Ask -- Seek – Knock

Ask -- Seek – Knock

ASK:

The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. – Psalm 12: 6

God’s Words are pure, as pure as silver tried in a furnace seven times. Since Jesus Christ always did the Father’s Will, then the words that he spoke were the words that God told Jesus Christ to speak. Out of his own freedom of will, Christ spoke the following words illustrating one of the main foundational truths of the leadership principles of Jesus Christ.

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. -- Matthew 7: 7, 8

You must realize, that as a renewed mind believer, you should be able to understand the more simpler things in life. If you do not renew your mind to the Word of God, you will never be able to understand and enjoy simplicity. You cannot make anything too simple. The world will complicate even the smallest matters to make your life more difficult. Try to understand the stereo or radio system in your brand new car. This is just one example that exists in almost every facet of your life today in the world in which we live. Remember, there is a new heaven and earth in the horizon! Let us go to the Word of God to make these simple points more concise and easier to understand. No one can explain things more clearly than God Almighty. We are also setting a foundation for this teaching.

But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled [seduced] Eve through his subtilty, so your minds [goals] should be corrupted from the simplicity [intentions] that is in Christ. -- II Corinthians 11: 3

In Matthew 7: 7, 8 above, we are presented with such simple and foundational principles that many times we overlook them. That’s the trick. This happens to all of us at times since none of us are perfect. Remember, we are no better than each other – but we each have a different purpose in the Body of Christ.

How often do we forget to ask? And how often do we fail to seek, after we have asked God? And then when we seek and find what we prayed for, do we really go after our goals? Do we knock at the door? This Scripture contains great keys to the more than abundant life that is available to us today. I could not help but to use this Scripture that is on the first page of our newly revised website. We will now get into more details concerning these three principles. By the way, the number three (3), in the Bible, refers to completeness.

The first thing that Jesus Christ exhorts us to do is to ASK God for our needs. Ask for things, according to what the Word says is available, and you shall absolutely receive. How do we do this? It is very simple and it is a MAJOR key to the more than abundant life which is the fact that we must pray to God every single day of our lives. It is while we are doing this that we ask God for the things that we need. How simple can God make it? How many of us do this? Remember, these are the leadership principles that Jesus Christ taught to the multitudes that followed him and his disciples – those who by free will chose to believe. Remember that principle I taught you? If a principle from the Old Testament has not changed in the New Testament, then it still applies today in our day and time. You must study the teaching The Seven Administrations if you are to understand that just because man added all Scripture headings in the Bible, THEY ARE NOT THE WORD OF GOD. The New Testament began with the Day of Pentecost. The gospels are part of the Christ Administration and they are still part of the Old Testament. This shocks some people but we teach what the Word of God teaches – not what some man may say. Ask (i.e. pray) and you shall receive. What an important, great, mighty, and simple promise! Now let’s go to some Scriptures where God exhorts us to ‘ask’.

Be careful [anxious or distracted] for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. – Philippians 4: 6

God does not want us to be anxious or distracted for or by anything. Instead He wants us to go to Him in prayer and simply ASK Him for what you need. Remember that the word is ‘need’ and not ‘greed’. Also, a key in prayer is to be specific. If you really need a car, you can even pray for the color of the car. God loves us that much. Ask, and of course, believe, and you will receive.

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us. – Ephesians 3: 20

One time I was praying about getting a certain motorcycle. This motorcycle was something that I wanted for very long time. It was a Triumph 650 Bonneville and it was a motorcycle that was manufactured in England. I searched and searched for this motorcycle after I had asked God in prayer to help me find one. One night when I was out, I saw an old friend with whom I used to ride motorcycles when we were younger. As we spoke for a while, I said to him, “Jerry, do you know anyone who is selling a Triumph motorcycle?” He took a step back and looked at me and he said, “Ralph, are you kidding me?!” I said “No, I'm serious.” He looked me straight in the eye and he said, “I'm selling a Triumph motorcycle”. Then he went on to tell me the particulars of the bike. It was not a 650 Triumph, it was a 750 Triumph that was first introduced in 1973. You see, I did not even know that they made a 750 Triumph Bonneville. So this was obviously exceeding abundantly above all I can ask or even think. So there was the Word of God being manifested right before my very eyes. So first I asked God, then I sought out the machine, and then I had to do something else -- I had to knock. I made arrangements with my friend to come up to his garage and take a look at the motorcycle. I fell in love with it, took it for a ride and by the next day, I was the new owner.

This is just one example of where I applied the principle: ask – seek - knock and I received a detailed answer to my prayer. Purchasing the motorcycle from my old friend was a pleasant experience because we had some trust built between us from many years ago. Jerry was hesitant to let the bike go, but he went out and he bought a split window Corvette. I never forgot his story because he told me that he paid an arm and a leg for it. When I asked him how much it cost, he just pointed to one arm and to one leg. I had to laugh. I enjoyed that motorcycle for many years to come because I believed it was God's will that I owned it. I customized the motorcycle and after about eight years I sold it to someone who drove 12 hours one way to look at the motorcycle. I knew it was someone who was going to take care of it because he was a Triumph buff. When God does something, He does it right – everyone gets blessed.

Although I wanted to stress the first principle in this teaching which is 'ask', I felt that this was a very good example of showing you how ask works together with seek and knock. But you must remember that the very first thing that you need to do to receive anything from God Almighty is to ASK. Since the principles being discussed here are so simple, I feel it would be redundant and unprofitable to use another example concerning the principle 'Ask'. So let's move on to the second part of our teaching which presents a most interesting aspect of these three principles. Remember, all three principles are equally important and work together in harmony. Now to the principle of SEEK.

SEEK:

I sometimes think that Young’s Concordance stated this definition in a near perfect way so that I can teach this second principle.

Seek -- "To seek, desire, require, question" -- Young's Analytical Concordance To The Bible, p. 855.

This is an excellent definition which covers every important facet of the word ‘seek’. The first definition is desire. The second self-explanatory definition is require. And the third part of the definition tells quite a story because of the implications of the word question. These are three very good reasons that anyone will seek anything out. They are all very interesting and we will look at each intricate part using a true real life example. But first, we must go to God's Word to see the first thing that we must seek if we want to be Christians and manifest the more than abundant life promised by Jesus Christ in the gospel of John 10:10b. The primary and greatest leadership principle that Jesus Christ taught was the following:

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. – Matthew 6: 33

Obviously, God wants you to seek Him out first. This is about the greatest leadership principle Jesus Christ taught because without God first, we have nothing. Without God first, everything will be subtracted from you instead of added to you.

Now I would like to tell you a true story concerning my journey to seek out God. This quest took me about four years to accomplish. First, I ASKED God with all my heart to help me to find what I was looking for, but what I was really looking for was God Himself. So what did I do first? I went to God, and I used the principle ASK. I asked God for His help. I could see in my heart that there was nothing in this world for me and that there was simply nothing in this world at all.

To make a long story very short, I developed very little interest in Jehovah's Witnesses. I had a person at work that tried to involve me seriously in what he called the science of Dianetics. This same person also tried to involve me in what he called white and/or black witchcraft. With those books and my bedroom, I remember I could not fall asleep. I returned everything to him and went on with my quest. I met a person once who was involved seriously in Scientology, which I believe is the same thing as Dianetics. I had one of my guitar students try to involve me in transcendental meditation. My so-called friend raved to me about Yoga. As you may have guessed by now, all of this was a bunch of bull. It was nonsense -- confusion -- man's ideas, philosophies and ideologies. There wasn't one person or subject that I got involved with that taught the actual rightly divided Word of God. This is what really bothered me. There were times when I lived in my one room for about eight years that I would go downstairs and borrow my landlady's Bible when she was gone for the weekend. I was somehow fascinated by the book of Proverbs, and this gave me some peace. In fact, it was the only thing in the world that gave me peace. This intrigued me to no end. Now, and from this point on, I sought out only the Word of God and I simply would not give up.

One day, with the Yoga friend, we decided to go to a Mall that was far away, simply to play a pinball machine. At that Mall, at a music store, was a banjo player. He was one of the best musicians I had ever seen or heard in my life. His music drew me into the store and before I knew it, he was talking to me about God. He invited me to a meeting and I decided to go because everything that he said to me was making sense and nothing anybody else was saying to me was making any sense at all.

Strangely enough, when I went to the meeting, he was expecting to see my friend. He thought my friend was receiving what he was saying, but it was me who was really listening in my heart. I was desperate at this point and what was taught at that first meeting just blew my mind. I had tears running down my face because I was finally in a positive atmosphere with people who manifested the true love of God. It was from that point on that I began my study of God's Word. Here I am 46 years later and I am still working and studying and teaching God's Word.

So what did I do after I ASKED God? I went out and I began to SEEK and what does the Word of God say? God says seek and ye shall find. I began a new life after that branch meeting and I never looked back because I knew that there was nothing in the world because I searched and searched for 24 years of my life and I was convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that the world was an evil place and it still is. Let's take a look at II Corinthians 4: 4 before we go any farther.

In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. -- II Corinthians 4: 4

So who is the god of this world? At the present time, the devil is the god of this world. He runs the show. But Jesus Christ came to rescue us. Can you imagine that we live in the midst of Satan's kingdom and yet we are separated from this world? That's why, for the greatest part of my life, I could find nothing in this world that was worth anything. And if you feel this way in your heart, you are right and you are not alone. I am with you and I am trying to help you. Now remember, this is a temporary situation. When Jesus Christ returns, he's coming back as King of Kings and Lord of Lords and no one, but no one is going to put him on a cross! He's going to knock some heads, believe me. What a day that's going to be and it's coming my friends, so just hang in there with me and with all the Christians that are waiting for the second return of Jesus Christ.

Now, I want you to see and take a look back at what I did after I sought out God and the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe we will stay with this one example because it encompasses all the principles needed to be learned regarding our subject. The next thing I did simply made logical sense. It's like a great craftsman who has a very beautiful intricate set of tools. But what does he do with all those tools? Does he use them and does he use them correctly or does he just sit on top of the toolbox and do nothing?! You see, so often, as a result of what Jesus Christ accomplished for us, we sit back and we pray and maybe we seek a little bit, but overall we do nothing. We have to do something and that’s our next point of discussion, but first let’s go back and review our definition of SEEK which really encompasses all three (3) facets of this teaching.

Now remember when we seek, we 1) Desire. Number two (2) is interesting – we Require. This is special to me since I believe I required the Word if I were to go on living. Without the Word, I had lost much of my will to go on. And Number three (3) is to Question and you see I questioned everything about the world. With the desire I had, with the requirements that had to be fulfilled, I questioned everything about the world and concluded it to be a counterfeit, knowing in my heart that something was wrong. Desire, require and question is what inspired me to ask, especially SEEK and knock to find the true God and Father of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and His Word.

KNOCK:

Do you know what I did after I left that first branch meeting? Well, I kept knocking at that door and to this day, I am still doing that and God has kept that door open. There was a Bible class offered that was 36 hours long and it was all about the foundational principles of the more than abundant life that Jesus Christ came and promised that we can have. It offered keys to the more than abundant life. I took that class and I studied everything I could about those principles. The greatest part of what I was learning was that everything was based on what the Bible taught. Man's opinion and all types of philosophy and ideologies was just not there -- it was all God's Word. That's what made everything so exciting and genuine. I continued to go to fellowships and I continued to take even more advanced classes. I studied much on my own and I pushed the world aside and all my old ways and I began a new and exciting life where all things had become new.

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature [creation]: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. -- II Corinthians 5: 17

And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is [was] created in righteousness and true holiness. -- Ephesians 4: 23, 24

Let’s review our main verse here before we head towards our conclusion. We will now put emphasis on the second part of the verse.

Notice that when I asked God for help, I received it. It may have taken some time, but the answer came. Obviously, I had to seek it out – I had to look for it, but I found it. Once I found it, I had to knock on the door, take action, and God opened the door.

Why did all of this absolutely come to pass? Because God is not a man that He can lie.

In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began; -- Titus 1: 2

God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? – Numbers 23: 19

When God makes a promise, He has to fulfill it IF we believe. God cannot break His own Word. All that God asks is that we BELIEVE. When you get a chance, you should refer to our series of teachings on the Law of Believing. It’s importance is almost beyond our understanding.

Even so faith [pistis – believing], if it hath not works [action], is dead [useless], being alone. – James 2: 17

This verse is saying that you can ask and receive, you can seek and find, BUT if you do not knock – do something about it - your efforts are useless and worthless. You must take action before anything will take place. Once again, as this website expands, we have been able to cover subjects like this in detail for your benefit. See God Moves When You Move. Remember you can sit on that box of tools or you can open it up and get to work. It’s exciting searching for the treasures in the Word of God. This is up to you and you alone. How many times have I stressed the fact that the true God never oversteps man’s free will? You must act willingly and cheerfully.

I must admit that this has been almost the simplest teaching I have ever written, but yet one of the most important. It is the first of a series of teachings that will demonstrate some of the leadership principles of Jesus Christ.

Let’s wrap up a few details before we conclude our teaching. I cannot help but mention that there are almost 1000 promises in the Word of God. You may be asking God for something that is not available according to His Word and that means you can pray until you are blue in the face and not receive an answer. What you pray for must be available in the Word of God. Now how are you going to know what’s available from God’s Word? Simple. You are going to STUDY and seek out those promises. You may have a beautiful Bible (God’s tool box) and it just sits on the shelf collecting dust. You must open it and work it. Believe me, it’s a lot of fun or why would I be searching the Bible for 46 years?!!

For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. – Romans 8: 6

It’s your choice.

Now in conclusion, to encompass all the facets of ASK, SEEK, KNOCK, remember that God asks that you to do one thing. First, let me show you the best definition I have ever seen concerning the Love of God and how it ties in dynamically with His Word.

For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. – I John 5: 3

God’s Word is not oppressive – the opposite is true. The Word of God brings you life in all of its categories and it brings you peace that passes your understanding.

Finally, to be able to ASK, SEEK, AND KNOCK effectively, God requires that you do one thing that will guarantee you the more than abundant life.

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. – II Timothy 2: 15

This is the only place in the Bible where the words ‘rightly dividing’ appear together -- meaning no guesswork. The Bible interprets itself. While you study, you will inherently be asking, seeking, and knocking. And that is one of the most important leadership principles that Jesus Christ taught and practiced during his ministry.

What shall we say then to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? – Romans 8: 31

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~