What you Must do for Your Prayers to be Answered

Daily Devotional – Thursday, January 7, 2021

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

Matthew 7:7 (NKJV)

Prayer is critical in a Christian’s life. It is a key ingredient for spiritual growth. Prayer is communication with God. It is also a channel for us to tap into God’s abundant providence. However, do you know that you have a role to play in fulfilling SOME of your prayers?

Praying may involve more than making passive requests to God and expecting Him to fulfil them. The Lord Jesus, in Matthew 7:7, presents three important steps that you may need to take before your prayer for existential needs is answered.

The first step is to ask. Paul exhorts Christians, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6). We have a caring and listening God who never tires listening to and answering the prayers of His children. Verse 8 promises that those who ask will receive. Some prayers will be answered at this stage, but not all of them.

The second step is to seek. Occasionally, you need to actively seek answers in the process of finding solutions. For example, if one intends to enrol in an academic course, one must gather the right information to make a decision. No amount of asking will replace getting out of your comfort zone and searching in the right places and sources. We are assured that those who seek will find. Some prayers will be answered at this point, but some will require greater personal involvement.

The third step is to knock. There is a category of prayer that is only answered when we make a greater effort. Knocking is more intense than seeking. Once you have the right information on the academic course to take, you may need to knock on some doors to secure the financial resources you need. Knocking can be painful and disappointing. Eventually, though, you will start to see opportunities.

Consider this: The Israelites knew there was manna outside their tents, provided by God. However, one had to go out and collect the miracle food. None would have expected God to deliver manna to them in the comfort of their homes. Notice also that the supply of manna dried up when the children of Israel reached Canaan. Why? God expected them to create their own ‘manna’ through planting and harvesting. There was no need for miracles when God had placed the power of production in their hands.

It is important for us to realise that God has placed some of the answers to our prayers in our hands, our businesses, our careers, our fellow Christians, our employers and so on. If asking does not work, try seeking. If seeking fails, the answer is in knocking. Don’t just pray and wait. Learn to seek and knock. Doors don’t just open when we are relaxed at home. Remember, faith without action is dead.

Take Action

1. Review some of your unanswered prayers. Is it possible that you have not been cooperating with God by actively seeking and knocking?
2. Pray that God will direct you to places where you can ‘seek’ and ‘knock’ after you have made your requests known to him.

Prayer

Loving Father, please open my spiritual eyes that I may utilise the spiritual, human and material resources you have given me. Lead me to the right information, people and places. Give me the courage to take action as I participate in making my prayers come true through your power. Amen

Disclaimer

This devotional should not be misconstrued as implying that we can ‘bribe’ God to fulfil our prayers. The purpose is to show that God expects us to cooperate with Him in the process of meeting our daily existential needs.