Ask, Seek, Knock

Posted on January 26, 2015 by Graeme Wilson in Freedom Fighters

Ask, Seek, Knock

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened … Matthew 7:-8

Some of you are aware that we had dedicated the home of our new residential addiction recovery program for women, Barbara’s Place, in early October – the fulfillment of a 30 year dream.

But we received news from one of the department’s in our county that we needed to comply with three pages of regulations/stipulations before we could open. Some of those requirements could have been very costly.

Every time we tried to get clarity on the “why’s” and what did we really have to do to move forward, we received conflicting reports.

As the end of the year was drawing near, I began to realize that this was really a spiritual issue and that the enemy was trying his darndest to block the opening of this much needed ministry for women.

We decided to call on our intercessor’s and prayer partners to join us in asking, seeking, and knocking for the next 30 days. Our prayer was that GOD would answer in such a way that it could ONLY BE TRACEABLE BACK TO HIS HAND!

The answer came and the back story is amazing. At our January Hymnsing we kicked off the ASK/SEEK/KNOCK initiative, and before the Hymnsing started I saw a friend who I didn’t ever remember seeing at our Hymnsings. He approached me to find out what was going on with Barbara’s Place.

He recommended that I reach out to someone in Ocean County that could help us. Two days prior, a pastor friend recommended that I contact this office. Long story short, this past Tuesday I received the information for this individual but before I had a chance to call him, two other emails came from different individuals all recommending that I speak with the same man. To my knowledge, the three people do not know each other.

I placed the call on Wednesday and was pleased that someone would at least listen to our story. He promised that we would hear back from them between 9:30 AM and 10:30 AM on Thursday.

I received the call at 9:45 AM. I would have been pleased if there was a compromise to move us forward. But he call came from the director of the department that was giving us the challenges.

Bottom line, they released us from all of the requirements and not only gave us the green light to move forward, but also reached out say that they would be willing to come alongside of us if there were ways that could assist the women.

I was floating! But here is the even more amazing thing. My friend who gave me the contact first had called this office on Wednesday to let them know what we were all about. He was told that the problem was resolved an hour after they received my fax on Wednesday!!!

But wait – there is more. This man was not scheduled to come to the Hymnsing. One of the couples from his church was scheduled to attend and they were sick. A call was placed to our friend to see if he and his wife would like to attend. In his words, this was a DIVINVE APPOINTMENT!

God delights when His kids take the time to talk to Him in prayer. It was a great reminder that when we pray GOD HEARS. His answers may not be on our timetable, and the answer may not appear to be the right one – but God answers prayer. Thank you to the many who joined us is ASKING/SEEKING/KNOCKING. And now we look forward to the first ladies arriving to Barbara’s Place. To God be the glory. – Dr. Bill Welte is the President/CEO of America’s Keswick

Daily Bible Reading: Isaiah 11-13; Mark 4:1-20

Think About This: God never made a promise that was too good to be true. —D. L. Moody

This Week’s Verse to Memorize:  Be of good courage, and let us be strong for our people and for the cities of our God. And may the Lord do what is good in His sight. 2 Samuel 10:12