If somewhere in heaven God kept a record of my asking, it would fill volumes that could stuff entire rooms and then spill out!
There would be faithless prayers for quick help prayed in desperation, favor in some situation, general prayers for others, about whom I was only somewhat concerned...!
My requests would be an overwhelmingly ugly indictment of my laziness as a Christian! I am working at changing that record.
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened." Mat 7:7,8
I've read the verse above many times and assumed I understood it, and even worse, thought I practiced it! But I learned otherwise.
Just because there is a lot of asking, it does not mean that there is a lot of receiving. And even if God answers most of your requests because you are full of faith, you can still improve! Our journey is a marathon, not a sprint.
Help me, Lord, to respect the power and truth of your word. Forgive me for all the times that I have taken it lightly!
Ask, Seek and Knock: For Resources, Ideas and Abilities
As an artist, I've often asked God for resources, ideas and ability. Almost immediately, I'd forget that I had asked at all!
If I saw no change in my ability, I used to assume the following:
God has a reason for denying me
Some things happen as a natural progression of growth, so it is pointless to ask
These are not the sort of prayers God answers, so why bother
God is more interested in grander things like my "spiritual growth", rather than supplying my artistic, temporal and material needs.
None of the above is true!
Jesus spoke plainly and did not mention any disclaimers to His promise. If we asked, it would be given to us—art supplies, inspiration and ideas were surely included, since there is no mention that they were not! He is the Giver of ALL good gifts!
The reason we don’t get what we have asked for, is because we’ve disconnected the asking from the seeking and the knocking.
Seeking, after asking, implies an expectancy, a confidence that our answer is somewhere out there—in our horizon, just waiting to be found. I press into it, eager and expectant—soon it will be mine. Where is it? Perhaps here? No? Then perhaps there? Let me see..
If not even there, press on and keep looking. God promised, so it has got to be out there somewhere!
That is seeking—eager searching, certain of not being disappointed.
Finally, there is this principle that I wish I'd learned early enough—a truth that took me years to grasp.
After asking, as I am seeking, invariably I come up against an obstacle. Something stands solidly between me and that which I am seeking.
Overwhelmed, I'd once sadly
Wonder why I came this far, only to face this
Assume that what is before me is impenetrable... and then
Turn away, disappointed
No more!
I've learned that this is when the answer is very close! This is the time to stand my ground. You can too! Expect that what you've asked for, what you've eagerly sought for, is within reach. Refuse to allow anything to come between you and your answer.
This is the time to KNOCK.
Bang away, fully expecting that your obstacle will transform into a door! It is the portal to your answer. This is the time to stand your ground and refuse to be denied! It is not a time to be weak-kneed and wimpy. It is the final stretch, so pound at that wall of resistance boldly, it will give way in the face of your persistence to become a door! It will open up worlds of opportunities before you that you never saw before.
I can testify to countless times when I've reminded myself of these truths and the Lord has been faithful to answer. As I work, I pray a lot—prayers that Christian artists, who are dependent on God, must whisper all over the world.
"Help me, please. Without you, I can do nothing. Show me the way forward. Make my work count. May it be pleasing to You, Lord, and to others…."
If I am to put the promise to work, then as I am praying, I ought to be eagerly expecting to experience His assistance in ideas that come to me, skill that is beyond my ordinary ability... When I get stuck, instead of backing away, disappointed—THIS is the time to praise God that His word is true. He knows how the finished work should look. He knows all my weaknesses and can help me improve every day. That is how faith works for the Christian Artist.
If you also knock on that door of resistance, refusing to budge until it gives way before your faith, you will see more progress than you could ever have imagined.
Then you will marvel at what your hands have wrought with His help. Not because it is the world’s most exquisite work of art (my work never measures up to my expectations for it)—but because you know, like I do, how awful it would have been without His help!!!
To my amazement I have then seen my work improve, be meaningful to others and become immensely satisfying! That improvement is not at a plodding, predictable manner, but exponentially responding to my faith.
So go ahead—ask, seek and knock, then share what He gives you with the world!
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