In teaching his followers how to find God’s help, Jesus Christ instructed, “To everyone who knocks, the door will be opened” (Matthew 7:8, NLT). The promise being, that God instantly opens His door of bountiful goodness to anyone who knocks to seek it.
There are times when we pray and may feel like God is not answering our prayer. “Why isn’t the door opening?” we may wonder. If so, we may need to ask the question, “Am I knocking on the right door?”
If we’re knocking on the door of selfish desire, well of course, God is not on the other side of the door to open it.
If we are knocking on the door of self-righteous anger, mad at the world and everything around us, we’re knocking on a door that isn’t going to open to heavenly joy.
If we are knocking on the door of mortal belief, expecting something material to come our way, God isn’t there either.
God is Spirit. God blesses us spiritually.
God’s door is Life in Spirit. When we’re seeking a deeper understanding of what it means to live our eternal spiritual Life with God, free of mortality, we’re knocking on the right door. And it opens! It’s reality.
God wants nothing more than for you to walk through the door of spiritual Life and to enjoy its benefits.
Be sure to knock on the right door.
May I share the following link, https://kencooperpoetry.com/i-have-set-before-thee-an-open-door/
I love the thought “You can” . It resonates with God: “I AM”.
And SpiritView is always knocking on our door, – thank you Evan!
Lovely poem, Ken – thank you for sharing it with us I AM therefore I CAN.
Excellent poetry. Thank you for sharing it.
Thank you Ken and Evan!
On thinking about this open door, it came to me that
God made us perfect and whole from the beginning
(or only), and there was no need of a door to go
anywhere else because we are always home with
God., for God is everywhere.
If we have been fooled by the “Adam Dream”
and believing we have all sorts of problems, health
and otherwise, we need to find a way out of this
darkness, dream or illusion. Christ Jesus came to tell
us “I am the door” and that if we follow him,
.in reflecting God’s love and goodness, that will
lead us out through that valley of gloom into the
light of spiritual reality from which we have never
actually been lured away, because there has
never been a talking serpent to tempt us..
Come, let us ‘a-door’ Him , Christ, the Lord.
Good job Maggie!
Thank you Evan. And all. This hymn was a part of my inspiration this morning. I opened the hymnal to hymn. 189
Mine eyes look toward the mountains, Help cometh from on high: From God who never slumbers, whose care is ever nigh. My foot shall not be moved, My keeper is the Lord, He never shall forsake me; I trust me … to His Word.
God keepeth me.. from falling, fulfilleth all my need, His love doth e’er uphold me in faithful word and deed, He keepeth me from evil, my upward way doth trace, my going and my coming, He crowneth with His grace.
This is explained so clearly. Thank you. I think that Christian Scientists know, understand and actually live this truth. However, it is different if someone is far away from Christian Science’s spiritual thinking. When someone is not a Christian Scientist and/or does not understand being eternal and created spiritually, that’s where a problem comes in. I have a friend of more than 40 years, who has had great challenges in the last 18 months (her husband was ill and passed, and now she has a health problem). She told me how much she was praying for her husband – and that she really never prayed before. She said she was asking for her husband’s health and to be cured. I couldn’t tell her that was not a good way to go about praying. So I pray for her. Now and then I tell her how I pray for people – thinking of their perfect spirit. I explain a bit more but it does not penetrate her thinking. So she goes on asking for material or health “things” in her “praying”. My heart goes out to her because she does not have a spiritual direction at all, while going through these human problems. I was like that once – until I learned about Christian Science. Although not a member yet, I keep learning and trying to live its truths. My point is that I wish more people could fully grasp Evan’s message to us today, or even start to see it. What a gift it would be in their lives and in my friend’s life.
Thank you, Evan!
Anne, have you thought of sharing a SH with her? Say something like “ this book has brought me much peace and healing …. Or, taught me how to pray,”maybe share a healing or how your life has been blessed by what you learned from reading SH. Listen for Love’s direction. ❣️. if she’s praying, clearly she is seeking and open to hearing God’s message. That’s much better than not believing in God at all.
Totally appreciate and understand what you’re saying about your friend but I just want to offer my 2 cents…;) While your friend may not be praying in the most effective way (according to CS) it sounds like she is turning wholeheartedly and humbly to the Divine for answers. That’s a beautiful thing. And I agree with L. Offer her Science and Health. Just finished reading the chapter called Fruitage again and we know what reading the ‘little book’ can do. ❤️
What a loving and caring friend you are Anne. I’ve always remembered Judy Wolff’s thoughts on praying about others’ receptivity: An excerpt: “…I recognized the need to see that everyone is conscious of this Life—in this case, the woman and her family. God, as the only Mind, is constantly revealing Life universally to all of His creation.. ,,I recognized God as already actively imparting all that is true about man and Himself to all of us.”
“Present perfection” Interview 5. By Jeffrey Hildner with contributions from Judy Wolff. From the June 2006 issue of The Christian Science Journal:
https://journal.christianscience.com/shared/view/gu59ga179w?s=copylink
Thank you Evan and Ken for your inspiration today. Extremely helpful. Love you all!
Thank you Evan and Ken for your inspiration. Extremely helpful. Love to all.
This CS lecture was posted on the Christian Science YouTube channel yesterday.
THE SCIENCE OF GOD AND ITS POWER TO TRANSFORM US. – Nikki O’Hagan, CS
It is highly metaphysical and simple to understand in its offering. It’s on another level!
Check it out.
Thank you, Love! Here is a link to that lecture–however, you may have to endure an ad before it begins.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDdqvZDmHzs
” Come through Heaven’s Open Door, Never Slammed Shut!” Prepared by: Rick Stewart, C.S., Dresden, Germany, October 26, 2014. From Cedars Camp (a Christian Science camp for children), that offers a weekly Met (Metaphysical) on the Bible Lesson,
https://cedarscamps.org/inspiration/article/life-s-open-door/
Thank you very much dear J. I subscribedit and now get this MET from Cedars Camp every week. Through this met some passages in our weekly lesson sermon are explained more clear. by the Reader of this WEEKKLY MET. I love it abd am very gtateful for it.
Thank you dear Evan for advising us lovingly to knock at the right door, the door of Spirituality!
Will do that with joy!
Thank you Evan.
Wonderful healing thoughts of Love here today and always. Thank you,
dear Evan for this delightful place to share ideas, to Ken, for the lovely
poem, to Maggie, especially – the “come let us ‘A – door Him””, J … for
the spiritual messages of Truth shared always in these articles and Everyone,
for your loving, peaceful and Open-door receptivity and greetings of such
welcoming of Spirit. The article with the shepherd, guarding the sheep and
the sheep knowing the shepherd’s call, reminded me of birds out on my
deck last winter. There were many blackbirds at the time and mourning
doves also. Somehow the blackbirds all flew off at the same time, but the
many mourning doves remained. Something (like God’s guidance and
direction to us) told them who to follow. The door was open to them to
understand. Like the Comforter/Love, who is always there with an
Open Door for us, we need only to open our Thought to this ever-presence
and come in to the embrace of this divine bountiful Goodness.
Thank you Evan and all! Evan’s description of knocking on the wrong doors is so helpful. If we’re praying for a solution to some issue and not seeing results, I often think it’s because we’re knocking on the wrong door. That idea reminded me of a Sentinel Radio program I listened to recently where Scott Preller discussed what he does/thinks when a healing is not realized quickly. A link to the program is below:
Prayer that heals pain and suffering – Program 622
Guests: Scott Preller, Margit Hammerstrom
https://sentinel.christianscience.com/shared/view/qhjt4u3k52?s=copylink
Thank you Love, for sharing the lecture. And RobertH for your comment and attaching the link. I look forward to listening to them both. 🙂
Ah..such a lot to be grateful here today! Articles, a lecture, a poem….all so lovingly shared. Thank you everyone…a wonderful evening of reading and learning ahead…. ❣️
Thanks