Step One: Ask
Sometimes we don’t know exactly what we need. Sometimes we don’t know what to be looking for. Sometimes we have an idea but we don’t know if it’s the “right” one. But how often do we really take the time to ask God? How often do we turn to Him and not only request guidance, but ask Him for something specific like a direction?
In Matthew, Jesus teaches that those who ask will receive. I think a lot of us take that as if I will receive exactly what I asked for as though God is a genie. But it doesn’t work like that. However, God isn’t going to stop and give us nothing. He will provide us with what we need.
Not only should we be asking for what we want, we should be asking more of what God wants for us. If God wants us to find a new job or church or if God wants us to find a new relationship or end the one we’re in or if God wants a different path for our lives over what we originally thought, through each of these and many more God will provide us with the answer. We just need to ask.
“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; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” -Matthew 7:7-8
Step Two: Seek
After asking for direction or purpose from your situation, the next step in finding God’s guidance is seeking. Seek for an opportunity to show Christ’s love to someone, or seek for an opportunity God will use you in. You won’t know until the end how many people you’ve influenced.
Maybe God has a connection between you and someone forming that will help you minister to someone. Or maybe God will bring you someone to help in a way someone else couldn’t. Maybe you need to be somewhere at the right time in order to witness to an unsaved individual. Whatever the case, God needs you on the lookout searching for new ways to glorify Him and expand His kingdom. So if you are looking for guidance and have completed the asking phase, the next step is to seek and look for these new opportunities from God.
“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; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” -Matthew 7:7-8
Step Three: Knock
The final step in this passage is to knock. So, after asking God for an opportunity and seeking for the right one, when we find it, we must knock on that door. Then it is God’s decision to open that door for us if it is in His will to do so.
You wouldn’t just open or kick down a door without knowing what’s behind it. This is why knocking is the last step. Once we ask God for directions to the right door and we think we find it, it’s important to knock instead of barging right in. Something could explode in your face if you aren’t careful, and knocking helps guide this process.
When you’ve asked God for His will and He provides answers, it’s usually fear that stands in our way. To conquer that, seek God and the opportunity He’s creating for you. Then knock on the door you come to, and if you have done the first two steps in faith, God won’t tease you with false opportunities. If you knock on the door He has for you, He’ll open it.
“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; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” -Matthew 7:7-8