Matthew 7:7-8 (NIV) “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
In Matthew 7:7-8 Jesus is calling us to a lifestyle of persistent prayer. That stands in sharp contrast to the flash-in-the-pan style of Christianity so popular in our day that calls for nothing but a profession (and maybe baptism) and lacks any real perseverance. Kingdom citizens persist in desiring that the character, ambitions, attitudes, and behavior that Jesus called for be shown consistently in our lives (because how do you know a tree?). Yet, we realize how impossible this is given our weaknesses, our propensity for sin, and our lack of power to obey. So, we are to call upon the God of the impossible because with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26). In other words, what Jesus has commanded in attitude, ambition, behavior, and deed cannot be done apart from persistent, ongoing, regular, faithful prayer. You can read all the books about the Bible, you can watch all the latest, interesting videos on YouTube, you can attend what you believe to be the “right” church. But if you are not committed and consistent in praying about your own spiritual needs and development, and persistently looking to the Lord for grace to follow Christ, then you will be sorely lacking in the practice of kingdom citizenship.