Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. Matthew 7:7.

This morning in prayer I got the overwhelming sense God wanted me to understand something important. Love others. You love Me…love others. I don’t know the burdens, the hurts the weight that others carry, sometimes I barely understand my own.

For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Verse8.

I remember years ago watching one of the original Star Trek shows. There was an empath on a planet who could heal any pain but she had to touch that person and take that pain in herself and afterward was completely spent. It made her afraid to help those in the greatest pain.

I can’t help but think of those in the greatest pain today and there are so many. We have been hurt deeply and have caused deep hurt to others and sadly it’s a vicious cycle repeated over and over even though the same pain is at the end.

One Bible verse keeps speaking to me: To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Colossians 1:27.

Christ in you…the hope of glory…

When we are in the midst of pain we feel alone, unworthy, isolated. That does such a number on our heart and soul. We feel lost.

Jesus told the parable about the shepherd who left the ninety-nine in the open country to find and bring home the one lost sheep…and he rejoices when it is found and then He says I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. Luke 15:7.

Christ in us…the hope of glory. It all begins with ask and yet it doesn’t begin there. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16.

Christ in us is hope. We begin to experience love that will never fail. How many times have we failed ourselves or others have failed us? How many times have we been deeply disappointed? A cycle that never ends while we live in a world that is broken and choosing lies.

God made a promise ages ago that holds true today. See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess. Deuteronomy 31:15-16.

Ancient Israel couldn’t understand and we can’t today without God our Father, Jesus our Lord and Savior and the Holy Spirit leading us to knowing how much we are loved. Ask and it will be given to you. When we grow weary, disappointed, lost…ask the One who is already there waiting to fill our hearts and souls with the comfort and love and peace that can only come from Him. He’s there already not to condemn but to love and heal the hurts that tear our souls. How do you ask? Sit quietly and open your heart and pray even if the only words you can utter are Lord help me.