Ask, and you will receive. Search, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Whoever seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door is opened. – Matthew 7:7-8
For the past few years, I’ve been watching Transformation Church online services. Last year, the church’s pastor, Michael Todd, delivered an amazing sermon series entitled “Crazy Faith” (Note: If you have not seen it please go to YouTube and watch it here). As part of the series, Pastor Dharius Daniels, delivered a message entitled “Blazy Faith.” The message was amazing, but a particular statement Daniels made stopped me dead in my tracks: "God will let you live on whatever level you settle for." Are you truly living your best life or are you settling for less than God's best?
In the world of Christendom, we make constant declarations of abundant life and God doing exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think (Ephesians 3:20). However, sometimes we are under the false impression that we are “living our best lives” and experiencing God's best, when, in fact, we really are just settling. The full context of the scripture in Ephesians 3:20 states that God “…is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.”
It is important to pay attention to the phrases “is able” and “according to the power that works in us.” For example, as a parent, you may have the financial ability to purchase your 16-year-old teenager a new vehicle, but whether or not you do so may depend on your child’s responsibleness, maturity, trustworthiness, and behavior. So yes, God is able to do exceedingly above all we can think or imagine, but our faith, obedience, spiritual maturity, and willingness to settle determines the level God will take us. Maybe you have been praying for God to take you to the next level and are wondering why it hasn’t happened. Has it ever occurred to you that you may be receiving less than God’s best because you have been willing to settle for less?
As long as we can live with less than God’s best, we will. That is a powerful truth. Some of you have an insatiable hunger for all God has for you and will pursue it relentlessly. For others, you have to get sick and tired of being sick and tired before you aggressively pursue God’s best. We must have a holy dissatisfaction with mediocrity to experience all that God has for us. Richard Blackaby author of Experiencing God Day by Day sums it up nicely by stating:
Why is it that some Christians seem to go so much deeper in their walk with God than others? Why have some had such powerful intercessory prayer ministries that have changed the courses of nations? Why has God chosen to anoint the words of some so that, when they speak or pray or preach, it is obvious that their words are consecrated by God? It is because these individuals have committed themselves to pursue God until His presence is powerfully real in their lives. They have decided to settle for nothing less than a vibrant relationship with God, and He has honored their desire.
Don’t get it twisted, this type of devotion does not happen accidentally or automatically. Words like “knock,” “search,” and “ask” are all action verbs. An action verb is “a verb that expresses physical or mental action” (softschools.com). God is telling us in Matthew 7:7-8 that we have to engage in action. God places much of the burden of what you will become on our response to Him, and whether you in fact live the best life God has for you rests upon your response and your desire to experience God to the fullest. (Richard Blackaby, Experiencing God Day by Day). Plainly stated, if you don’t pursue it, you won’t get it.
It is important to notice that Matthew 7:7-8 does not provide guidance on how often we need to knock, ask, or search. It does not state knock once, or try to search, or ask 3 times. Likewise, the scripture state how long it will take for the door to open after we knock. Sometimes you knock once, and God answers immediately. However, there other times where God may take days, months, or years. During those times we are to continue to trust Him. God's time is not our time, His thoughts are not our thoughts, and His ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9). Regardless, don’t give up and don’t settle. Keep moving in faith until you receive God’s best.
Jeremiah 29: 12-13 says: “Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.” The key is to seek God with ALL your heart. You have to be intentional that you will not live with anything less than God’s best. Hear me when I say this: You were not born to be mediocre or average. People may have told you that you are not “normal” or that you are “weird.” Don’t get offended when they say that because they are right. You were not created to be normal. God has placed extraordinary gifts and talents within you that He wants to use for the betterment of His kingdom, the world, and those around you. There is greatness in you, and because God is great, you were made in the image of greatness.
In the same Crazy Faith series, the church encouraged people to write to them about things they were believing in crazy faith that God would do in their lives. One woman wrote that she was trusting God to pay off all her bills, except her mortgage. Many times, we are like that woman (I know I have been at times), and we pray these “God if” prayers. The “God if” prayers go a little something like this: “God if you can just bless me with enough money to make it to tomorrow,” or “God if you can just make me feel a little better, you don’t have to totally heal me,” or “God if you can just bless me with any type of spouse, I would be thankful.”
However, the church’s response to the woman’s request mirrors God's responses to us at times: the church blessed woman with enough money to pay off her bills and an additional $50,000 to put towards her mortgage. How many times have we prayed a “God if” prayer and God exceeded our expectations and reminded us of how great He is and all that He can do?
Psalm 24:1 says the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof. God made everything and owns everything. So, whatever we need, God already has. That’s why God is the I Am that I Am (Exodus 3:14). For instance, if we need healing, the word already says by His stripes we are healed (1 Peter 2:24). If we need joy, the joy of the Lord is our strength (Psalm 28:7; Nehemiah 8:10). Whatever you are believing God for, DON’T SETTLE (yes, I’m screaming at you through my all caps LOL). I know you may have been waiting, and experiencing disappointment after disappointment, delay after delay, rejection after rejection, and heartbreak after heartbreak, but know that God can and will come through. Trust God, believe, and be obedient to His word. Don’t stop knocking, searching, and asking. God wants you to have life and life more abundantly. When we settle, we shortchange ourselves and we inhibit God from showing up in all His fullness so that He can get the glory. So, go and live your best lives!
- Chan
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