Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened (Matthew 7:7-8).
This promise in the Sermon on the Mount encourages us to take our needs, thoughts, and questions to the Lord. When He was no longer on this earth, Jesus reversed this image with John the Revelator: “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him” (Revelation 3:20). When a door seems to separate the individual and the Savior, a gentle knock will bring them together, but the mortal must make the choice.
Knocking at Doors
Some are irritated by knocking likely to damage ears or door. As I mentioned in one of my books, “The Lord didn’t say, I stand at the door and bang.” 1 And He doesn’t expect us to bang. The Lord doesn’t use wind, earthquakes, or fires to deliver blessings (1 Kings 19). Knocking gently and asking gently are His loving ways.
Some don’t answer a door knock because they do not recognize the person knocking. Some do not recognize the Savior’s knock because they do not really know Him. Surface knowledge and casual obedience aren’t enough to understand who He is and what kind of relationship He wants with us. So we may have an unsteady knock and fail to recognize a gentle knock from Him.
A door knock can interrupt work or pleasure that someone doesn’t want interrupted. A duty, a project, entertainment, or social media or other device distraction may seem to require our full attention NOW! Distraction is a favorite tool of Satan. Surely we can return the visit later—but will we?
Fear of judgment often prevents a knock or an answer to one, whether the individual has untidy grooming, an untidy house, or untidy spiritual habits. But the Lord wants contact from or to us to help, heal, and show His love for us, not to rebuke us for weaknesses and mistakes.
But we may find it difficult to initiate a gentle knock or to act on a gentle knock we receive.
Preparing a Gentle Knock
President Russell M. Nelson noted that “[the] door is opened when we pray to our Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus Christ” and that “prayer begins with individual initiative.” 2
Milton Carmago described such initiative: “To knock is to act in faith,” adding that “when we actively follow Him, the Lord opens the way before us.” This leader informed us that though asking may seem like a simple matter, “it is powerful because it reveals our desires and our faith.” 3
We need to examine, recognize, and understand our true desires and the nature of our faith as we approach the Lord. Our faith and activity indicate that we will respond to help, whether we knock or hear a knock.
Seeking and receiving revelation often accompany love for and service to others. Elder Gerrit W. Gong shared that when seeing this treatment of His other children,
I think the Lord gives us an extra measure of His love for them and therefore for us. I think we hear His voice —we feel Him in a different way—as we pray to help those around us because that’s one of the prayers that he most wants to answer.4
Receiving His Response
Immediate needs are answered immediately, especially if physical or spiritual danger requires action. But God in His infinite knowledge and mercy may not respond to a gentle knock immediately. Patience and humility are developed when we learn to wait without losing faith or enthusiasm. And many of us need the growth that comes from working out a challenge for ourselves. As the Lord told Oliver Cowdery when his request to translate was delayed,
You must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you . . . But if it be not right . . . you shall have a stupor of thought. (Doctrine and Covenants 9:7-9)
Sometimes we need to study things out, and sometimes we need to know what a stupor of thought feels like.
Whether we initiate a gentle knock or the Savior does, we may take hope from this scriptural assurance: “If thou shalt ask, thou shalt receive revelation upon revelation, knowledge upon knowledge, that thou mayest know the mysteries and peaceable things—that which bringeth joy, that which bringeth life eternal” (Doctrine and Covenants 42:61). In 1831 when this revelation was received, conditions required the addition of “in mine own due time.”
President Henry B. Eyring recently assured us,
The Lord speaks to us personally through the Holy Ghost. As we pray and then heed the Spirit’s promptings, we gain greater insights and blessings to guide us through the increasingly difficult days ahead . . . we can be taught by and learn from the Spirit line upon line, receiving what we need, and then when we are ready, we will receive more.”5
Whether a gentle knock comes from us or from the Lord, we must be ready to listen.
- Shut down the noise. Worldly influencers may pound; God and His children do not.
- Shut out distractions. Voices of devices must not dim the voice of the Lord.
- Silence interruptions. Have shielded times and spaces where the door is your own.
- Accept the love. Though He may correct problems, God does not judge you as flawed or unworthy, but as He knows who you are and can be.
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