5 Things God Is Telling You to Do If You Want “You Fill in the Blank” (Applying Matthew 7:7-11)

Do you have a strong desire for something that is not happening?

Perhaps you are waiting for your future husband or wife to be revealed to you, perhaps you are waiting for the doctor’s report that the cancer is gone, or perhaps you are asking Jesus to save an unbeliever you really care about.

What does the Bible say we should do when we have a desire we want God to fulfill? By studying Matthew 7:7-11, we can discover 5 things Jesus tells us to do when we desire something from God.

1. Really Go for It By Asking with Tremendous Faith Without Worrying About the Results

Matthew 7:7, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”

Instead of dealing with the confusion that could happen if God doesn’t answer you even though you really put yourself out there and had tremendous faith, many of us just don’t really go for it and we play it safe.

We reason, “Well, I know the Bible tells me to ask with faith. But life has also taught me that God doesn’t always answer the way I want even when I ask in faith.” Thus, sometimes we are afraid to have a lot of faith that God will answer because what if he doesn’t. What does that mean?

It’s true, verses like Matthew 7:7 can be easily misinterpreted and misapplied. On one hand, a verse like this seems like a blank check. We may say something like, “Just ask and God should answer exactly how you want. Right?”

On the other hand, we know this verse is not a blank check because we have asked, sought, and knocked and there have been times where we did not get exactly what we wanted. Thus, it’s tempting to gloss over this verse and say something like, “Well, I know I can’t just get whatever I want from God by simply asking. Right?”

The key to properly interpreting and applying this verse (and any other verse for that matter), is to read it in its full context and in in the context of the rest of the Bible. Scripture interprets Scripture. As you will see in points 4 and 5 of this article, the verses proceeding Matthew 7:7 smooths out the reality of asking and getting compared to asking and not getting, which are both biblical possibilities even though this singular verse just highlights the former.

Thus, the first step is simply to obey what the Bible says. When the Bible says to ask for something you want, just do it. Don’t explain it away. The Bible itself will give you the balance you need for when God doesn’t answer your prayer the way you want. When you get to those types of Bible verses, then you do what those verses say.

But here, in Matthew 7:7, Jesus said, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” Do exactly this. Stop. Pray. And wait for God to give you what you desire.

2. Ask with Your Actions Because You Believe that God Loves to Answer

Matthew 7:8, “For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”

If you have a strong desire for something that you know God can give you, Matthew 7:7-8 is telling you do something more than to just ask with your mouth. It is also telling you to ask with your actions. Seeking and knocking are forms of asking, but they connote more of an action that a verbal request.

And when we place this passage in the context of all of Scriptures, we know that all asking must be done in faith if you expect God to answer you (James 1:6-8). However, we also know that true faith will always be accompanied by actions and not just empty words (James 2:17, Ephesians 2:8-10).

The only way to ask with this type of faith is to first believe that God loves to answer our prayers. This is why Jesus started verse 8 with the word “For.” The “For” in verse 8 is the justification for doing what verse 7 said to do. Why should you ask, seek, and knock? Because God loves to give, to reveal, and to open.

In other words, when you ask the Lord for whatever it is you desire from him, you must have the faith to believe that he loves to bless his children. Without this belief, our prayers our hollow and our actions to receive those blessing will be lacking.

Yes, ask with your mouth and in your heart. But then get out there and seek what you are asking for and knock on the doors that need to be opened. Ask with your actions.

3. Go to the Father with the Heart of a Child

Matthew 7:9, “Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?”

Why does a child ask his father for bread? Because the child is completely dependent on the father. Without the father directly assisting the child, the child will have nothing.

This is the mindset Jesus tells us to have when we have a need from God (Matthew 18:3-4, John 15:5. Yes, we must ask with our actions. Yes, faith without works is dead. And yes, our Father will include us in what he does. However, none of these facts change the truth that we are completely and utterly dependent on the Father for everything good in our lives (James 1:16-17).

To believe otherwise is prideful, and pride repels the favor of God (James 4:10, 1 Peter 5:6)

4. Ask God for Good Things

Matthew 7:10, “Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?”

The nature of your request will directly affect God’s willingness to answer it. In Jesus’ analogy, there is clearly an emphasis on good verses bad. Bread is symbol of something good. A stone is a symbol of something bad. A fish is a symbol of something good. A serpent is a symbol of something bad. Jesus is highlighting the need to ask for good things if want God to give us good things.

It’s good to ask for a spouse. It’s not good to ask God for a spouse because you are addicted to sex and you think all your wildest fantasies will come true in marriage. It’s good to ask God for the resources you need. It’s not good to ask God for more money so you can boast about it to your friends.

Do you see the point? When you want something from God, you must make sure your motives for this desire are healthy. Otherwise, in love God won’t give it to you (James 4:3).

5. Trust that God’s Way Is Better than Our Way

Matthew 7:11, “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!”

So what if God doesn’t give you what you want? Does it mean you didn’t ask with your actions? Does it mean your motives were impure? Does it mean you did something wrong? No, it doesn’t automatically mean any of these things.

When you read the Scriptures in their full context, God does not promise to always give us what we want. Rather, he promises to always love us as our Heavenly Father. He promises to always do us good and not harm. Thus, whenever you want something from the Lord, you must submit to him regardless of whether you get that thing or not.

So truly ask in faith and truly follow God no matter what he does or does not give. If you do this, your heart will be full not matter what does or does not happen. When you are in full submission to God, you are accomplishing two things at the same time. First, you are putting yourself in a better position to receive the exact thing you want from God. And two, you are putting yourself in the best position to receive God’s best, which is a pure relationship with him.