ASKing -the One Habit for Transformation

UV 547/10,000 Mathew 7 v 7 ASKing- the one habit of transformation “Ask, and it shall be given you, seek, and ye shall find;knock, and it shall be opened unto you” Attitudes correspond to the asking component of our faith. Seeking corresponds to the skills or use of skills component of our faith and knocking to the knowledge component. With what attitudes are we asking the Lord? Is it an attitude of reverence, thanksgiving, adoration, faithfulness, love, joy and patience? Or is it an attitude of complacency, selfishness, doubt, fear, impatience and resentment? It is the distinction between the sacrifice of Abel and the sacrifice of Cain. Our attitudes are our mental IP address, our house, our place of stay. If our attitude is joyful, we are living in the house of joy, if it is thankful, the house of gratitude, if it is faithful, the house of faith, if it is forgiving, it is the house of forgiveness and so on. The house wraps our entire being around in 360 degrees though it is only a thought in our minds, an emotion in our hearts. We are surrounded, covered and filled with the attitude. That is why the Proverbs advice us to guard our heart or our attitudes for out of it are the issues of life: issues of health and sickness, success and failure, joy and sadness, courage and fear, honour and shame, prosperity and poverty. Are we using our God-given skills with diligence and perseverance to pursue what desire He has placed in our hearts? This is synonymous with seeking faithfully. Are we knocking on the right doors at the right time? We need to use our knowledge, discernment and depend on the guidance of the Holy Spirit. It should not be a blind call for we will end up knocking on the wrong door, leading up to circumstances the Lord had not intended we land up in. The connectivity between our attitudes, skills and knowledge is essential to bestow Shalom or the wholesome and holistic happiness, peace,success and prosperity the Lord blesses us with. It connects the being with the doing and the having. The word “ shall” used with each verb or action of asking, seeking and knocking implies certainty and no element of doubt or uncertainty in fulfilling this promise. Many believers ask but do not seek or knock. Some seek but do not knock. The quality of our asking, seeking and knocking is vital. We need to ask believing not that we will receive that which we ask for but believing that we have already received. We need to ask according to His pleasing will not His permissive will. We need to ask with thanksgiving for past and current blessings. We need to ask specifically and persistently. We should seek diligently and with all our heart. We should knock on the doors of Heavens and some doors on earth but not in such a way that we knock it down. We need to knock with discernment, reverence and sensitivity. The Lord will answer us in amazing ways. We will receive more than we ask for or more than we expect. We will discover the awesome and the miraculous dimension of life. Unexpected and expected doors or opportunities to share in the glory of God will open up in the course of our lives. We don’t need Stephen Covey’s seven habits but just this one habit of ASKing will transform our lives. Prateep V Philip