Keep A.S.K.-ing

Let me guess...you may be saying to yourself: "she sure does like acronyms"…pretty creative too huh? Well, what can I say, I’m just like my Heavenly Father – you’ll see how in a moment when I share what He told me A.S.K. means.

Some time ago, while reading Matthew 7:7 in the King James Version, it just “came to life”:

Ask, and it will be given to you;
Seek, and you will find;
Knock, and it will be opened to you.

You see what I mean? Acronyms are God’s idea for helping us commit things to memory – He started everything…

Answers to our prayers sometimes come swiftly or slowly. At yet other times…well it seems like it’s taking forever for the answers to come through. I’m convonced that’s why God gave us those 3 levels of “ASKing”.

I’ll share my understanding of these 3 levels…you may not agree and that’s fine. Please share your own understanding with us – let’s learn from each other.


Ask – Have you ever had situations when you barely finished praying about something and the answer comes? Yes, I know that; I even experienced it recently. To me this is the “Ask” type of prayer i.e. instant answer(s). Isaiah 65:24 says that while we’re yet asking he will answer. An example of this is found in 1 Kings 18: 36 – 38 - when fire fell from heaven immediately after Elijah asked for it.

Seek - Whenever, I hear the word “seek” I think of the hide-and-seek game. God invented the game – in Isaiah 55:7, we’re advised to seek God while He may be found. Seeking takes time; similarly, there are some prayers that take time for the answers to come through. Example: Elijah praying for rain in 1 Kings 18:42 – 45. He persevered and the rain came...abundantly too. Imagine if he'd had expected an instantaneous response as he received 6-8 verses earlier?

Knock – this is where a popular acronym – "PUSH": Pray Until Something Happens- comes to mind . In Luke 11: 1- 13, when the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, he taught them the Lord’s Prayer, then told them a story of someone who kept “knocking” until he got what he wanted. Similarly, Daniel kept fasting and praying until his answer came. The answer had been released 21 days earlier but was heald back by the Prince of Persia. If he didn't keep persevering in prayer i.e. watering the "prayer seed", the answer may never have come. (Daniel 10:1 - 14.)

Notice that from one level of prayer to the other, the word used increase by one letter...maybe a hint that each level takes longer??? I'll let you bee the judge of that; I only just noticed it myself.

Jesus then promised that we’ll get whatever we ask in His name in accordance with God’s will and that we should ASK until our joy is full (John 16: 23-24) – now that’s a blank cheque. Go cash it…

For the Christian, prayer is not an option but an opportunity. (Anon)