Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find.
你 们 祈 求 ， 就 给 你 们 ； 寻 找 ， 就 寻 见 。

Jesus said today’s verse when he was teaching people about praying to God. It is quite an amazing thing to say. If we ask, God will give us what we ask for. If we seek (search) for something, we will find it. Wow.

If we dig a little bit deeper, though, we find something interesting. Remember that Jesus didn’t speak English and our Bibles are translations of Aramaic, the language he spoke. The words “ask” and “seek” in this verse actually mean “keep on asking” and “keep on seeking”. So Jesus was actually saying something like this:

Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find [what you are looking for]. (Matthew 7:7 – New Living Translation)

So Jesus said if we ask God for something and we don’t get it, we should not give up, but keep asking. If we are looking for something, including answers to our questions about God, we need to keep on looking. God will answer us when the time is right. And maybe as we pray and seek, God will change our hearts so we want something better. God is wise and knows better than we do what we really want. So let’s keep on praying!

Our Father, you love us so much. You want to give us what we ask for and search for. Help us be patient if you don’t answer us right away. Help us keep on praying and searching. We trust you. Amen.