Have you wondered why some people seem to live in the Lord’s (God’s) presence 24/7/365 and others only step into it from time to time? How we seek time with the Lord will greatly influence how much time we spend in His presence. All too often we come to His door, knock once maybe twice and then convince ourselves that “no One” is home and we will try again tomorrow, walking away without ever stepping into His presence or hearing His voice. The problem with allowing ourselves to think this way and putting off seeking God until “tomorrow” is that tomorrow never comes…it is always “today”. The more we put off seeking God and settle for the “no One” is home answer, the easier it is to become luke-warm to His Spirit and in our spiritual walk. What we should do when we feel like “no One” is home is KEEP KNOCKING until He answers. If you knock long enough and hard enough, he WILL answer, just like the friend in Luke 11:5-13.
The other night someone told to me they were unable to hear from the Lord recently, because when they sit quietly in prayer and meditation all they hear are “crickets” instead of the Lord. When they hear crickets it feels like no one is home to listen and so they walk away with the “promise” they will try again later. The question is does “later” ever come, or does it take something happening in their life to take them back to that spot on their knees? Unfortunately for most people, it takes the “something happening in their life” before they return to try knocking again. Hearing crickets when you are seeking the Lord can be frustrating, because you do not feel like the Lord is listening…Do not fret, He is listening to your every word! He is waiting for you to knock and knock and knock until you “knock” the door open. During these “cricket” periods (some may call it a wilderness); we must continue to pray it through until we hear the answer and know the Lord is there with us.
When our two sons were younger, they would go to a friend’s house down the road and knock on the door to see if their friend could play. If no one answered the door, they would keep knocking for a period of time and maybe even look in the windows to see if anyone was home. If that did not create the result they were looking for (someone answering the door), they would go to the neighbor’s house and knock until someone answered that door. Once they found someone home, they would ask if the neighbor knew where their friend went and when they would be home. They would complete their mission by returning to the friend’s house at the time they were scheduled to return (if the time was known) to knock again, until the friend answered the door or repeat the process again. It did not matter that the friend did not answer the door the first time they knocked; they kept returning to knock until someone opened a door and gave them an answer. This is the persistence we need to have when we seek the Lord.
Our time with the Lord should be a “scheduled” appointment we would not miss for anything, with enough “buffer time” created on the end of the appointment to allow overflow if the Lord chooses to keeps us in His presence. When we seek the Lord, we must surrender our timeline, our desires, and our answers. We must be willing to knock and knock and knock and not give up or put it off until a later time. He will reward those to diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:3).