That is what the Bible says, it is not sufficient to just pray. We do not just pray for God to receive us. We pray, and after praying, we start doing the work that God wants us to do. You see, even if you pray hardly all day, all night of your life, but you are stationary, you are stagnant as water, you do not move to follow God, then your prayers will be in vain. Let us read Matthew 7, verse 7. “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:” It is the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ. Ask, what do you mean when you ask? It is prayers. If you ask God, you ask God in prayers. Ask, and it shall be given you. How? Seek, and ye shall find.
You ask God, God give me my daily bread. Now, if you are going to stay in your room for all the day, who will give you your daily bread? Will the bread fall down from heaven? No, no. Ask, and it shall be given to you. Seek, and ye shall find. You pray first, then you seek, and then knock. So, you have to employ action. You do not just pray. Pray, then act, knock. See, that is what the Bible says. It is not sufficient to just pray. After praying, you act accordingly. Ask God, God, I want to have a house. Then, are you dreaming of a house coming from the clouds, setting on the ground, and presto, you have your house. That’s not the way. Ask God for a house, because I want to live peacefully with my family. Give me a house, Father. After asking, go out and seek. What are you going to seek? Seek for money. Seek for opportunities. Seek for an employer. Go as far as Denmark. And after finding a job, save what you are earning. Go back to the Philippines and build a house.
So, God has given you a house by asking Him and by acting. You do not just ask. It is not sufficient to ask God only, because God wants us to work. He doesn’t want us to be lazy or to be dependent on other people’s work for ourselves. We must eat our own bread, according to the Bible. So, we ask, then we seek. And God will make us find what we look for. And if we knock, He will open the door for us, the door of opportunity, the door of a chance to live peacefully and honestly and to lead a clean and a frugal life. It is God that will direct that. Ask and act. That is the teaching of the Bible.