Ask | Seek | Knock
Here is a recap of Sunday’s message from Pastor Steve: “Ask | Seek | Knock”
We leaned into Jesus’ promise of access and His call to action in Matthew 7:7–14. This wasn’t a game show moment with mystery doors, it was Jesus laying out a Kingdom roadmap. Door 1 is prayer (Ask–Seek–Knock), Door 2 is people (the Golden Rule), and Door 3, purpose (the Narrow Gate) is coming next week. The thread tying it all together was simple and strong: faith doesn’t gamble; faith moves. Real prayer leads to real love, and the way we treat people reveals how deeply we’ve actually been with the Father.
Pastor painted the three “doors” like this:
Behind Door 1 is access to the Father’s heart. Behind Door 2 is a life that looks like Jesus. Door 3 will press us into purpose through the narrow way. None of this is chance…it’s choice. Jesus shows that Kingdom living is a continual, persistent pursuit, asking, seeking, knocking and then translating that encounter with God into how we treat our neighbor.
Practical takeaways:
• Prayer isn’t a coin toss, it’s confident access. Come boldly; keep knocking when heaven feels quiet.
• Persistence matters. When you’re tired, offended, tempted, or even when life is easy we seek Him.
• Choose the right door. Culture hustles and schemes; disciples ask the Father.
• The Golden Rule becomes the “Jesus Rule”: love as He loved, not merely as you prefer to be loved.
• You can’t knock on heaven’s door for miracles and ignore your neighbor’s door for mercy.
• If time with God doesn’t change how you treat people, you found a hallow religion, not the Father.
A picture that stuck: the intensity of searching for lost keys or that late night cereal box. You don’t casually glance, you seek with intention. That’s the cadence Jesus gives: keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking. And the story of the woman with the issue of blood reminded us that faith doesn’t just believe, it reaches out. She pressed through the crowd and touched Jesus’ robe. That’s the kind of pursuit that opens doors.
Below are the verses that were read during the message.
Matthew 7:7–14 (CEV)
7 Ask, and you will receive.
Search, and you will find.
Knock, and the door will be opened for you.
8 Everyone who asks will receive.
Everyone who searches will find.
And the door will be opened for everyone who knocks.
9 Would any of you give your hungry child a stone, if the child asked for some bread?
10 Would you give your child a snake, if the child asked for a fish?
11 As bad as you are, you still know how to give good things to your children.
But your heavenly Father is even more ready to give good things to people who ask.
12 Treat others as you want them to treat you.
This is what the Law and the Prophets are all about.
13 Go in through the narrow gate.
The gate to destruction is wide, and the road that leads there is easy to follow.
A lot of people go through that gate.
14 But the gate to life is very narrow.
The road that leads there is so hard to follow that only a few people find it.
Hebrews 4:16 (NLT)
“So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive His mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.”
James 4:2 (NLT)
“You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it.”
Mark 5:27–29 (NLT)
“She had heard about Jesus, so she came up behind Him through the crowd and touched His robe. For she thought to herself, ‘If I can just touch His robe, I will be healed.’ Immediately the bleeding stopped, and she could feel in her body that she had been healed of her terrible condition.”
John 13:34–35 (NLT)
“So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
A closing encouragement from the service: Two doors stand open today, Prayer and People. Return to the Father’s presence, then let His presence flow through you to others. Choose to seek God deeper. Choose to love again, forgive again, serve again. Come open handed and open hearted, because when you open your door, He opens His.