Ask, Seek, Find

Over the past few years, God has given me a theme. Ask. Seek. Knock.  This morning  in my quiet time with Him, He once again reminded me that I must keep my priorities right. 

In Matthew 7:7,8, we read,

7. Ask, and it shall be given unto you; seek, and ye shall find; knock; and it shall be opened unto you; 

8. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

One of the things that He pointed out in my prayer journal was there is a prerequisite to asking. You cannot just ask something from someone you do not know.

The first requirement to asking is a relationship with Him. The only way to be in a position to know Him is to spend time getting to know Him. That means faithfully meeting Him every day, all day long. 

There has to be a connection to Him if we are to receive the answers to our prayers, blessings and His smile of approval. So many people want His blessings with just lip service. 

That is not the way it works. There has to be a connection so the fruits of the spirit can grow and flourish. You won't experience true happiness and joy if you are not connected. 

Unless you seek God's Face, you will not be equipped to overcome. Our power source has to be renewed daily. If you let a cell phone our other gadget unplugged for any length of time, it will no longer function because the power source has not been recharged. Charge your spiritual batteries by seeking after Him daily. 

That is the only way to overcome temptation and the enemy of our souls. Stay charged up daily by seeking His Face.

Last of all Knock, and keep on knocking and the door will be opened unto you. He promises to hear our prayers and He will answer one way or another in His time.  

Let me illustrate this point. Several months ago we had a serious financial need. As a family we felt that God was asking us to pray for a specific amount that needed raised by a deadline. That did not mean that we just sat around doing nothing.  We prayed for weeks. Finally, He told us that He had heard our prayers and that He would answer. The deadline came and we had only part of the money raised. (We told no one of the need except Him.) On the deadline date, we received a phone call and the party felt impressed to give us exactly for what we needed to fulfill that obligation. We kept at the job of asking, seeking and knocking and the door opened just like He said it would.

That really encouraged our faith, so we began to pray for a much larger sum that was needed. We prayed every day month after month, but this time He did not send a check in the mail. He is providing employment for all of the family.  Will we be able to meet the deadline for the large sum?  What do you think?  We are asking, seeking and knocking. We are already thanking Him for the answer because we know that He cares for His own and the conditions are met.

So, if you have a problem bigger than you are, ASK...SEEK...KNOCK....The door will be opened. He promised and He never breaks His Word.

Thanks for reading.

Donna

Oh, Well!

Across the fields and up the hill from us they are drilling a gas and oil well. We watched out our window... and at times drove up to the area as they prepared the property with bulldozers and other heavy equipment. They moved a lot of earth, leveled it out and got the area ready for drilling. It has been so fascinating to watch the progress. You would think with all of this work that we would see the results in royalties. That is not happening yet. There is much work to do yet to get the well to produce. 

We watched them drill day after day. Then, one day the rig was taken down and all looked deserted. A month or so later another rig was set up for a day or two, then disappeared. All seemed deserted once again until just the other day...

In the meantime, when we drove by, we could see that huge waterlines were being laid. Massive gas lines are being laid to maintain the volume of flow from the well. We watch all of this without seeing anything happening. We never knew if they had struck oil or gas or not. 

Just a few days ago, we knew for sure that the well was successfully drilled. We saw a tiny flame at first shooting in the air. Then gradually the flame grew larger and larger as the well was cleaned out of its impurities. We could see the bright orange flames shooting high up into the sky both day and night. We could hear the roar of the fire over a mile away! Its sound was comforting in that controlled setting.

The groundwork is being done to tie that well into others at a cryo-preserve plant where the gases will be separated and sent through pipelines to other parts of the country. Their output figures are staggering...in the millions of cubic feet. The impact of that well has far reaching potential.

There are some spiritual applications in this story.

1.   The ground had to be prepared in order for this to happen. Prayer and obedience are 

       essential  ingredients for our hearts to be aflame with God's love.

2.    We have to go deep in order to find God. We are told to seek Him and keep on

        seeking Him, knock and keep on knocking and the door will be opened unto us.We will       

        never have a well if we do not dig deep and allow God to remove the impurities.

3.   We need to stay connected to the source once the well is drilled. Our influence with

       others has to come from the outflow of our well. We cannot be effective without staying 

       connected through prayer, reading of God's Word and obedience, even in the little things.

4.   The well has pipelines to a central plant (the church) before it is ready for service. If you 

      cut  yourself  from the refining plant, your products will not be pure. We all need each other 

      for  encouragement... for edification... for fellowship. Those who cut themselves off from 

      other believers tend to stagnate and become a detriment to the body of Christ.

5.   The flame of God's love within our hearts draws others. God's love has a warm 

       friendly glow which attracts others. It makes people curious as they watch your life. They 

       wonder, "What  is it that is so attractive about that person?" Even as the bright glow of the 

       night sky drew our attention, your bright and attractive light will draw others to Christ as well. 

You are an influence to people that you have no idea that you are influencing through your output. I pray that my life and yours will put millions of cubic feet of God's love into our neighborhoods and around the world! 

Thanks for reading.
Donna McHugh