Prayer Power

Written by La Von (Petey) Prater

Prayer Patterns – Ask, Seek, Knock

Are you asking God for something? Can we join you in prayer?

What do you need today? Scripture invites us to ask our Father in Heaven for everything.

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened” ( Matthew 7:7,8).

My husband and I are first generation believers; our parents didn’t serve God. We longed for them to know Jesus, apart from faith we wouldn’t see them in Heaven.

We spent years asking, seeking, knocking (a-s-k) for their salvation. It took 35 years for Dad Prater; he asked Jesus into his heart 2 weeks before he died. Don’s mom trusted Jesus 2 hours before she went to Heaven, at 94. Talk about the skin of your teeth!

Questions about faith? Bring your doubts
Why would I need faith?: Find some answers

I prayed for salvation for my own Dad forty years. Nine hours before an incapacitating stroke and four days before he died, he asked Jesus to be his Savior and Lord. Mom surrendered her life to Christ at 81, two years before she died. Wow, pretty close calls! But we serve a faithful God.

Forty years is a long time to pray, a lot of askin’, seekin’, knockin’. What if we’d given up? But we didn’t. We believed God’s word and kept knocking until Jesus changed their doubts to faith. And although we live 600 miles apart, Jesus nudged me home at the right time to lead them all in the sinner’s prayer right before their death. How awesome is that! Talk about faithfulness to the intercessor.

Webster’s dictionary defines what ask, seek, knock mean. You might be as surprised as I was at what I found.

Ask: “to request, to require, need, or desire.” We request with our voice, our mouth.

Seek: “to look for, search for” We look or search with our eyes.

Knock: “to strike or hit, especially with a noise.” We strike or knock with our hand.
(My Amplified Bible says we should knock “reverently”.)

So my voice requests, my eyes, both spiritual and physical, look for God’s answers, and my hand is knocking, by faith on His door. All three senses are involved in prayer. I hadn’t understood that before. Persevering faith believes God. And He answers, sometimes fast, sometimes slow.

Jesus said if we know how to give good gifts to our children, “how much more will your Father in Heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him!” Matthew 7:11

What gift do you need today? Are you asking God for help? For healing? For salvation? Need rent money? Ask out loud, Jesus will hear. Seek His face, fasten your eyes on Him. Keep on knocking ‘til Heaven’s door swings wide. He loves to meet our needs.

Lord Jesus, I pray for my friends. Give them the gift of faith to ask, seek, knock. To persevere in prayer until they hold the prize they seek. We trust you, Generous Faithful Father. Amen.

Questions: What do you need today?

About the Author Petey Prater

Tags: ask, death, doubts, faith, faithfulness, Father, heaven, intercessor, Knock, Petey Prater, Prayer Patterns, salvation, Scripture, Seek

7 Responses to “Prayer Power”

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Petey Prater says:

October 17, 2009 at 9:45 am

Father, thank you that you never allow anything into the life that is hidden in you except what we can handle for your purposes, for gain to us and to your kingdom. Be with all who hurt today, especially Wilma. Help her to run to your sure comforting arms. You never turn us away but are always available to hold us and teach us your ways. We submit our lives to you again, asking you to give answers or grace. Release us from problems or…use our problems to get great glory to yourself, Lord. Then we are willing to suffer, if it is for your glory’s sake. We love you, Lord, and lean into your word and your character that our faith might be strong. Thank you for your presence always with us. Amen. hugs, petey
wilma says:

October 17, 2009 at 9:02 am

I hurt so bad sometimes but I know that I have grace to hold on to Gods never ending love.
kanj says:

October 16, 2009 at 6:09 pm

i want for nothing but for family i pray that they will accept Jesus Christ fully into their lives. thanks be to God for all His blessings
Petey Prater says:

October 10, 2009 at 1:30 pm

Father, thank you for always hearing us, for sifting our prayers and answering Your way, in Your timing, perfectly. You love us, Jesus, and will not give us stone for bread or turn away from our heart crys for help. Encourage our faith today. Continue to teach us from Mt 8 that we are to ask humbly, with faith, and with perserverance. Continue to grow our faith so that whatever we face we will have that mustard seed of faith for that problem. Help us to also receive prayer from our believing friends and not be ‘lone rangers’and isolate ourselves in pride. Make us transparent and grateful, constantly watching for answers so that we give You the praise and glory for these things that we cannot accomplish on our own. You desire us to grow up and not groan up. Help us, Lord. We trust You. Blessings on your heads and hearts, petey
Cyndi says:

October 10, 2009 at 8:44 am

I needed this reminder today. Last night I was feeling like my prayers were going no place. Waiting on God’s time to answer my prayers is so hard. I am so much from the instant generation. Thanks for the reminder to keep praying and trusting. I just read Mathew 7:11 last night and now here it is again today. Guess God is trying to tell me some thing.
Gail says:

October 10, 2009 at 7:29 am

Certainly God answers prayer. Recently I prayed for our estranged daughter to come and see me. She doesn’t even live in our country and I was in bed recovering from surgery. Yet, God graciously answered my prayers, and those of my girlfriends and allowed my daughter to come and visit me, hug me and hold my hand while I prayed. God is so good! I do believe, however, that we should not be asking God for frivolous things, for wealth and material blessings. If we sincerely desire God’s best for us we need to pray in line with his revealed will.
Tina says:

October 10, 2009 at 6:22 am

My kids are with there Dad this week and I passed by his house last night coming from dinner and saw that he was having a party. I heart droped and said my kids are there I hope they are not doing anything wrong with my kids in the house. I started to cry on my way home cause I was thinking about them. So when I got home I went to my little girls room and pray for her and that God would put a hedge of protection around her and I did the same for my little boy. I had to be at work this morning at 5:45am so I opened my email and the pray power was the devotional for today. To me that was Gods way of saying I heard your prayer and dont stop praying they will be answered.