Matthew 7:7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: (KJV)
Psalms 20:1 May the LORD answer you when you are in distress; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you. (New International Version)
Are you still wrestling with God?
Have you ever had someone quote Mathew 7:7 to you? If so, they wanted you to know whatever you were dealing with; the answer and the consolation is in God and His word. If your heart is heavy right now, or you have filled your mind with thoughts, you are trying to process; the word is still true. The ball is in your court. If you will ask God, He will give it to you what you need, if you ask believing and you ask according to His will.
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him [out]. (Amplified Bible, Classic Edition)
He already knows what you need. When you ask, you are simply submitting to His authority and will. If you continue to seek God, you’ll find Him.
Jeremiah 29:13 Then you will seek Me, inquire for, and require Me [as a vital necessity] and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. (Amplified Bible, Classic Edition)
In your search for answers to your life’s problems, you will find the Lord. If you continue your search past problem solving missions, you will get to the place where all you want is Him.
Psalm 27:4 One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek, inquire for, and [insistently] require: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord [in His presence] all the days of my life, to behold and gaze upon the beauty [the sweet attractiveness and the delightful loveliness] of the Lord and to meditate, consider, and inquire in His temple. (Amplified Bible, Classic Edition AMPC)
If you ask Him, He’ll open the door to the path He has ordained for your life. No one can shut a door that the Lord has opened. The path the Lord wants you to walk through is the one leading directly to Him. Jacob’s life is a pattern for Christians. Jacob struggled with God his entire life. As he matured in faith, he depended on God more and more. The turning point for Jacob came the last night of his journey back home from his search for a wife. He knew he was going to see Esau, and the thought of that encounter troubled him (Genesis 32). When the night was over, the Lord broke him, and also made him new (Genesis 32:22-32).
Genesis 32:28 And He said, Your name shall be called no more Jacob [supplanter], but Israel [contender with God]; for you have contended and have power with God and with men and have prevailed. (Amplified Bible, Classic Edition AMPC)
Is the situation you are dealing with the turning point for you? You give Him praise because He is Elohe Yakob [ē-lō-hē ya-kōb](God of Jacob). What God did for Jacob; He can do for you.
Please agree with me as I pray:
Father, I have heard the saying, Your arms are too short to box with God. Though that is true, I know I have tried to wrestle with You on more than one occasion. It makes no sense and is disrespectful to seek You, ask You for direction, and then fight with You about being obedient. I am sorry. There have been pivotal moments in my life where I had to make a decision that radically changed who I was. The first one was to accept Your invitation to salvation. I have made many more. Many more are yet to be made before Jesus returns. I repent and I will continue to repent until I no longer wrestle with You; I simply obey. Transform my life from glory to glory, from milestone to milestone. Change me until I look like, walk like, act like, and talk like You…
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Ask the Lord what He wants to say to you about today’s devotional and journal His response as described here.