Purpose

I have been realizing that one of the things I struggle with is purpose and my current lack of it. So I asked the Lord about it. That particular night, and I mean the very night I whispered a prayer to the Lord for purpose in my life, I turned to Luke to read the next chapter. It was chapter 11 and I read:

9 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.  
10 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

I was encouraged, I mean, he says every one that asks receives! And I began more earnestly to ask the Lord for some purpose in my life.

I am also reading, from time to time, a commentary on The Gospel of John by John Burgon (a very conservative Anglican from the 1800s). As you know, in John 4 Jesus encounters the Samaritan woman at the well. He asks her for a drink from the well and then offers her living water. Burgon writes:

“Next, we are struck with the form His Divine address to the woman takes. He wishes that she would ask of Him, in order that He might give. As a very ancient writer [Origen] profoundly remarks, - ‘No one can receive a Divine Gift who asks not for it.’ And he illustrates his observation by alleging the striking language of the second Psalm; where the Eternal Father, addressing His Son, says, “Ask of me and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance.’ So, in another place it is enjoined, ‘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.’

Of course, one of the things I thought about from this principle is the why of it. There must be a good reason for this. But more to the point, it was reinforced to me,

Ask God for what you need and don’t have. Ask and He will give it to you, you will find it, a door will be opened.

Well and good. I just need to ask and keep on asking in confidence and expectation; desiring and willing to receive what God has for me and reveals to me.

Since then I’ve come to another realization - there may be more to this. This not only applies to me for some future purpose for my life, this is part of my purpose. I’ve been reminded that there are those around me who need “divine gifts” and they will not receive them unless someone asks for them. That’s intercession – coming before God on behalf of someone else, and asking God to give them what they don’t know enough to ask for themselves.

Purpose. All I need now is to begin asking, seeking, knocking.