Bible Study on Matthew 7, verses 7 to 11, Ask and seek

 

Matthew 7:7 ¶  Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8  For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. 9  Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? 10  Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11  If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

 

The context here is about wisdom and spiritual things, not a new chainsaw. Finding something and having something opened seems to suggest that directly from the context. Proverbs is filled with verses about the importance of seeking and gaining wisdom. We have but to humbly ask God as Solomon did in 1Kings, chapter 3.

 

This passage is sandwiched in between the one on righteous judgment and one on following a narrow path. It is imperative that we Christians seek wisdom from God through prayer and Bible reading. We cannot depend on or trust in our own narcissism, ego, and mental issues. God will give us wisdom to face the unique situation we are in, even though the situation is something we might share with many other Christians.

 

In any event, this is a great promise

 

James 1:5  If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. 6  But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

 

God will also help us understand doctrine, dispensations, and end-time prophecy as we need to know it by our humble supplications and our faithful reading, studying, cross-referencing, and prayer. What we need to know will be given to us. There are things, though, that belong only to God.

 

Deuteronomy 29:29  The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.

 

And prophecy is not given to swell our heads but for a specific purpose for us.

 

John 13:19  Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am he.

 

John 14:29  And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe.

 

 

John 16:4  But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. And these things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was with you.