Jesus told us something significant about prayer: “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened” (Luke 11:9-10). The Lord used language that intensifies as it goes forward. First, ask and keep asking, then seek and keep on seeking, and lastly, knock and keep on knocking. “Ask” means requesting assistance for a need. We realize our lack and ask for help. “Seek,” however, adds action. We are not just asking; we are now seeking help. By the time we get to “Knock” we are pounding on a closed door.
We are to “Keep on asking, and it will be given to you; keep on
seeking, and you will find; keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to
you.” We are to not give up but to remain persistent. We need encouragement
when it comes to prayer and Jesus gives it to us in the Sermon on the Mount.
Persistence is an attitude, and when it comes to persistence in
prayer, Jesus applauds it. Jesus encourages us to have confidence and believe
it will happen. Then look for it because you know it’s coming. If you don’t
find it, just keep on knocking until the door opens. This faith and confidence
that God will honor your persistence.
When it comes to knocking on doors with persistence I have
experience in this area. Many years ago, when working with my father, I went up
to the mountains of California to get a load of decomposed granite. I had never
been to the place before, so I followed the map. First, I was to go to the
owner’s house and knock on the door, and then they would take me to the pit and
load me. I found the house and went to the door, but before I made it to the
door, out of nowhere came a very vicious German Shepherd dog that attacked me.
Fortunately, it was winter and I had on a coat and gloves. Each time he lunged
at me I was able to push him back. I made it to the door, and I knocked, and it
was no minor knock. It was more like pounding. In between my knocking, the dog
kept coming, and I kept knocking and knocking. Finally, a lady came to the door
in her housecoat, and I stepped in. She stepped out, and I closed the door
behind me and caught my breath.
This is the kind of persistence Jesus is talking about—the kind
of knocking that you do to get someone to come to the door. Remember, this is
Jesus teaching his disciples how to pray. This is how he prayed, and this is
how he wants us to pray.
