It is true that we are saved by grace "through faith--and this not from [ourselves], it is a gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast" (Eph. 2:8-9). Yet when we truly have faith, works can not help but follow, because faith becomes a part of our nature, and we act according to our nature. "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do" (Eph. 2:10). As human beings, we face wants and needs in this life. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus instructed, "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; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if his 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!" (Matt. 7:7-11).
The fascinating parallel structure of clauses caught my attention in Matthew 7:8. Look at the verbs in each clause:
ask: it will be given; seek: you will find; knock: door will be opened
For every desired result, an action must first be taken. We are told to ask, seek, and knock. Each of these directions is an action verb rising out of faith. If we did not believe that God could accomplish a thing, we would not ask, seek or knock.
Sometimes Christians feel that if they have asked God for something once, to ask again shows a lack of faith. However, the verb tenses Jesus used were recorded in the Greek imperfect tense. In other words, He was saying literally, "continue asking, continue seeking, continue knocking," until the goal is achieved. Our deeds, works, and prayers are a response to our faith.
2:14 What doth it profit, my brethren, if a man say he hath faith, but have not works? can that faith save him?
2:15 If a brother or sister be naked and in lack of daily food,
2:16 and one of you say unto them, Go in peace, be ye warmed and filled; and yet ye give them not the things needful to the body; what doth it profit?
2:17 Even so faith, if it have not works, is dead in itself.
2:18 Yea, a man will say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: show me thy faith apart from `thy' works, and I by my works will show thee `my' faith.
2:19 Thou believest that God is one; thou doest well: the demons also believe, and shudder.
2:20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith apart from works is barren?
2:21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, in that he offered up Isaac his son upon the altar?
2:22 Thou seest that faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect;
2:23 and the scripture was fulfilled which saith, And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned unto him for righteousness; and he was called the friend of God.
2:24 Ye see that by works a man is justified, and not only by faith.
2:25 And in like manner was not also Rahab the harlot justified by works, in that she received the messengers, and sent them out another way?
2:26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, even so faith apart from works is dead.
The book of James also says, "You want something, but you don't get it. You kill and covet, but you can not have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures" (James 4:2-3).
OK, so that's confusing, How should we ask? What should we ask? "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition [asking, seeking, knocking], present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:6-7). By faith we can petition God, and by faith we can receive whatever answer He gives [yes, no, wait a while], knowing that as a loving Father He will not hand us a stone instead of bread, or a snake instead of a fish, and He has our best interest in mind always.
Heavenly Father, Lover of My Soul, I ask; I seek; I knock. Hear my prayer from heaven and provide for your child, that Your fame may go forward. Teach me to ask, seek, and knock according to Your will and Your plan, and not my own selfishness. Let all You give to me turn into a testimony of Your great love for Your own. Let others see and put their faith in You. Amen
7:8 For every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
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