Keep On Asking

Transcript

Hello, my friend… so glad you're with me today. This is By God's Call — day 307, Keep On Asking.

"And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you." Luke 11:9.

This verse comes right after Jesus teaches the Lord's Prayer, and right after He tells a slightly unusual parable: a man who knocks on his friend's door at midnight, asking to borrow bread, and won't give up until he gets it. Jesus tells that story, and then gives the practical summary: ask, seek, knock.

Notice the three verbs. In the original Greek, they carry the sense of continuous action — not "ask once and you're done," but "keep asking." Not "look for a bit and give up if you don't find it right away," but "keep seeking." Not "knock once and leave if no one answers fast," but "keep knocking." Jesus is describing a pattern of a praying life, not a single isolated request.

And there's an interesting progression here. Asking is simple — you just open your mouth. Seeking already requires movement, effort, leaving where you are. Knocking requires reaching the door and staying there, insisting. The three verbs rise in intensity. Jesus is saying it's fine for your faith to grow in determination, as long as it doesn't lose its confidence.

And look at the promises that follow each verb: "it will be given," "you will find," "it will be opened." Not "maybe it will be given," not "perhaps you'll find it." Jesus speaks with a certainty that leaves no room for doubt. And that certainty doesn't rest on the size of your request, or how deserving it looks — it rests on the faithfulness of the one standing on the other side of the door.

And who is on the other side of the door? Look at what Jesus says right after this verse: He asks what father would give a stone to a son who asks for bread, or a snake to one who asks for fish. The image behind this whole promise is not a reluctant judge who only gives in after enough pressure. It's the image of a Father who already wants to give good things — and is only waiting for you to ask, seek, knock.

I want to ask you: is there a request you've stopped making? A prayer you abandoned because you got tired of waiting, or started doubting it was worth the persistence? This verse is a direct invitation to come back. Not because God needs you to prove your faith through repetition — but because persistence in prayer is the very way faith grows while it waits.

So today, I want to invite you to return to that specific request. Bring it before God again, with the same confidence as someone knocking on a door expecting it to open — because it was Jesus who promised that it would.

Stay close to God. Pray — then act. I'll see you tomorrow, my friend.