Don’t stop knocking

Matthew 7:7-11   7Keep on asking and it will be given you;  keep on seeking and you will find; keep on knocking [reverently] and [the door] will be opened to you.   8For everyone who keeps on asking receives; and he who keeps on seeking finds; and to him who keeps on knocking, [the door] will be opened.    9Or what man is there of you, if his son asks him for a loaf of bread, will hand him a stone?    10Or if he asks for a fish, will hand him a serpent?   11If you then, evil as you are, know how to give good and advantageous gifts to your children, how much more will your Father Who is in heaven [perfect as He is] give good and advantageous things to those who keep on asking Him!
We are told to ask and it will be given to us. Mark 11:22-24 says 22And Jesus, replying, said to them, Have faith in God [constantly]. 23Truly I tell you, whoever says to this mountain, Be lifted up and thrown into the sea! and does not doubt at all in his heart but believes that what he says will take place, it will be done for him.  24For this reason I am telling you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe (trust and be confident) that it is granted to you, and you will [get it]. When we mix faith with our requests, we see that we can have what we ask for. As today’s passage says we must keep on. To keep on means to continue steadily or obstinately despite problems, difficulties or obstacles, to refuse to budge. Many times we may start out in faith, but as circumstances and situations arise we let go of what we believe.
This is something I actually encountered today on a small scale. I was going to do some errands and as I was driving to my first stop, I got a tremendous pain in my head. My first thought was honestly, I should take an aspirin when I get back to the office. My second thought was- it says in the Word in Isaiah 53:5 5But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities; the chastisement [needful to obtain] peace and well-being for us was upon Him, and with the stripes [that wounded] Him we are healed and made whole. So I said right there in my car, “Thank you God that you died so that I don’t have to be in pain. You promise health and life in Your Word. Now pain I command you in the name of Jesus to leave my head right now and not come back!” The pain did not immediately go, but I know what the Word says and I believe it no matter what it looks like or feels like. When the devil tried to tell me, “You better take a Tylenol, the pain isn’t leaving” I said again, “Pain, I commanded you to leave. You have no place in my body, no place in my head and you can’t bother me anymore.” Almost instantly I began to feel the pain leave my head. About an hour later, I felt it try to creep back in, so I told it to leave again and it did. That’s persistence! I could have said after praying the first time, “Guess that didn’t work, get out the pain relievers”, but I have learned enough of the Word to be able to stand my ground. I am not saying there is anything wrong with taking an aspirin, but each one of us possesses power and authority over sickness and disease, and for that matter, over anything else that may try to come against us. We have to learn to stand our ground. To be obstinate and not to back up on what we believe. If we ask, we will receive. If we seek we will find, and if we knock the door will be opened to us. Just don’t quit on what you believe. Be persistent and you will see God come through for you every time!