Asking, Seeking and Knocking

"Next to the wonder of seeing my Savior will be, I think, the wonder that I made so little use of the power of prayer." - Dwight L. Moody

Didn't Jesus say, "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened"? (Mt. 7:7-8)

And did He not leave His disciples with this promise: "Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it"? (John 14:13-14)

Does not the counsel of God's Word testify to His awesome power available to His people for the asking? Don't we realize that the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective (James 5:16)?

So why do we devote so little of our time and energy to prayer? Is this not the case in the church today?

We find so many ways to keep busy - at work, at home, at recreation and entertainment, even at church activities - but we're missing something huge here. We're missing something supernatural by failing to spend hard time on our knees before the Lord Almighty. We're forfeiting the blessings of God's grace and peace and joy and comfort all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer (they should write a song about that).

The God of all creation invites us to come before His throne of grace with confidence, and He promises there we will receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need (Heb. 4:16). He says, "Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me" (Psalm 50:15). We are invited to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt us at the proper time, "casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you" (1 Peter 5:6-7).

Draw me near, O God, nearer, O Lord, to You. Forgive me for making so little use of the power of prayer, when You would so generously pour out Your blessings in abundance. Help me to want to seek after You, and more and more so every day. Make my heart like that of the Psalmist who cried out, "O God, You are my God, earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You, my body longs for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water..."