Ask, Seek, Knock

Thursday March 5

Readings: Est C:12, 14-16, 23-25; Mt 7:7-12

The lectionary for today pairs a reading from Esther when she offers a heartfelt plea to the Lord with Jesus’ famous words from the end of the Sermon on the Mount: ask and you shall receive, seek and you will find, knock and it shall be opened.

When I read the story of Esther, I am not sure that I have ever prayed like that or had to pray like that.  This is the prayer of a person who feels utterly alone with no one but God to count on.

Maybe you’ve prayed like that before or faced times when you cried out to God for help. 

In recent weeks, I have had the privilege of speaking with some women of deep faith who I think can relate to Esther.  These are poor, Black women running out of options for rent, food, and people to rely on.  They have faced decades of challenge, loss and oppression.  And they pray hard every day.

And I know people in recovery from addiction who hit their knees everyday and pray to God for the strength to stay clean one more day – knowing full well that if they go back to the streets they will not come back this time.

It is to these people that I think Jesus is speaking when he says, “ask and you shall receive, knock and it shall be opened.”

In our ATM , endless options culture, I think that we can sometimes envision prayer like a vending machine where we put in our selection and expect that our selection will drop down for us.   Yet we know from the saints and mystics that prayer is all about relationship.  It has little to do with “getting what we want” or trying to convince God to act on our behalf.  Prayer is how we orient ourselves in the world – a recognition that we are radically dependent on God for everything.  And it seems that some of the most challenging times in our lives bring us back to this realization.

In so many ways, prayer is about trust.  Trust that God hears us. Trust that God moves in our lives.  Trust that God moves in the world.  Trust that even if we do not get what we prayed for that God has not forgotten us.

And so Jesus urges us to stay persistent and present.  Keep seeking, asking and knocking.

For today, just sit with God in silence and trust that God is with you.