March 5, 2002

ASK, AND YOU WILL RECEIVE, Part II

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you... Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full" (Matthew 7:7; John 16:24, NKJV).

" 'Knock.' We come to God by special invitation, and He waits to welcome us to His audience chamber. The first disciples who followed Jesus were not satisfied with a hurried conversation with Him by the way; they said, 'Rabbi,... where are you staying... They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day' (John 1:38, 39). So we may be admitted into closest intimacy and communion with God. 'He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty' (Psalm 91:1). Let those who desire the blessing of God knock and wait at the door of mercy with firm assurance, saying, For You, O Lord, have said, 'Everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened' (Matthew 7:8).

"Jesus looked upon those who were assembled to hear His words, and earnestly desired that the great multitude might appreciate the mercy and lovingkindness of God. As an illustration of their need, and of God's willingness to give, He presents before them a hungry child asking his earthly parent for bread. 'What man is there among you' He said, 'who if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?' (Matthew 7:9). He appeals to the tender, natural affection of a parent for his child and then says, 'If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!' (Matthew 7:11). No man with a father's heart would turn from his son who is hungry and is asking for bread. Would they think him capable of trifling with his child, of tantalizing him by raising his expectations only to disappoint him? Would he promise to give him good and nourishing food, and then give him a stone? And should anyone dishonor God by imagining that He would not respond to the appeals of His children?

"If you, then, being human and 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!' (Luke 11:13). The Holy Spirit, the representative of Himself, is the greatest of all gifts. All 'good things' are comprised in this. The Creator Himself can give us nothing greater, nothing better. When we beseech the Lord to pity us in our distress, and to guide us by His Holy Spirit, He will never turn away our prayer. It is possible even for a parent to turn away from his hungry child, but God can never reject the cry of the needy and longing heart."--Thoughts From The Mount Of Blessing, pp., 131, 132.