The Faith Progression
“And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” Luke 11:9 & 10
It appears that many Christians believe that the intensity exerted when praying; or the volume of their voices when praying; reflects their ability to receive an immediate response to their request. They haven’t realized that God is not impressed with the words that they may use…. Or the urgency that they seem to be experiencing! They fail to realize that every situation that they embark upon is designed to bring them into a place where their total dependence is on the Lord. God always desires that our level of faith be increased …. And that we don’t become to worry nor lose our focus.
I often refer to Paul’s request to the Lord in reference to the “thorn in the flesh”. The Bible specifically states that he sought the Lord three times. Why was the number of times mentioned? Could it be that Paul wasn’t accustomed to making a request that many times? Today, Paul would have said, “Come on Lord…I’ve already asked you 3 times…what’s up? Why haven’t you done what I’ve asked you yet?”
Now, I know enough about God, my Father, to understand that He is omniscient (all knowing, all seeing and very well informed!). Therefore God doesn’t have to place me in a given situation and watch my reactions or responses to know what I will do. He has already known exactly what my responses will be prior to me even being born.
However, I must undergo a progression in my level of faith that will bring forth to me the manifestation and the revelation of God’s response to my request. Sometimes we can simply “Ask”- something….and the answer is given. Everyone has that level of faith. Then there are times when we must dig a little deeper.. – the “Seeking” level. (It’s like when you can’t find something and someone else comes in… moves a few things around and discovers what you couldn’t find! You may have looked -but they sought.) The seeking level is when the revelation of an answer to our prayers may require that our level of faith be increased to the extent, that we can see the answer that God has already given to us.
Then there’s the “Knocking” level. Knocking expresses repetitive motion. It implies that there is a barrier or a blockage in front of me – something preventing me from gaining that access that I so desire. So at this level, God is attempting to get me to advance outside of my comfort zone. The knocking level of faith implies that I’m not longer praying the same prayer; but I’m praying strategically, focused in faith. I’ve taken the necessary measures to destroy whatever is preventing me from receiving the access to God’s response to my request. In other words…the spiritual tone of my praying has shifted.
Walking by faith in God requires that we understand the principles of Asking, Seeking and Knocking. Strangely enough, if we take the first letter from each of those words we will form the word “ASK”. Therefore, the faith progression could simply be that we’ve learned to:
Approach the throne of God,
Scripturally present for my request,
Keep my focus until……!!!
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