“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; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened."
Read all of Matthew 7
These semi-familiar words were spoken by the Lord Jesus in what is called the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). Jesus doesn't give us these instructions so that by speaking some magic formula, we can gain access to all the things we might want. Rather, He is rather teaching us that the God of all grace hears and answers prayers.
It may be an overstatement, but we have never received anything from God without asking. In God's providence and in the mystery of His gracious will, prayer has been appointed as the means by which we receive what we need from God. Just think about that. I think this is why the authors of the Heidelberg Catechism make the statement that prayer is the chief part of the thankfulness God requires of us.
As we have faith in God through Christ, we should be earnest in prayer. Jesus follows up these verses with a logical statement... that if we know how to give our children what they need, how much more doesn't God know what we need?
9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!"
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