Copyright 2011 Theresa Harvard Johnson
Matthew 7:7-11 CJB, 7 "Keep asking, and it will be given to you; keep seeking, and you will find; keep knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who keeps asking receives; he who keeps seeking finds; and to him who keeps knocking, the door will be opened. 9 Is there anyone here who, if his son asks him for a loaf of bread, will give him a stone? 10 or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 So if you, even though you are bad, know how to give your children gifts that are good, how much more will your Father in heaven keep giving good things to those who keep asking him!”
I received a phone call yesterday from someone regarding the ministry of VOC. There was something Father wanted them to do, so this person took the chance and followed His voice. Had they not done so, they never would have seen that “word” that the Lord had given in their prayer time come to pass in this specific situation.You see, the Lord had already prepared my heart to receive that "strangers" request and move on their behalf by HIS leading. I didn't know this person… but I heard and recognized the VOICE OF GOD coming through them.
After that conversation, the Lord began to remind me of HOW IMPORTANT IT IS to resist our flesh and walk out those seemingly “flesh-killing” things that He OFTEN requires us to do in the natural.
In this specific instance, all the Lord had asked this person to do was to tell me what her need was and to ASK ME if I or the ministry could help her. She even said this: “I’ve been keeping this before the Lord for several weeks now. I was wondering how I could work this out on my own, but I couldn’t and I heard the Lord say to call you. I didn’t want to call because of pride, but I did… and I obeyed… and look at God.”
Pride has to go people of God. FEAR (fear of rejection, fear of men, fear of speaking up, etc.) has to go people of God.
I know there are many paths we can take with deciphering the revelation behind this scripture. But the area I believe Father wants to deal with in this Ning group is the one in which WE DO NOT WANT TO ASK FOR HELP WHEN WE HAVE A FINANCIAL NEED OR OTHER RESOURCE WHEN GOD TELLS US TO ASK OR MAKE IT KNOWN.
Please understand, I am not talking about people who are ALWAYS BEGGING and WHO STAND IN EXPECTATION of OTHERS to take care of them. I am talking about men and women of God whom the LORD is prompting to walk out of their comfort zones SO HE CAN BLESS THEM! I am talking about people who have SOWN and SOWN and SOWN not only in their time in the Kingdom with the right motives, but also who have sown financially when they have been able.
I am talking about people who have FIRST taken their petitions to the LORD and labored over them. I am talking about those WHO IN PRAYER heard the Lord say GO HERE or GO THERE and make your request known! When we keep asking and seeking the Father (regardless of the time that passes) and do so EXPECTING HIM to move…. People of God…. HE WILL MOVE!
Sometimes, that MOVING will be predicated on YOU following the instructions that HE RELEASES TO YOU. I tell you, IF YOU DO NOT ASK HIM IN THIS SEASON OF YOUR LIFE FOR WHAT IT IS YOU MAY NEED and be consistent with it…. those doors will REMAIN CLOSED.
You see, for some of God’s people there is an issue of PRIDE that must be dealt with. Holy Spirit is constantly chipping away at that. FOR ME, I would sometimes get instructions in the midst of prayer TO MAKE A NEED KNOWN to a particular person. Because GOD had instructed me to do this, he had already prepared the heart of the person he sent me to ANSWER that need.
People of God, your intimate relationship with God will yield fruit but we have to TRUST HIM completely. This place of asking, seeking and knocking is a place of deliverance, persistence, obedience, humility-building, belief-building, relationship-building and faith-building. It’s not JUST about seeing you GET what you WANT.
Father wants us to know that JUST BECAUSE ONE DOOR CLOSES it doesn’t mean you are to give up when HE IS DIRECTING YOU! It simply means you have to press harder. CLOSED DOORS build endurance, persistence and faith. CLOSED DOORS offer opportunities for GROWTH… and for your to rise above disappointment. It doesn’t always MEAN YOU HAVE MISSED GOD! YES, you may go to a DOOR that the Lord said GO TO… and that DOOR MIGHT BE CLOSED TO YOU! Does this mean that you missed HIM?
People of God, NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not necessarily. It means that – even in that – you must SEE CHRIST operating on your behalf… building and strengthening you…. TRAINING YOU, TEACHING YOU HOW TO PERSEVERE! This has been a difficult lesson for me personally… and I AM STILL being taught it. Again, this message is not for the beggars… and those who feast off others. It is for those WHO have right motives and are walking in the very vein of our Christ with His blood drenched over us…
It’s time to answer this question my brothers and sisters: “Why won’t you ask?” God has dealt with me DEEPLY with this and STILL DOES. I know without a shadow of a doubt that I've passed up MANY OPPORTUNITIES because pride and fear of MAN blocked me. When you CONFESS your answer from a repentant heart, Father is waiting to move with you to the next level. But we must MOOOOOOVE if we expect HIM TO MOVE on our behalf…
