Keep Knocking Until Your Door Is Opened

Daily Devotional

Mathew 7:7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:

Jesus shares a story of persistence that is simple yet so profound. Jesus says, “Suppose you went to a friend’s house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread. You say to him, ‘A friend of mine has just arrived for a visit, and I have nothing for him to eat.’ And suppose he calls out from his bedroom, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is locked for the night, and my family and I are all in bed. I can’t help you.’ But I tell you this: though he won’t do it for friendship’s sake, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence. So I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you” (Luke 11:5-9, NLT).

I’ve often heard people quote Luke 11:9 about asking, seeking, and knocking, but we sometimes forget to read the context before or after to get the whole picture. In this account, Jesus was totally trying to help His disciples to understand an important principle of prayer: persistence.

Jesus wanted us to understand that when we pray and there’s not an immediate answer, don’t think God is deaf or that He expects us to grovel at His feet before we receive anything from Him in prayer. No, on the contrary, Jesus used the example of a friend—one who probably would’ve helped any other time, but it was the middle of the night. Yet, because of the man’s persistence, the friend got up and helped anyway. It is not that God has a cut-off time, but there are times when he wants us to be persistent in asking for what we want.

I believe in positive thinking; but the reality is that your success will rarely come without having to overcome some obstacle or difficult circumstance. Your response should never be that of giving up; instead keep knocking until the door is opened. The men whose friend was lame had to cut through the roof to get their friend healed because the crowd was too thick. The Children of Israel on route to their promised land had to contend with, not only the wilderness, but also crossing an overflowing Jordan and breaking through an extremely thick and tall Jericho wall.  The only reason why they prevailed is because they refused to give up. Do not let your difficult circumstances talk you into giving up. Keep knocking.

Life Application: Regularly review existing strategies and develop new ones to help you get past your existing obstacles faster.

Prayer: Dear Lord, help me to be persistent in prayer. There are times I give up so easily in prayer and in life because of my impatience. However, help me to persist in prayer until you respond. In Jesus name, amen.