stages

Once Jesus said, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." The reference is about prayer. Then, Jesus makes it a situation study of children asking for things, and fathers giving, but not what is asked for.

'Ask, seek, and knock' can be seen as three stages of prayer and spiritual life.

According to traditional Christian spiritual teaching, there are three stages in spiritual life: the purgative stage, the illuminative stage, and the unitive stage.

1 - The first stage is the stage of supplication for one's own needs and those of others. In this stage, we will come face to face with our selfishness. Slowly our concern would be about how to curb our ego. We will wrestle with selfishness and ego. The purgative stage is called so because it is the stage of one's own purification. In this stage, the focal point is oneself.

2 - 'Seek and you shall find.'

The second stage is to seek and find God's will, and to adjust our prayer accordingly. The stage of getting to know God's nature and mind more closely. The stage of deepening in the Word of God, knowledge and wisdom. That is why it is called the Illuminative stage.

In this stage, one's focal point is God Himself.

3 - 'Knock and it shall be opened!'

Knocking is to enter in. Entering in is for becoming one. This is the stage of deepening in love for God and others. There are almost no supplications and no seeking. Only faith and love remain. Oneness and Communion is the priority now. And that's why it is called the Unitive Stage.