Matthew 7:7-8 (NIV)
(Jesus spoke these words), “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”
This is a classic if/then passage of Scripture. There are many of these in the Holy Bible (see 2 Chr. 7:14 for one example). If you ask, it (whatever “it” is) will be given to you. If you seek, then you will find. If you knock, then the door will be opened to you (Jesus Himself knocks in Rev. 3:20). Verse 8 is very clear that everyone who asks receives. Everyone! No one is excluded! The remainder of this verse reaffirms the outcome of the seeker and the knocker. They will find and the door will be opened.
This sounds simple enough. But we must remember that God is not a vending machine. Have you ever experienced the frustration of pushing A20 (after investing your money) and your favorite candy or chips do not drop down to the bottom of the machine for you to retrieve? Some shake the machine. “Certainly, if I shake this hard enough I will get what I want,” they proclaim with confidence. We do this in our lives when we question God as to why our need is not being met. Some walk away from the vending machine upset. We can do this with God as well. Some laugh it off and say something like, “Well, I guess I was not meant to eat that.” I would suggest this is a healthy approach to the vending machine experience as well as your life-experiences with God.
God is not a vending machine. If it is His will, it will be given to you. If it is His will, you will find. If it is His will, the door will be opened to you.
Scripture supports that the will of God works hand-in-hand with your need or desire being met. Listed below are a few examples.
- Matthew 6:10 (HCSB) Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
- Ephesians 2:10 (ESV) For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
- Hebrews 13:20-21 (NKJV) Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
- 1 John 5:14-15 (NIV) This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of Him.
Be encouraged that if you abide in Christ and walk in God’s will, then your desires will become His desires. As a consequence, it will be given to you, you will find, and the door will be opened to you.
Copyright 2025 Michael Callahan Ministries, LLC
Well said Mike. Clear and concise. And very appropriate for my life today. I am ever working on my life in Him and can clearly see the work He is doing on my behalf.
Praise the Lord, Tina. It’s great you are at a stage of life where you realize this. Some never get there.
One of my professors once referred to this kind of thinking as “Gum Ball Theology.” If I name it and claim it, and put just the right amount of change in my prayers, God has to give me what I want, reducing God to a glorified Bell Hop. That is not God! God is God, and we must submit to His Almighty Will.
Hi Jimmy, That’s an interesting term, just a different kind of vending machine. “A glorified bell hop” is such an insulting way to think of God Almighty.
I am reminded of the Young Life song: Seek & ye shall find, knock and the door shall be opened, ask & it shall be given, & the love comes a tumbling down.
Funny how these songs stick in your brain.
It is interesting how a word, smell, area, or anything can jog a memory from years back.
I like the analogy of a vending machine, bring a little different perspective. I also think as we walk with Christ we desire to do His will, which becomes the desire of our hearts and He answers them. God transforms our desires to be His desires.
Hi Wayne,
Psa. 37:4
Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart (His desires).