We have a men's prayer group here at the Ridge which meets every Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. If you're a Christian guy, member of RABC or not, and you would like to come join us for this time of Bible reading and prayer, please come. We would love to have a few more men join with us!
For some time now, the same four or five guys have been faithful to come and lift up the prayer needs and concerns for our church. And we've been praying for some things, and especially for some lost loved ones and friends for a long time now. But we keep on lifting them up in prayer because God has called us to be persistent. Sometimes He chooses to answer our prayers right away, but sometimes we have to wait. He has everything under control, but He wants us to continue in prayer until the time-frame lines up with His perfect timing.
The Lord calls us to ask, seek and knock, and sometimes that may mean to: ask and keep on asking, seek and keep on seeking, knock and keep on knocking. Take a look at this short devotional from Dr. J. Howard Goddard which touches on Luke 11:9 where Jesus tells his disciples: "So I say to you, keep asking and it will be given to you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened to you. (HCSB)
Ask, seek, knock today, tomorrow, every time you have need---you cannot come too often....The three imperatives are synonymous, yet the second seems to be more intense than the first, the third more intense than the other two, and the three together express the deepest and the most earnest desire in prayer.
Yet the idea can hardly be that, if we are not heard when we ask, we are then to seek, and if neither avails, we are then to knock....Our asking should at once be a seeking, and both at once a knocking and also the reverse: when you ask, seek; and when you seek, go and knock...
Note that all three promises are categorical, without an "if" or a "but." God always hears believing prayer. Yet we must say that every true disciple prays for nothing that is contrary to his Father's will. The promises seem to be stated in reverse order: "shall be given" seems strongest, "shall find" less, and "shall be opened" still less. But the gift is made when we find, and we find what we need when the door is opened to us. When we enter we find, and the gift is ours. (Lenski)
Ask---He bids you simply ask Him,
Bring your burdens great and small:
Ask for grace and strength to bear them,
He will answer if you call.
Seek His face in early morning.
Seek Him at the close of day:
He will make you more than conqueror,
As you seek those gone astray.
Come believing to your Father,
Knock insistently and long:
He will hear---His ear's not heavy.
And your sigh will change to song.
Asking, seeking, knocking, finding,
What have I to fear?
He who bids me to His Presence,
Fills my heart with hope and cheer.
-------Author Unknown