Ask and it will be given

**~~Wu'a'ihiwalu~~** · June 16, 2009, 07:18 PM

How do you interpret the following passage of the Bible? (Matthew 7:7-8)

Ask, Seek, Knock

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.

**Imperator Romani** · June 16, 2009, 07:22 PM

Remember God doesn't answer all prayers. He is wiser than any of us could hope to be. We may be asking for vinegar when he wants us to have the water(metaphorically speaking). If you ask for the right things then I believe it will be given to you. But sometimes bad things have to happen so good will happen. And also, atheists are gonna be tearing this thread up with their jokes.

**Playfishpaste** · June 16, 2009, 07:27 PM

If you have an open mind, you will learn. If you have a closed one you won't.

If your heart isn't in what you do, you won't get anything out of it.

Those are the two ways I see that.

**~~Wu'a'ihiwalu~~** · June 16, 2009, 07:34 PM

Well, I liked both interpretations. +rep to both of you

Here is mine, a little bit nerd-ish:

If you have dreams, you're seeing a mirror of the future, a prospective reflection on the history of humankind and your life in it. You are supposed to be happy and your purpose is to live a life of joy and pleasure.

**CtrlAltDe1337** · June 16, 2009, 10:10 PM

Originally Posted by Ho'oponopono

Well, I liked both interpretations. +rep to both of you

Here is mine, a little bit nerd-ish:

If you have dreams, you're seeing a mirror of the future, a prospective reflection on the history of humankind and your life in it. You are supposed to be happy and your purpose is to live a life of joy and pleasure.

Quaint, but it has nothing to do with the passage, quite frankly.

**Chaigidel** · June 16, 2009, 08:38 PM

Revelations can be terrible sometimes, one should not always expect the Will of the Father to be benevolent.

but all prayers are answered so one should guard very carefully what one dwells upon.

**Pontifex Maximus** · June 16, 2009, 11:36 PM

Originally Posted by Ho'oponopono

How do you interpret the following passage of the Bible? (Matthew 7:7-8)

Ask, Seek, Knock

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.

"blah blah blah, incoherent rambling, blah."

The passage is altogether untrue when applied to every day life and even with speaking to god. God does not answer all prayers, nor does it make an attempt to explain itself. Not everybody who asks receives. That is a (sorry) dumb thing to say. I asked god to give me faith and a reason to believe many times, but he always says the same thing. "......"

**roy34543** · June 16, 2009, 11:54 PM

If you ask for something persistently and long enough, eventually it will be given to you.

**Carpathian warrior** · June 17, 2009, 12:08 AM

What would you want? a gregorian voice telling you I'm God.

**nopasties** · June 17, 2009, 12:21 AM

I'm willing to bite on the idea god as the originator but to believe god is actively in our lives is nothing more than faith. It takes alot of faith on your part to ask us to believe the same thing you do. In the absence of any verifiable existence of god I don't believe he is there. God is not all knowing, all powerful and all loving and here all the time. What you experience is a comforting fact that you are convinced so. Coming here and asking us to confirm such a thing is what I would call a lie, I don't believe so and would be untruthful to tell you so.

**~~Ummon~~** · June 17, 2009, 03:11 AM

If you really desire something, you will act to achieve it. If you really act to achieve it, you will succeed. It is to be considered what one looks forward to.

**~~Arch-hereticK~~** · June 17, 2009, 06:27 AM

My family priest said it like this; look and you'll find something, you might not like it. Open the door you might not like it, something's there. But knock (and be patient) you will find truth and it's good.

You don't have to be religious to appreciate good quotes like that by the way.

**black-dragon** · June 17, 2009, 06:48 AM

An empty promise from a guy with a pretty bad track record.

**Chaigidel** · June 17, 2009, 06:52 AM

@ponti-- but god did answer you, you have faith in nothing now, which is closer to god than you can imagine.

**Pontifex Maximus** · June 17, 2009, 12:16 PM

Originally Posted by Chaigidel

@ponti-- but god did answer you, you have faith in nothing now, which is closer to god than you can imagine.

I deny the source of my disbelief is that which I refuse to believe in.

**pericles_plato** · June 17, 2009, 12:02 PM

For the seek, if you truly surch for God you will find him.

I gotta think for the ask

Ask, if you ask God with all your heaart it shall be given. The ask cannot be a sin like please God help me kill this guy and such.

Knock, God accepts all of us he leaves the doors open none closes. We knock on a door that door will open and it will stay open.

**Aldgarkalaughskel** · June 17, 2009, 12:14 PM

Originally Posted by Ho'oponopono

How do you interpret the following passage of the Bible? (Matthew 7:7-8)

Ask, Seek, Knock

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.

If your mind is set on a goal with the strength of steel, your actions are consistent, you follow through, you will see results.

**Chaigidel** · June 17, 2009, 12:17 PM

**Bongfu** · June 17, 2009, 01:04 PM

This is just the early christian interpretations of ancient philosophy. These have nothing to do with their literally sense, like asking God for a slice of bread. They are simply saying that those who go knocking on Wisdom's door will have a new world of truth open to them (see what I did there

)

**basics** · June 17, 2009, 05:25 PM

To understand the words of Jesus in this instance we have to know that He was talking to men and women who, in a little while, the Holy Ghost would fall on. The same is written in Revelation where Jesus says that He stands at the door and knocks and whosoever opens it He will come in to sup with them.

This is taken like the above to be for unbelievers, but it is not. These words are directed at them who will be believers and in the latter case them who are. John writes that God does not hear the prayers of unbelievers and this being taken as true, it follows that both the sayings mentioned are for no-one but them converted.

Now this flows with the rest of Scriptural promise where in one case Jesus concludes that we should ask in His name for anything and believing, it will be given. Why so? Because we who are Christian, born again, live not by the old nature anymore but by the power of God who dwells within us. Examples are plain to see in the writings of the Apostles.

Of course this will come under much ridicule and most likely from them that have never had their wishes, their prayers, answered, therefore it is in their eyes a load of codswollop. But we who have the Lord Jesus Christ in our hearts and the Holy Ghost in our souls know differently and experience differently from them that do not.

It is however true that we shouldn't ask for the ridiculous, not that that could not be given, but that God is not the Saviour of worldly accomplishments but the Saviour of them that need separation from such. We belong to something greater than that, much higher than that, so as we progress we see Jesus as the centre of our prayers.