Matthew 7

Devotional:
“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. (Matt. 7:7-8).

This passage — indeed, every Bible passage — must be read and applied in keeping with the totality and spirit of Scripture. For example, the Bible teaches that we should certainly make our requests known to God (Philippians 4:6), but when we petition Him, we are to do so humbly and without any arrogance or sense of entitlement (Luke 18:9-14). When we seek, it is to be a pursuit of the Lord’s will, not our own selfish interests (James 4:3). And when we are tempted to lose heart in the face of unanswered prayer, we are to persevere — to keep knocking, because Christ Himself instructed us to persist in prayer (Luke 18:1).

Pray it:
Father, I thank you that you invite me to turn to you in prayer and you delight in hearing from and giving gifts to your children. Help me both to persevere in prayer and also to submit and shape my prayers to be your desires rather than my own. Amen.

Share it:
Who is someone you can share a verse or thought from this passage with?