Ask, Seek, Knock

Day 31

Ask, seek, knock

 

Our son Oliver doesn’t sleep well. He has a very creative imagination and a world full of ideas whirling in his mind. Between this and all the natural worries fuelled by moving countries and struggling to adjust, he’s very often up at night.

Any hour between 9 and 1 he’ll walk into our bedroom (sometimes waking us up) to tell us that he can’t sleep, sometimes also to tell us that his lips are dry, or his throat is sore or that he’s thinking or worrying about something.

He knows we’ll be there, and though he is met with our standard answer of a hug and ‘go back to bed’ he knows he can come again and find reassurance that he’s not alone in his sleeplessness or all the other things troubling his mind or ailing his body.

He’s our child. We love him. So our door is always open. Even at midnight.

Sixteen times now on this mountainside Jesus has communicated to His hearers the same message… just in case they missed it the first 15 times… You are not orphans. You are God’s child. He is your Father in Heaven.

And here, in this passage (Matthew 7:7-11) this message becomes emphatic… as God incarnate describes the expectation He wants for us to have in our relationship with our Heavenly Father.

‘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.

‘Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 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!’

Matthew 7:7-11

Your Father’s door is always open.

Children of relatively healthy parents know that their parents are alert to their needs, aware of their struggles and attentive to their wellbeing. They know their parent’s door is always open to them. They are confident in their parent’s interest, affection and care.

If children of faulty human beings (like myself) have such confidence in their parent’s love that they can walk into their room at midnight wake them up when they’re sleeping and ask for help when they need it, then how much more can we have that same confidence in our Heavenly Father, whose love is both perfect and constant (surpassing even the best of human parents).

Jesus is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15), God incarnate, our Heavenly Father in leather sandals with earthly dust between His toes and wrinkling smile lines around His eyes. In this passage above He describes the heart that beats in God’s chest for His children, but later in the book of Matthew we see this heart in action as God incarnate inhabits these words of His in the dusty chaos of human life…

“Then people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked them.

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.”

Matthew 19:13-15

Jesus’ disciples were still learning. Perhaps they thought that only sensible adults or their inner circle were welcome in Jesus presence. Perhaps they thought only those who looked pious or respectable belonged there. Children are messy, moody, artless and in-the-moment-present. They say anything and do everything. Chaotic. But Jesus’ welcome for them was earnest and emphatic- “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

Messiness, questioning, moodiness and chaos are all welcome into God’s presence, ‘for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these’. We are all invited to come as we are. Wherever we are at. 

This Kingdom that Jesus has been revealing on this mountainside, this Kingdom He has said is His reason for coming (Luke 4:43) belongs to His children. It is not a power structure, a regime, an organisation or an institution. It is not for those who have it all together. It is a family. A family of children who share the same attentive, concerned, listening and involved Father.

Our heavenly Father’s door is always open, His presence always ready to welcome His children in, His ear always attentive to our chats, our worries or our wonderings. All our messy chaos of life as a human beings is welcome in His space. So Ask, seek, knock with the fearlessness of God’s own beloved children. Because that is who you are.

The Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as you.

And His door is always open.

“For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.”

Romans 8:14-16

 

Journaling the Journey

God is a generous God, a Father who knows what we need before we ask Him. Thank Him for all you already have received and then make a list of things you need to ask Him for.

Nothing is too large, too small or too ridiculous.

Bring all your needs and desires to Him. You will sense those which are right to ask and which are not.

Today’s Mountainside Photograph is taken in Holywell Reserve in the Jamaican Blue Mountains.