Winter 1981
Levels in Prayer
Sherrol Rustay
Pinecrest Student

“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 natural life is governed by laws and principles such as gravity and mathematics. As we follow on into the spirit realm we also find laws and principles concerning the attitudes of our hearts, which govern our spiritual lives.

ASK

The “asking” level is usually the first and simplest form of prayer. Examples of scriptures dealing with our asking in prayer are: Matthew 18:19, 21:22; John 14:13-14, 15:7, 16:24; James 1:5, I John 5:14-15. Here we see that there are conditions to our receiving that for which we have asked.

Consider the confusion (even obliteration) in which we would find ourselves if Christians were to receive everything for which they prayed. We cannot isolate one scripture but must read the whole. Such phrases as “in My name,” “That the Father may be glorified in the Son,” “If ye abide in Me and My words abide in you,” according to His will, “tell us that receiving what we ask is conditional and needs to be according to His Word and His will. It is not always the will of God to do the things He could do, or what we wish He would do. Therefore, we must find His purpose; often He desires to accomplish something in us (e.g. faith or spiritual maturity) or in another for whom we are praying, more than He wants our prayer requests answered. As long as our will coincides with His, and as long as we ask in accordance with the heart of God, He can give to us what we desire. We must learn to pray in godly perspective, not according to the flesh; we must recognize that often we do not realize what God is seeking to accomplish in us. We are to trust, love and worship Him rather than think we could possible ever explain Him.

A person’s entire prayer life can remain in this gift realm of asking. It includes salvation, baptism in the Holy Spirit, gifts of the Spirit, healing, wisdom, etc. We know what it is to receive a gift from the hand of our Lord and we do love and appreciate Him for these. Yet, our hearts are lift hungering for more, because asking is merely on the gift level and gifts alone do not satisfy the deeper hunger within.

As we continue to ask God for things, they may be given to us; but if we read the Scripture, we will discover that there is more available in God than most of us have been experiencing. A new hunger then begins to form within, and we move from an attitude of merely asking for things, to an outlook where we see an asking God who seeks to reveal Himself and His Word. An invisible force draws us in a quest back toward our real Source of Life. We find ourselves seeking, hungering, and desiring the Lord more and more as the Holy Spirit draws us and beckons us closer, ever calling us unto Himself.

Solomon asked for wisdom, yet he chose to use it in seeking earthly treasure and satisfaction. Afterwards, he recognized the vanity of life and all his accumulations. His father David, in contrast, chose to more toward the Father—to know his God. He was a man after God’s own heart. We hear David’s heart cry in Psalm 27:4: “One thing have I desired and that will I seek after, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple.”

SEEK

This is the level of discovery and knowing. Here we come to know the One Who has given all the gifts we have received. There is no fixed line of demarcation where asking stops and seeking begins. We usually find our prayer life weaving in and out between these areas. As our spiritual desire and vision are lifted above the realm of things, the process of seeking will be birthed within us and will move us onward, toward the Lord Himself. We will then begin to discover new realms and a higher revelation of the One whose beauty outshines any earthly treasure.

The word “seek” carries with it the idea that something has been lost or hidden. The item must be of value to the one who is seeking, or he would not spend time looking for it. We seldom stumble over treasures; and when we do, they are often not recognized for their value. For instance, there might be a gold nugget under our feet as we walk outdoors, and it could go completely unnoticed. How often in life have we overlooked little nuggets of God’s truths simply because we were not looking for them? However, if we know something is of value, we will seek for it.

Isaiah speaks of “treasures of darkness (Isaiah 45:3). God has treasure that can be possessed only through a process of darkness, spiritually speaking. If one is hungry enough, he will be willing to go through intense darkness and abide faithfully until the Lord shines forth. In these times of testing and trial, we may turn back or become sidetracked, if our eye is not single toward the riches of God. We must not be impatient, for often it takes some time before the flesh dies and we come forth with golden treasure within—treasure we have become, not something we possess. In seeking God, it is imperative that we not cause a spiritual abortion in trying to come out of the womb of darkness before the fullness of His time.

The Bible says there was man who sold everything he had to buy a pearl of great price. Are we willing to sell all to seek first God’s kingdom? Abraham did. Along his path were pitfalls, dark places, mistakes; but because he was seeking a city whose Builder and Maker is God (Hebrews 11:10), we to this day are witnessing the unfolding and fulfillment of God’s promises to him—and we will see it even more so in the days to come.

In our lives we experience two realms; the natural realm first, then the spiritual. At first we sought natural gold; now we are called to seek the gold of God’s divine character. We are exhorted to buy gold tried in fire—the purging, cleansing, and disciplining of our lives.

“Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33). If we first seek spiritual reality and adjustment, the Lord will teach us to trust Him in supplying the rest of our needs. Too often we catch our heart seeking the “here and now,” rather than the Kingdom of God. “And ye shall see me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13). God does not require us to have a mind to analyze; rather, He cares about our heart attitude. He wants us to become an emptied earthen vessel, that He might fill us with Himself.

For those who are willing, the pathway of life will mold, form and transform until there is a conformity into His image and a birthing into His kingdom. We may lose all, but find that everything worth having is in knowing Jesus.

KNOCK

As with asking and seeking, no boundary is set to divide the levels of seeking and knocking. If we are sincere in our seeking, having set His kingdom first, and as long as our eye is single toward Jesus, that seeking will draw us more and more into conformity to His desires. His Light will shine brighter and the world will grow dimmer. As we praise and worship Him our heart will become lost in the splendor of His boundless love. We will begin to feel as He feels and at times enter the realm of intercession. “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God” (Romans 8:26).

Every reference in Scripture to knocking is referring to a knocking on a door. In Revelation 3:20 we find Jesus knocking on a door; in order for us to have communion with Him, we must open that door. In Song of Solomon 5:2 it is the voice of the Shulamite’s beloved that is knocking. Usually we think of a hand knocking, but God is speaking to our hearts with a voice—the voice of His Spirit. As we “hear” His voice and are quick to respond and open the “door” of our heart, there will be a communion, a time of feeling the very heartbeat of God, a time of God’s love being expressed in great travail, a time of spiritual warfare within His people which will enable His Spirit to burden, labor, and bring forth new creation life. This life which God has planted within the believer begins with a seed of faith; it has the potential of becoming full-grown, mature and fruit-bearing.

Some doors within our being, the depths of which we are not even aware, cannot open until light breaks forth and God releases the weights that hold us back from His fullness. Stones are gathered out of our hearts, and as the doors begin to open, the soil can be worked; attitudes are changed, deeper hungers are fed, and we can live in communion with Him, in the home for which we long. Time spent with the Lord in forming this relationship will result in edification and anointing. However, we must realize that this is one thing the enemy of our soul does not want, and everything in hell will attempt to fight against our spending this time with Him.

Notice I Corinthians 16:9; II Corinthians 2:12; Acts 14:27; and Colossians 4:3. The “door” in these scriptures refers to an opening that was released through the power of prayer, that the ministry of God could flow out. The release of the Gospel truth comes by prayer of intercession in the Spirit; it ministers life and light to the hearts of needy people throughout the earth. Many a ministry has gone forth under a tremendous burden of intercession. In response to their intercession, God has loosed whole areas and sometimes entire countries to receive His glorious Gospel.

As the Lord suffered for us, even so we, too, shall suffer with Him, as in the pain of a woman travailing, to bring forth a new order of being. The Lord desires to have a bride, one who will be by His side and who will know by the Spirit what is going on in Him. Knowing Jesus through sharing this burden with Him in intercession is a privilege; though painful, it is a most exquisite joy! “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18). It is the Spirit of God that moves upon the face of the earth and brings forth this pattern of prayer within His people. This travail will grow in intensity in the Body of Christ as we approach the close of this age. Then the womb shall open and we shall see the fulfillment of Isaiah 66:8: “The earth shall be made to bring forth in one day and a nation be born at once.”