{"id":40550,"date":"2017-03-18T09:10:53","date_gmt":"2017-03-18T16:10:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=40550"},"modified":"2017-02-23T07:12:28","modified_gmt":"2017-02-23T15:12:28","slug":"ask-seek-knock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/18\/ask-seek-knock\/","title":{"rendered":"Ask, Seek, Knock"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock and it shall be opened unto you.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d – Jesus\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I remember hearing this saying as a kid. It empowered me.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

1. Ask, and it shall be given to you<\/h2>\n

Or in another way, ‘Ask, and thy shall receive.’<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

As a reminder to myself, I need to always remind myself to not<\/em> be afraid to ask.<\/p>\n

What is the worst possible scenario by asking? Simply having someone say no.<\/p>\n

But ‘no’ rarely comes your way.<\/p>\n

2. Seek, and you will find<\/h2>\n

I’ve been seeking ‘happiness’ my entire life. I think I finally found it<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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<\/strong>. Having the power to help others is the ultimate power.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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

3. Knock and it shall be opened unto you<\/h2>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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

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.<\/p>\n

Whenever I knocked, I always found the door opened unto me.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h2>\n

I think to sum up, what Jesus is trying to tell us this:<\/p>\n

\n Don’t be afraid. Just try it out, and you will achieve anything you put your heart to.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Others love you more than you think they do. Especially your friends, family, relatives, and close ones. Even strangers are nicer than they seem.<\/p>\n

So don’t be afraid. Open up your heart to others, and others will open up their hearts to you.<\/p>\n

Always,
\nEric<\/p>\n

Life lessons from Jesus<\/h2>\n

Life\u00c2\u00a0Jesus has taught me:<\/p>\n