Jesus tells us in the Sermon on the Mount, “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” - Matthew 7:7-8.  Again and again the Bible reminds us that God wants to grant our requests, but first it is up to us to pray.  (see 1 John 5:14-15, 1 Thessalonians 5:17, Ephesians 6:18, etc.)  Since our Lord is so eager to bless us, why in the world would we NOT want to pray?

1. For the same reason the typical man doesn’t want to stop and ask directions when he is driving:  none of us like to admit that we are not 100% in control, that we are dependent on anyone else. And yet the very heart of prayer is humility – and one of the most essential results of an active prayer life is a deeper relationship with God.

2. Because we don’t have enough faith/trust to believe it is worth our time!  Prayer requires the most concentrated application of our faith, and involves the most close and intimate aspect of our relationship with God, of anything that we will ever do in this world.

3. Because prayer is hard work!  When Paul writes to the Colossians he send them greetings from one of their former members, a man named Epaphras, and then adds this intriguing comment:  “He is always wrestling in prayer for you” (Colossians 4:12). That phrase suggests prayer is a strenuous activity!  Serious, fervent prayer is not for the mentally lazy or the spiritually sleepy.

I think that explains the three-fold admonition (“Ask...Seek... Knock”) of Jesus:  he is using repetition to drive home the point that our prayer life should be ACTIVE, and we are to KEEP IT UP!  Remember:  God wants to bless us, but first we must A.S.K. ( A sk... S eek... K nock)!    Keep praying throughout these 40 days.                              

-Dan Williams