2 March • Thursday of the First Week in Lent
Matthew 7:7-12
7. “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
12. “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
Meditation
Our God is exceptionally generous: when we ask, we receive; when we seek, we find; when we knock, the door opens. In this short passage, the key word is “give”, which appears five times. Our heavenly Father wants to give His best to all His children.
However, in our real-life experience, it sometimes seems otherwise. We ask, but we don’t receive; seek, yet feel lost; knock, and all doors close. We are then told that we do not seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness (Mt 6:33)—we do not ask, seek, and knock according to His will.
But we are still puzzled. We asked for good health, but young lives were taken away. We asked for joy, but elderly parents were left behind alone. We asked for peace, but war broke out. Does God not will these things (good health, joy, and peace) for His children? It is beyond our ability to comprehend the will of God.
Sometimes no answers are provided when we question, but as we continue to observe what God is doing, He opens our eyes and surprises us with good things. We see priorities reset in times of crisis; we see relationships restored in moments of life and death; we see lives transformed when God intervenes.
Our God still gives extravagantly. Use all your senses to see, hear, feel, touch what He is doing. Ask what, don’t ask why. We can’t always understand why God is doing this or that, but we can observe what He is doing and do what He wants us to do. Only then, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”
Prayer
Our Father in heaven, open our eyes to see what You are doing; open our ears to hear what You are saying; open our hearts to feel what You are feeling. Remove all the blockages and barriers in our eyes, our ears, and our hearts. We want to know what You are doing, we want to know You more and more each day. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Action
1. Reflect and give thanks for the good things God has brought into your life.
2. Write a text to, or arrange for a meal or a cup of coffee with, someone for whom you have been praying for a while. Listen and see what God is doing in his/her life.
Rev Dr Koh Nam Seng, Forest
Associate Pastor
Glory Presbyterian Church, English Service
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