Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. Matt. 7:7
I love this scripture… it’s one of those faith building, keep standing and believing scriptures.
But… It’s also one of those quotable-Christian scriptures that are tossed out like God is a genie in the lamp! Say the magic words and all your wishes will come true!
God is not our genie in a bottle, and He is not obligated to do us any favors! For years, I reached out in prayer – asking, seeking, and knocking. Completely confident, only to be sorely disappointed when everything went down the drain because of the lack of God’s intervention!
It took me a lot of years to finally get how to pray. I had to stop looking at God as my genie in the lamp, and began to look at Him as The Great Creator! The One True Living God. I began to see Him as Wonderful Counselor, Mighty King, The Holy One, and then something changed.
My loyalty…
I’d still pray as in Matthew 7:7 but now my loyalty wasn’t held in the confines of the request, and it didn’t hinge upon the answer. No, now my loyalty was to my God, and my prayers were being influenced by that loyalty.
If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do. James 1:5-8
The shift in my loyalty was birthed out of a healthy revelation of the power and authority of God. My new perspective released me from a false sense of control I thought I had over my prayers! And that release brought me freedom when asking, seeking, and knocking before God.
God definitely desires to partner with me in prayer, but He desires more that my heart toward Him be undivided. In order for me to remain loyal to God, I had to be careful never to go back to the genie in the lamp mindset that He, God of all Creation, owed me a wish! God is definitely no genie!