Ask and You Shall Receive, Luke 11:5-12

And He said to them, "Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him'; and he will answer from within and say, 'Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you'? I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs.
So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?"

     God does not withhold one good thing from us. This parable illustrates that if we are persistent, that God will give us that for which we ask. Verse 9, in the tense it is originally written in, implies that we ought to keep asking, keep knocking, and keep seeking. Personally I have not studied the original language on this matter, but regardless, the parable given before verse 9 also implies that Jesus is wanting us to keep asking, keep knocking, and keep on seeking.
     This is not to say that God needs us to nag Him in order to give us something. He wants to bless us, and He wants to give us good gifts. Psalm 84 tells us, "no good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly". God is not trying to be stingy with us, but then because of all the pressure we put on Him He finally breaks down and gives us what we want. There are a couple things that happen when we persistently pray for something. Firstly, we may realize that the thing for which we are praying is not really worth all the effort, thus coming to the conclusion that we don't really need it and it's probably not for our own best interests. Secondly, we draw closer to God, and learn to express our deepest desires to Him. He already knows our hearts, but He wants us to know our hearts as well. Persistent prayer teaches us about our own desires and wants.

     Is there something that is on your heart that you truly want? Is there something that you know that Lord wants to bless you with, but it just may not be His perfect timing? Keep on asking. Keep on knocking. Keep on seeking. For everyone who asks receives, he that seeks shall find, and to him who knocks the door will be opened. James told us, "you have not because you ask not".
     God knows our hearts, but He desires for us to ask Him for those things which we desire. And He will not give us some hurtful or unpleasant thing in place of what we ask for. Even men do not do that-- Why would God? He loves us enough that He gave His life on the cross. How much more will He not graciously give us all things pertainting to life and salvation...?