PRAYER: Ask, Seek, Knock
Written by Mrs. Rebekah E.
"...yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs.
So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find;
knock, and it will be open to you."
Luke 11:8b-9
The Lord delights for us to come to Him in prayer and the more we get to know our Lord the more we become delighted to be with Him in prayer. He is always there for us and He is never busy. He is there to receive our praise and thanksgiving, to hear the longings of our heart, to hear our heartaches and troubles, and to hear our submission to Him and our petitions for others. Do you delight in prayer?
Have you taken the time to form a written prayer list for yourself and others? That is the best way to keep on track when you pray. Through the years, I have used notebooks and 4x6 cards. Presently, I am using a spiral 3x5 card notebook. I have categories like My Sweetheart and I, My Husband, My Children, Life's Mates for my Children as God wills, Family and Relatives, Ministries, My Church, My Country, Unsaved, Special Friends, Missionaries, and Harvest (individuals who have made themselves available for missions and I put a star by the ones the Lord sends out into His harvest). If I did not have these lists, I would be so unorganized in my prayer life and I would forget something that I needed to bring before the Lord. Certain categories I pray for every day and others I pray for on a rotating basis. If I prayed for every category each day it would probably take me 2 or 3 hours to pray through it all.
Let me share with you some of the general things that I pray through for others and myself.
• have a testimony above reproach
• live for God's glory every moment of every day in all things—in our thoughts, attitudes, actions, speech, and even in our motives
• respond in a Christ-like way to all circumstances and to all people—especially in response to trials
• be faithful to the Lord; whole heartedly devoted to Him
• maintain precious times with the Lord in His Word and prayer
• grow in God's grace and in the knowledge of Him
• walk in the Spirit and not fulfill the desires of the flesh—love not the world!
• strengthened with God's power to know and to do His will
• evidence the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control
• sweetly submit to those in authority
• represent Christ well to others, be a bright testimony for Him, and a ready witness with a word and a tract
• show Christ's love to others with encouraging words that edify and be sensitive in ministering to other's needs with compassion and mercy
• maintain an unquestionable, cheerful, trusting endurance through life's circumstances and trials
• rely on the Lord's clear, direct leading through all the details of life
• trust the Lord for His provision for all of our needs
• make godly choices
• have the Lord's strength, power, and mind in ministry
A sweet lesson that I have learned through the years from my Pastor's wife is to pray back Scripture to the Lord. How refreshing it has been to me. Sometimes I pray through only one passage and other times I pray through many of them making that my focus for prayer that day. At first I took Paul's prayers and began praying them to the Lord (Ephesians 1:17-19; 3:16-19; 6:19-20, Philippians 1:9-11, Colossians 1:9-12; 4:3-4, I Thessalonians 3:12-13, II Thessalonians 1:11-12; 3:1-2, 5). Let me give you an example in how I pray Philippians 1:9-11.
"Lord, may our love abound still more and more in real knowledge and in all discernment,
so that we may approve the things that are excellent
in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ;
having been filled with the fruit of righteousness
which comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God."
Then I added more passages such as the qualities of true love found in I Corinthians 13, the characteristics of a godly woman found in I Timothy 2 & 3, and for my husband the characters of a godly man found in Titus 1 and I Timothy 3. Then, there are the good qualities of a follower of God in Romans 12:9-21. Recently I added Colossians 3:12-17:
"Lord, may those of us who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved,
put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience;
bearing with one another, and forgiving each other,
whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave us so also should we.
Beyond all these things we need to put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.
May we let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts, to which indeed we were called in one body;
and be thankful.
May we let the word of Christ richly dwell within us, with all wisdom
teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing with thankfulness in our hearts to God.
Whatever we do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus;
giving thanks through Him to God the Father."
Praying back Scripture to the Lord enables us "with all prayer and petition [to] pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints" Ephesians 6:18. May the Lord enable you to delight in coming to Him in prayer, that you may come boldly and Ask, Seek, and Knock that you may see answers to your prayers according to His will.
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