The Certain Answer to Prayer

“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened” (Matthew 7:7-8)

“Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss” (James 4:3)

Our Lord returns here in the Sermon on the Mount to speak of prayer a second time. The first time He spoke of the Father Who is found in secret and Who rewards openly. Jesus also gave us the pattern prayer (Matthew 6:5-15). Here He wants to teach us what in all Scripture is considered the chief thing in prayer: the assurance that prayer will be heard and answered. Observe how He uses words which mean almost the same thing and repeats the promise each time so distinctly: “Ye shall receive, ye shall find, it shall be opened unto you.” He then gives the law of the Kingdom as grounds for such assurance}; “He that asketh, receiveth; he that seeketh, findeth; to him that knocketh, it shall be opened.” We cannot help but feel that in this sixfold repetition He wants to impress this one truth deeply on our minds. We may and must most confidently expect an answer to our prayer. Everyone that asks, receives. Next to the revelation of the Father’s love, there is not a more important lesson that this in the whole course of the school of prayer.

A difference in meaning has been sought in the three words the Lord uses: ask, seek, knock. If it was indeed His purpose for these three words to have three distinct meanings, then the first “ask” refers to the gifts we pray for. But we may ask and receive the gift without the Giver. Seek is the word Scripture uses of God Himself. Christ assures us that we can find Him. But it is not enough to find God in time of need without coming into abiding fellowship with Him. Knock refers to admission to dwell with Him and in Him. Asking and receiving the gift would thus lead to seeking and finding the Giver, and from there to the knocking on and opening of the door to the Father’s home and love. One thing is sure: The Lord wants us to believe most certainly that asking, seeking, and knocking cannot be in vain. Receiving an answer, finding God, and the opening of His heart and home are the certain fruits of prayer.

That the Lord should have thought it necessary to repeat the truth in so many forms is a lesson of deep importance. It proves that He knows our hearts. He knows that doubt and distrust toward Him are natural to us and that we view prayer as religious work without expecting an answer. He also knows that we believe prayer is something spiritually too difficult for the half-hearted disciple, even though he believes that God hears prayer and answers it. At the very beginning of His instruction, He therefore endeavors to lodge this truth deeply into the hearts of those who want to learn to pray: Prayer accomplishes a great deal. Ask and you will receive; everyone who asks, receives. This is the eternal law of the Kingdom. If you ask and receive not, it must be because there is something wrong or missing in the prayer. Let the Word and Spirit teach you to pray properly. But do not lose the confidence He wants to give you, that everyone who asks, receives.

“Ask, and it shall be given you.”  In Christ’s school, there is no mightier encouragement of persevering in prayer than this. As a child has to prove a sum to be correct, so the proof that we have prayed correctly is our answer. If we ask and get no answer, it is because we have not learned to pray properly. Let every learner in the school of Christ therefore take the Master’s Word in all simplicity: Everyone who asks, receives. Christ had good reasons for speaking so unconditionally. Be careful not to weaken the Word with human wisdom. When He tells us heavenly things,  believe Him. His Word will explain itself to him who believes it fully. If questions and difficulties arise, don’t try to settle them before accepting the Word. Let us entrust them all to Him; He will solve them. Our work is to accept and believe His promise completely. Let our inner chamber be inscribed with that promise in letters of light.

According to the teaching of the Master, prayer consists of two parts: a human side and a Divine side. The human side is the asking, the Divine is the giving. Or, to look at both from the human side, there is the asking and the receiving – the two halves that make up a whole. it is as if He want to tell us that we are not to rest without an answer because it is the will of God and the rule in the Father’s family that every childlike, believing petition is granted. If no answer comes, we are not to sit down in resignation and suppose that it is not God’s will to give us an answer. There must be something in the prayer that is not as God would have it. We must seek for guidance to pray so that the answer will come. it is far easier for the flesh to submit without the answer than to yield itself to being searched and purified by the Spirit, until it has learned to pray the prayer of faith.

One of the terrible marks of the diseased state of Christian life these days is that there are so many who are content without the distinct experience of answer to prayer. They pray daily, they ask many things, and they trust that some of them will be heard. But they know little of direct definite answer to prayer as the rule of daily life. The Father seeks daily communion with His children so that He can listen to and grant their petitions. He wills that we come to Him day by day with distinct requests. He wills day by day to do what I ask. It was in His answer to prayer that the saints learned to know  God as the Living One and were stirred to praise and love Him (Psalms 34; 66:19; 116:1). Our Teacher waits to imprint this on our minds: Prayer and its answer – child asking and the Father giving – belong to each other.

There may be cases in which the answer is a refusal because the request is not according to God’s Word, such as when Moses asked to enter Canaan. But there was still an answer. God did not leave His servant in uncertainty as to His will. The gods of the heathen are dumb and cannot speak. Our Father lets His child know when He cannot give him what he asks. The child withdraws his petition as the Son did in Gethsemane. Both Moses the servant and Christ the Son knew that what they asked was not according to what the Lord had spoken. Their prayer was the humble request that the decision be changed. By His Word and Spirit, God will teach those who are teachable and who give Him time, whether their request be according to His will or not. Withdraw the request if it is not according to God’s will or persevere until the answer comes. Prayer is supposed to have an answer. It is in prayer and its answer that the interchange of love between the Father and His child takes place.

How deeply our hearts must be estranged from God that we should find it so difficult to grasp such promises! Even though we accept the words and believe their truth, the faith of the heart that fully possesses them and rejoices in them comes so slowly. It is because our spiritual life is still so weak and our capacity for accepting God’s thoughts is so feeble. Let us look to Jesus to teach us as none but He can teach. Simply take His words and trust Him by His Spirit to make them life and power within us. They will enter our inner being and allow the spiritual Divine reality of the truth they contain to take possession of us. We should not be content until every petition we offer is carried to heaven on Jesus’ own words: “Ask, and it shall be given you.”

Beloved fellow-disciples in the school of Jesus! Learn this lesson well! Let us take these words just as they were spoken. Do not let human reason weaken their force. Let us take them and believe them just as Jesus gives them. In due time, He will teach us how to understand them fully. Now we should begin by implicitly believing them. Take time in prayer to listen to His voice. Don’t let the feeble experiences of unbelief limit what faith can expect. Let us seek not only in prayer, but at all times, to joyfully accept the assurance that man’s prayer on earth and God’s answer in heaven are meant for each other. Trust Jesus to teach us to pray so that the answer can come. He will do it if we hold fast to the word He gives us: “Ask, and ye shall receive.”

~Andrew Murray~