Ask, Seek, Knock

“Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock and it shall be opened unto you.” – Jesus

I remember hearing this saying as a kid. It empowered me.

1. Ask, and it shall be given to you

Or in another way, ‘Ask, and thy shall receive.’

I am often afraid to ask people for favors. But whenever I ask friends for favors, they are usually very happy to help me out.

Helping me out brings them joy. And I need to always remind myself; asking for favors doesn’t burden the other person. Rather, it empowers them — it give them the opportunity to be useful, and to feel purposeful.

As a reminder to myself, I need to always remind myself to not be afraid to ask.

What is the worst possible scenario by asking? Simply having someone say no.

But ‘no’ rarely comes your way.

2. Seek, and you will find

I’ve been seeking ‘happiness’ my entire life. I think I finally found it.

To me, I tried to seek happiness in books, studying wisdom, and philosophy. My answer for myself so far has been this: happiness is helping serve others. Having the power to help others is the ultimate power.

I have often found lost in my life– but when I feel that I have the courage to go out and seek the answers, they usually come to me.

So as a reminder to myself: don’t give up when you feel lost. Keep searching, and you will find the answers.

3. Knock and it shall be opened unto you

Probably the best life advice– don’t be afraid to knock on the doors of others, asking for help — because once again, others are happy to help you.

This has helped me a lot in my personal business. I am often so afraid of rejection, that I fail to even knock.

Knocking on someone’s door can be sending someone an email, sending someone a tweet, or leaving them a message on social media. Knocking on someone’s door might be asking a friend to introduce you to someone. I know for me personally, the way I was able to get my first job was by asking around a lot. Asking for letters of recommendation. Asking for encouragement. Asking for love and support.

Whenever I knocked, I always found the door opened unto me.

Of course, there are times when I don’t get responses. There are times when the door is shut on me. But in those moments, I never lose encouragement. Rather, I still stay courageous, and continue to keep knocking, and to be persistent. And instead of ‘giving up’ — I have learned how to move on.

Conclusion

I think to sum up, what Jesus is trying to tell us this:

Don’t be afraid. Just try it out, and you will achieve anything you put your heart to.

Don’t fear failure. Don’t fear of looking like a fool. Don’t be afraid of thinking that you will offend, upset, or bother others.

Others love you more than you think they do. Especially your friends, family, relatives, and close ones. Even strangers are nicer than they seem.

So don’t be afraid. Open up your heart to others, and others will open up their hearts to you.

Always,
Eric

Life lessons from Jesus

Life Jesus has taught me: