Reverend J. Loren Russell
Matthew 7:7-8 NKJV
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”
The beginning of a new year is the perfect time for resolutions. Everyone is looking for ways to improve themselves, be it personal, physical, emotional, financial, educational, relational, or spiritual. Some people make resolutions that are inclusive of all of them, and I believe they are all blessings the Lord wants you to have. I believe the formation of a resolution is a sign of the blessings the Lord wants you to have.
There are various ways to approach these improvement opportunities to make them become a reality. We read books, join health and fitness clubs, go back to school, start investment programs, set up budgets, repair broken relationships, and commit to being more intentional in attending church and/or reading the Bible (or whatever your faith dictates). The fact is, we go to great lengths to improve ourselves and accomplish our resolutions.
In chapter 6 of the book of Matthew, Jesus commanded that we pray. Prayer is the appointed means of achieving our resolutions and obtaining the desires of our hearts. Chapter 7 shares the practicality of prayer and how it, for some, can be a new formula, yet an old method
The method is clear, ask, seek, and knock. Ask as a beggar asks for a donation. Ask as a lost traveler asks for directions. Ask for support and supply according to His promise. We are directed to seek, as one seeks after things of value. Seek, as the sea merchants searches for valuable pearls. Seek to be in the presence of the Lord. Then we are told to knock. We are to knock like one who seriously desires to enter the presence of the Lord. To knock like one who sincerely desires to converse with God. To knock like one who wants God’s love, God’s favor, and to be in God’s kingdom!
Asking, seeking, and knocking is a formula and encouragement to be determined as well as consistent. It is not asking once and going away; not seeking once and turning back; not knocking once and getting discouraged. We are to ask, seek and knock with persistence. If your new year resolution is good enough to conceive, it is good enough to continue pursuing until it is obtained. Ask! Seek! Knock!
If you made New Year’s resolutions or not, let me share this quote with you and encourage you to use it as your personal New Year affirmation,
“I will use this new formula from an old method to claim the blessings the Lord has for me in 2023!”
Be Blessed!
Rev. J. Loren Russell is an associate minister at Goodwill Baptist Church and is the spiritual leader of both LaGree Baptist Church and the Evangelical Church of God, all in the Bronx, President/CEO of The JLR Company for Church Financial & Strategic Consulting (718-328-8096), and hosts “Matters of Faith – The Radio Show” on Monday nights from 8:00 – 10:00 PM on Facebook Live. Be sure to Friend “Matters of Faith” on YouTube and email us at mattersoffaith.mof@gmail.com. Order your copy of Matters of Faith: The eBook at www.smash words.com/books/view/993177
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