In Your Father’s Throne Room
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
Matthew 7:7
Nothing puts feeling into your prayers like a mighty good reason to pray. But nothing in Christianity is so rare as a praying heart.
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Fifteen verses in the Sermon on the Mount concern prayer. Jesus talks about when to pray (Matthew 6:5-8), how to pray (Matthew 6:9-13), and why to pray (Matthew 7:7-11).
Why is prayer so important? The reason is simple: God gives good gifts to his children who ask him.
Augustine spoke often of the privilege of prayer, but he explains that longing in prayer and long prayer are not necessarily synonymous.
WALK WITH AUGUSTINE
“It was our Lord who put an end to long-windedness, so that you would not pray as if you wanted to teach God by your many words. Piety, not verbosity, is in order when you pray, since he knows your needs.
“Now someone perhaps will say: But if he knows our needs, why should we state our requests even in a few words? Why should we pray at all? Since he knows, let him give what he deems necessary for us.
“Even so, he wants you to pray so that he may confer his gifts on one who really desires them and will not regard them lightly.”
WALK CLOSER
Prayer is more than heavenly room service to satisfy your heart’s desire. Rather, prayer is the workout room of your soul. Asking, seeking and knocking are energetic words. They show sincerity, intensity and wholeheartedness.
Have you ever asked God for great things? Things out of the ordinary? Things that your own ingenuity and energy could never provide?
If not, you’ve yet to discover the power of prayer. For he has told you to “ask … seek … knock,” and to expect doors to open as a result.
