Asking to Give

March 21, 2007

Dear Friend,

I'm sure you've heard that verse that says, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." Ever feel like when you ask it's not given to you, you seek and you're still seeking, and you knock and knock and knock and.... You get the picture. Ever feel like this verse might not really apply to you?

Well, when you feel frustrated with a verse or passage in the Bible, it's always good to look at the context; look at the verses around it and get the big picture. And when we look at these verses, guess what? There's a context!

Jesus is talking to His disciples about prayer. He gives them a model prayer, the one we generally refer to as The Lord's Prayer, and then He tells them a story. It's a pretty simple story; but, like all of Christ's parables, it is packed with important, practical information for each of us.

There was this man that had a friend come to visit him in the middle of the night. He was out of food, so he trots over to his neighbor and asks for some bread for his friend. Remember this point: he's asking for his friend. The neighbor is slow to respond, and at first it doesn't look like he's even going to get his bread! But he persists, and keeps asking for some bread for his friend, and soon his neighbor gets up and gives him as much as he needs. I like that last part--he gives him as much as he needs--not half as much, or 83% of what he needs, but as much as he needs.

And then, in the very next verse after the parable of the man that gets as much as he needs for his friend, Jesus says:

"So I say to you: 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." --Luke 11:9:10

You see, the context of asking and seeking and knocking and all the promises that say that God will come through are directly related to asking for others. God's goal is not for us to have our hands and pockets and closets and garages and storage spaces full of stuff, 'cause then we just might forget Him. We might not have enough time for our relationship and commitment to Him because we have too many toys and things and stuff that takes up our time. But God invites us to ask for others; and, as He blesses us, it's for us to turn around and bless others with it.

Let's look at this verse again but put it in context:

Ask for others and it will be given to you to give to them; seek for others and you will find them; knock on behalf of others and the door will be opened to you.

Start praying, working, and blessing others! In the process, you'll be blessed!

A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed. --Proverbs 11:25.

Mark