One summer at our annual Vacation Bible School I couldn't help but notice one particular little boy.
You might say that he was a bit shy. While the other kids would crowd around the snack bar, he would hang behind and patiently wait until a spot opened up for him. While the kids were climbing all over the play center, he would quietly stand and watch. You could tell that he wanted to swing and play with the other kids. He wasn't one for just jumping into the middle of the fray. He looked like he was in need of assertiveness training.
Matthew 7:7-12 are a reminder to us that Jesus wants you and me to be assertive when it comes to making our requests and petitions to God.
He teaches us to ask and seek and knock. In the Greek, these are present imperatives. The precise meaning is that we are to keep on asking, keep on knocking and keep on seeking. We are to pray without ceasing, without giving up, and with increasing intensity.
Of course, Jesus is not suggesting that God is like an indulgent father who gives His child whatever and whenever. Our Heavenly Father only gives us good gifts, the gifts we really need and just at the right time.
And that's a comfort for you and me. In our asking, seeking and knocking we can make our requests and petitions along with the words, "Your Will be done." Then we can trust God to give us the best He has to offer. He had already given us His Son to be our Savior from sin. He cannot and and will not fail us.
So pray. Don't hang back. Pray assertively. Trust the God that knows how to give good gifts.
