Don't Stop Knocking

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7)

Have you ever stopped to visit someone, knocked on their door, and no one answers? It’s obvious that someone is home because there are cars in the driveway, you can hear music coming from the stereo, and the dog is barking. It can be very frustrating when we have something to say and no one will open the door and listen! Or maybe we are knocking on the wrong door; ever done that? We keep knocking on that door and we finally just give up and walk away! Often this is the way we pray; we ask for something and when we don’t get an answer immediately, or we don’t like the answer that is sent to us we give up and walk away. We really don’t know what to do because we have prayed, and we are confused and discouraged because we haven’t seen or heard an answer to our request, so we simply quit asking and decide we will figure things out for ourselves.

“For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” (Matthew 7:8)

All of us have been in a situation that required perseverance, and I believe that God often delays answers to our prayers to cultivate persistence in us.  We have to approach every closed door that we come to until the right door opens; we need to keep knocking until we get an answer. The very fact that we continue to ask, seek, and knock demonstrates that we are truly dependent on God; true prayer means business, and it keeps on asking and asking with persistence and faith. God is waiting for the persistent prayers of His people, and for those who continue to knock, the door will be opened.      

“Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.” (Colossians 4:2)

Sometimes it is hard to keep going in prayer. We struggle with doubts, and things start crowding into our lives and distract us from faithful prayer. Sometimes we cry out to silence and feel like no one is there, but He is there! Faith shouldn’t die if the answers come slowly; the delay may be God’s way of working His will in our lives. He always answers our prayers in one of three ways…

                    …Yes…

                             …Not yet…

                                       …I have something better for you…

…maybe not in ways we had hoped, but in ways that He knows are best. He doesn’t always give us what we ask for right away; our patience has to be stretched in order to grow and become stronger, and He will make us wait in order for us to grow. His ways may not look like our ways, but they are always better than our ways.

“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” (Mark 11:24)

Whether we have prayed once, twice, or countless times, and even if we find ourselves discouraged, we need an attitude of persistence, bound by obedience, to pray again and again. He longs to reach out His hands to our needs as long as we keep asking… keep seeking…and keep knocking. If we keep pursuing, we will see God’s promise in clear view, so we have to keep on knocking until the promised door is open, because only God opens doors that no one can shut!

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