Ask. Seek. Knock.

Three go-get-‘em verbs are ask, seek, and knock. We regularly hear about asking, seeking and knocking from life coaches and other well-intended, self-improvement minded, let’s-get-you-moving people.

These three verbs also come from Jesus in two scriptures that are almost identical—Matthew 7 and Luke 11. In both texts, Jesus speaks about an intimate and enlightened relationship He desires to have with His disciples and, in turn, with us. Jesus isn’t saying, “Ask, seek, and knock” as “Pray, pray, and pray again.” There isn’t a simple or repetitive track here.

A joyful connection and a spiritual discipline do happen when we pray ritualistically and repetitively. An example of this includes praying for the safety and wellness of your family. Another is how to be used by God each day.

Here Jesus offers us levels and layers in our prayer lives. He isn’t simply telling His disciples to pray. He is giving His disciples (and us) 1-2-3 instructions on how to see answers to our prayers through our relationship with the very One who wants the very best for us.

First, ask.

This is the prayer part. The act of asking takes our requests and needs to God. This can seem obvious because God is not only aware of our needs but also knows what we need before we ask Him (Matthew 6:8), but our mindfulness to reach God with “our stuff” rather than keeping it to ourselves is significant. “God,” we are saying,” we trust You to hear us. We are open to You guiding, responding, directing and allowing Your way and will to be done.”

There’s more. Asking is acknowledging God as the Creator, source, and power. In prayers, we are saying, “I can’t quite get this, God,” or “I TOTALLY can’t get this! Help!”

Consider how we talk with our most trusted and valued people—our spouse and/or friends—about our hang ups and hurts. This same conversation—this prayer—can be with God, too.

In Matthew 7 and Luke 11, Jesus shares with us what is awesome: our ever-present, relational God wants us to communicate with Him about our challenges and our triumphs, our downs and our delights, our burdens and all that is beautiful in and around us. This is the first step to prayer.

Second, seek.

After we ask, we don’t need to keep asking. We begin to seek. Seeking is when we look around for how and when God might answer our prayers. After we ask God for guidance, for example, the next thing we can do is start looking with faith for how God may be providing answers.

Third, knock.

Asking and seeking answers to our prayers leads to this third step. After we ask God to help us with our needs and seek possible ways that God might answer our requests, we can knock on doors that present themselves to us.

I mentioned guidance a moment ago. A person may be placed on our path. A feeling may rise to the top over and over again. An unexpected and unrelated circumstance may not seem like an obvious answer to prayer (especially if this way to go may not be what we want to hear!), but God, with a knock, could be trying to answer your prayer.

Sometimes the first door we knock on is the one that opens. Hallelujah! This is not always the case, however. Sometimes we knock on ten, twenty, or over two hundred doors.

The knocking phase can be the most difficult. Here our perseverance and our trust in God is vitally important. Yet we can remember God’s perseverance in us and God’s love for us is endless.

Ask. Seek. Knock.

Don’t just ask God for things. Step out and seek ways He might answer them. With this, knock on obvious (and not-so obvious) doors as they are presented.

Praying is more than just asking God for things and then sitting around waiting for Him to respond. Praying is an effective way to team up with God and find with guidance your way to go.

Corrie ten Boom once said, “We never know how God will answer our prayers, but we can expect that He will get us involved in His plan for the answer.”