John_10-9: I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
Matthew 7:7,8

William Jay is perhaps best known for his classic work, Mornings and Evenings with Jesus. A well-loved orator of eighteenth-century England, Jay’s thoughts on how to petition the Lord are timeless.

How are we to knock? Persistently—we cannot knock too loud. Prayer is nothing unless it be sincere and earnest. God will not regard the petition that we ourselves do not feel. Jacob said, “I will not let thee go, except thou bless me,” and he prevailed. How? With perseverance—the Lord does not always immediately…