“Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. ” Matthew 7:7-8).
“It is impossible to imagine the thing being stated more definitely and compellingly than in these words. There are simply no words in any language which could be clearer or more emphatic, and yet, for the most part, Christians quietly ignore them, or else discount their meaning until they are left without any meaning at all.” — Emmet Fox
This statement of Jesus is a reminder of our need for persistence concerning our spiritual approach to the challenges of daily living. Some may see it as a preparatory attitude toward approaching a reluctant God. If, as James suggests, God is changeless, and “with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1:17), we need to understand that our persistence is most effectively directed to our own approach to specific issues.
In the realm of Newtonian physics everything is explained in terms of a material environment. Anything that cannot be explained in such terms is branded an anomaly. In a very real sense, it is the anomalies that have given rise to quantum physics. The lesson here is that if your approach does not produce desired results the answer is not in doing more of the same approach but in changing your approach.
Jesus is saying there is an absolute way to get the answers we seek. The way to this way is persistence. If you are experiencing anomalies in your spiritual life it may very well be that you are holding old ideas about God and about yourself that do not work. If you hold the idea of Jesus—the answer is present and I can find it—the way will be opened. You’ll see some slight change in perception, you’ll read something that opens your mind a bit more, or you’ll simply be inspired with a new idea.
God is withholding nothing. Open your mind to this truth and the way will become clear.