Matthew 7, like Matthew 5 and 6, have some difficult verses. Here is one of them…
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
And then, to make it even more difficult, it is followed up with…
For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
These two verses have been a stumbling block for many. On our bad days they seem like a lie. On our good days we kind of throw up our arms and move on.
The problem is when we read it and we think (hope!) that it is kind of like a vending machine. If we put in our money and push the button then a snack drops to the bottom and it is ours. The mistake is thinking that every prayer will be answered simply because we prayed.
The two verses are a promise that God does answer prayer. If we only pray on occasion, namely when there is a crisis, then these two verses will feel like a stumbling block. But if we pray often, as a way of life, as way of dealing with stress and worry, as a way of parenting, and as way of being married, and as way of holding down a job, then we will often see prayers, big and small, answered.
That’s the point of the two verses. Not praying seldomly, but praying often. Ask. Seek. Knock. And do it through your day.
Trust God in prayer. Trust his answers and non-answers. Trust his timing and his wisdom. Trust that he is at work in us, shaping us, molding us, maturing us.
The Men's Bible Reading Idea 