Ask; Seek; Knock By Cortney Donelson

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What do you notice? Ask; Seek; Knock.

Everyone who asks receives. This Bible verse, quoted by Jesus, holds quite a promise, doesn’t it? It doesn’t stand alone though. There are two other verses with it, separated by semi-colons, not periods. The Bible seems to be painting a step-by-step guide to finding what it is we deeply desire and need – God’s will. There isn’t just one step; there are three.

When I ask God to show me the way, to light the path, to open the doors that will lead me down the road of righteousness, I do this through prayer. I talk – sometimes a lot – to God. I want to know what His will for me is and how to live out my God-ordained purpose.

I wasn’t always so insightful. I used to pray for the things I thought would be best. Right after 9/11, I applied to the FBI Academy. I – along with 10,000 of my closest patriots – was ready to make a difference and ensure that horrific day never repeated itself. I prayed for acceptance into the Academy, asking God to fulfill my very noble desire. Surely He would, right? After all, I truly wanted to help people. While I waited, I went to a shooting range with a friend who happened to be a State Trooper and learned to handle a gun. I came home holding a target with 50 holes in the center chest area. My husband was half impressed, half terrified. My outfits started looking more “black suit.” I began running and increasing my strength capacity. Finally, I was able to knock out 75 push-ups in a single set, thinking I was a shoe-in for agent training. 

Then, the letter came. Rejected. No. I had clearly asked … and did not receive. Immediately after 9/11, the Academy had changed its requirements in response to two things. First, the number of applicants multiplied exponentially. There were just a whole lot of livid and hurt people wanting to do something. Second, the FBI was only seeking candidates who could speak Farsi, Kurdish, or Arabic, the languages of the Middle East. Hablo español…un poco! 

I was crushed. Angry with terrorists – and now God! I couldn’t understand why He wouldn’t answer my prayer that was filled with a desire to make a difference in the world. Two years later, we traveled to Russia to bring home our first child, and I knew then and there, I had not prayed, “Lord, Your will be done” but had prayed, “Lord, make my will be done.” You know what else I didn’t do? Seek. 

As we pray for God’s will, the second (and deeply connected) step is to seek. If we just sit back and pray but we don’t seek, we will get His answer, but we won’t know where to find it or what to do with it. I like to think about this is by envisioning one of those fun houses with a hundred mirrors inside that make it look like there are a hundred different exit doors. We can stand in the middle of the room and pray. We can ask God about His door. And, He will answer. He'll reveal what the sign over the door says and how the door looks. However, unless we seek it out from all the other doors – the distractor doors – we aren’t going to find it. Knowing God's will is the proverbial "half the battle."

I knew God’s will for me was to write more. I knew I needed to spend more time in deep reflection and intimacy with Him. When I prayed about my purpose, ministry was the answer. However, there were other doors, too. Doors that looked just as inviting and, quite honestly, safer and more secure than the one God was describing. There was the door labeled Physical Therapy. There was the door labeled Human Resources. There was the door labeled Haiti. Heck, there was the door labeled Chai Tea Latte Connoisseur! There were dozens of other doors. I knew I had to seek out the door labeled God’s Will for Me Right Now. 

Scripture is true! He who seeks finds. But, this is where I think so many of us freeze. We ask, and we receive. We seek, and we find. But, we are too wrapped up in comfortable, cozy, safe, and happy to actually knock on that door labeled God’s Will for Me! Intuitively, I believe we all know that when we knock, God is surely going to open it. So, we don’t knock. We pat ourselves on the back because we found it, and we stand there doing nothing more than smiling. We’re afraid of what He’ll ask us to leave behind if we go through the door. We’re unsure of the unknown, and that’s scary. Right? So, we just stand there staring at the door, sometimes for years. Sometimes for our entire lives. 

Ask; Seek; Knock. Once we start, we must finish it. Remember, Jesus’s words were not separated by periods. We can’t “tap out” at any point of this process and think we’re all set, or that how far we’ve gone is close enough. We can't put periods where there are semi-colons. Let's say yes to that last step. Let's knock. Let's not settle for safe and happy! Let's allow God to open that door to something better - the abundant life. 

I’ve learned I’m not as wise as I had thought or hoped. I’ve learned God’s will for me always turn outs better than what I had planned or the life I thought was pretty good. Spending time in prayer and seeking out the details, ignoring (or closing) all the distractor doors, and stepping through the ones He opens when I knock have proven to be the best decisions of my life. 

If you’re standing in front of that door now, knock. Don’t spend all that time asking and seeking to never truly live out your purpose because you never knocked, received His greeting, and walked through to the other side. He loves you so much; He will open the door to the best things for you. 

“If your child asks for bread, do you trick him with sawdust? If he asks for fish, do you scare him with a live snake on his plate? As bad as you are, you wouldn’t think of such a thing. You’re at least decent to your own children. So don’t you think the God who conceived you in love will be even better?” (Matthew 7:7-12, The Message)

Prayer: Father God, thank You for the semi-colons. Thank You for clear instructions on how to find Your will for us. I pray that we don’t stop with just the asking (knowledge), or the seeking (acting and preparing to open the door), but we also knock. For, that is where our trust in Your character and love for us is evident. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen. 

Influenced by my prayer life, Matthew 7:7-12, John 16:13, Hebrews 10:36, “Hearing God,” by Dallas Willard, “If” by Mark Batterson, and “The Prayer of Jabez,” by Bruce Wilkinson. 

©2012-2016 As a Clay Jar. All rights reserved.

My book, "Clay Jar Cracked," is available on Lulu.com, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other retail sites, and including print, e-pub, nook, and kindle versions. To schedule speaking engagements, please email Cortney.