Keep On Asking
Keep on asking, and you will be given what you ask for. Keep on looking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened (Matthew 7:7, NLT).
Dear Friends,
It was the fall of 1951. The ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ was making its small beginning on the campus of UCLA, where there were some 20,000 students.
I was the only staff member, and Vonette helped me, although she was a full-time teacher in the Los Angeles school system and her time was very limited.
We and a small group of students dedicated our lives to prayer and often fasting, on our knees shedding tears of compassion for those students, that they may be brought into the kingdom. Within a matter of months after our arrival, the tears that were sown in compassion began to blossom into fruit. We had seen literally scores and then hundreds of students turn to Christ.
Through the years, again and again, as I have been faced with challenges that are so great, far beyond human possibility of resolving, I have found that God honors the prayerful tears of His people.
For more than 50 years I prayed for the people of the Soviet Union, often with tears. Of course, many others also prayed. Now, one of the greatest spiritual harvests of the centuries has been taking place in that land that was once known as the “Evil Empire.” And after all those years of prayer, in 1990 and 1991 God allowed me to preach in the Kremlin to tens of millions of Russians, locally and on national television, on their sacred day of Easter, from the Palace of Congress and on the Red Square. Only God knows how many received Christ – some estimate several million out of the 160 million viewers who were hearing the gospel for the first time in their lives.
God desires our persistence, no doubt because it demonstrates our seriousness and sincerity. In Matthew 7:7, where our Lord Jesus says, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (KJV), scholars explain that the Greek words really mean to “keep on asking, keep on seeking, and keep on knocking.” It does not mean a one-time, half-hearted request.
In Jeremiah 29:13, God said, “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart” (KJV). All your heart!
But while persistence is required on our part, God always demonstrates faithfulness on His part. “His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: Great is thy faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23, NKJV).
If God has placed a burden on your heart for a person, a group of people, a nation, or any situation, “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17), “keep on asking,” press in, do not ever give up. God will answer. Great is His faithfulness!
Yours for helping to fulfill the Great Commission each year until our Lord returns,
Bill Bright
About the Author
The late Dr. Bill Bright was Founder and President/Chairman Emeritus of Campus Crusade for Christ, an organization which began as a campus ministry in 1951 and now has more than 27,000 full-time staff and up to 500,000 trained volunteer staff in 196 countries in areas representing 99.6 percent of the world’s population. In the past 50 years, Campus Crusade for Christ has seen approximately 6 billion exposures to the gospel worldwide. The film, “JESUS,” which Bright conceived and funded through Campus Crusade for Christ, is the most widely translated and viewed film of any type ever produced. Since its use began in 1980, the film has been translated into 839 languages and viewed or listened to by over 5.7 billion people in 228 countries. Dr. Bright was also the author of more than fifty books. Dr. Bright recently co-founded Global Pastors Network to “Touch, Teach and Train” a group of 5 million new house churches around the world 24/7/365 at http://www.globalpastorsnetwork.org.
Copyright (c) 2003, Bill Bright. All rights reserved. Used with permission.