Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you.
Mathew 7:7
This
duty suggests diligence and prayer. Every Christian who seeks to be a
true one in deed and not name only must be a man of prayer. Prayer is
like an investment in bonds that give a future return for your
investment. Prayer is most certain to increase more. There are, however,
a great many Christians hold compliments and discouragements and
prayer: ‘I have prayed for so long and I am worse; I had better leave
off, seeing I am not better for it.’ But there are conditions and
limitations that God has revealed to us in his Word that must be
considered. The first condition on our part is that we are in the state
of faith and repentance. The promises are for those in Christ. Secondly,
we must pray according to God’s nature and will. Some things are ill
for us, and if God does not hear us in them, Christ will not forfeit his
word, but we must forfeit our prayers. You must also have the right
motive in prayer (James 4:3). The order of our desires is also
important. There will be no speedy answer for temporal things if we are
not first seeking the kingdom of God. If your desires are crossed, it is
not because he put you off without hearing, but he desires to teach you
a better way. He desires to teach you what is most important. We may
further note that our prayers should be offered in faith, humility and
fervency. Delays teach us to watch and pray with perseverance, waiting
in hope until God hears us (Psa. 40:1-2). Waiting causes us to
focus upon him. If we are earnest, we will not go away until we speak
with him. Faith remains at the door until he comes. All of us fail in
this; we do not wait until we obtain. Let us not blame the Saviour whose
promise is firm without change. If we would learn to wait, we would
hear more from him.
Read more at http://creationrevolution.com/2012/11/daily-devotional-ask-and-it-will-be-given-to-you-2/#K8EQrgwWVL1Vwucc.99
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