occasionally, but the majority of the time, my original answer stuck. As they matured, they did not continue with this practice of begging me to change my mind every time they received an answer they did not like. Why is this? Because they had learned by then that my answers were always in their best interest (and not likely to change) and they had a pretty good idea of what I was likely to agree to and which ones were not likely to be granted.
In the same way, we learn the desires of God's heart by asking, and asking, and asking, again. We gradually learn what to ask for, how to ask, and how to anticipate and receive answers.
Ask indicates a petition, but seek implies a search for something that requires devoting some effort to reach our objective. Earlier in the Sermon on the Mount (6:33), Jesus instructs us to "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness..." Seeking can be frustrating, but we must not give up. Just like continuously asking leads to more mature prayer, the seeking process also pushes us to become single-minded in our quest to know God. If we seek to know the Lord, seek after his presence, seek after his will, we will find it. The searching can be frustrating, but just imagine the joyous feeling when we find that which we desire (far better than finding the lost keys).
The third prayer instruction is to knock. Well, we don't knock on open doors so this would imply that we are called to always grow and look for new opportunities. We have all faced some closed doors in our lives, some we may have even sought desperately to open (or reopen). Sometimes God is patiently waiting for us to try other doors, prayerfully knocking until He opens the opportunity that he has in mind for us.
Again, this knocking is a maturing process. Ask, seek, and knock all imply a process of learning, expanding, and stretching ourselves in ways that God will provide for us when we continuously pray for his help and guidance.
 Today's scripture lesson closes with our practical golden rule that I was taught as a child, even if I didn't know it was from the Bible. I remember my grandmother saying, "Treat others the way you want to be treated." She would say this whenever the grandkids were having a little squabble or talking unkindly about someone else. She didn't just say this to make us behave, but she set this example in all she did. I never heard her gossip or make unflattering statements about anyone else. How I wish I could claim to live up to her standard.
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seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.
