“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” — Matthew 7:7

The Bible says, “Knock and the door will be opened to you.” This is something that demands action on our part. As people of God, we are called to not only sit down and expect God to come to us, but we are called to chase after Him, to seek after Him. As an NFL player, this is something I have to do on a daily basis.

This requires intentionality. As a husband, I have to be intentional about how I pastor and lead my family. The way I bring my family up matters; we should be seeking Christ together. As a man, it’s important for me to be intentional, and it’s important for my wife to be intentional, so that together we can be teaching our daughter to be intentional.

It’s a bit ironic that we feel closer to God when we are on your knees. God’s Word talks about lying prostrate — face down — before God (1 Kings 18:39). We are not even worthy enough to look into His face! This posture demonstrates that we are giving everything we have and all we are to Him, honoring Him in the most relevant way possible.

Sometimes on Sundays as players we want the victory, so we think, “God, give us a win today,” or “Lord, help me to play the best game I’ve ever played today.” But really our hearts should be praying, “Father, whatever Your will is, may Your will be done. This is about Your honor and Your glory. If I win today, if I get hurt today, if I don’t play well today, I’m still seeking Your face. This game of football is yet another opportunity for me to seek Your face in worship.” 

There are times we become stuck in a routine of asking things of God — give me, give me, give me! And usually when we are asking something from someone, we are standing up in front of them. But I dare us all to really take a step back and go to the foundation of what Christianity is all about: I challenge us to get on our knees in submission to seek His face.

The hustle and bustle of life gets in the way, doesn’t it? Honestly, I didn’t get on my knees this morning before God like I normally do. Usually it’s the first thing I do — I hit my knees and thank God for another day. This morning, I wasn’t feeling well, my wife and son were up late last night, I was trying to get my daughter up for school today — it’s the busyness of life. Sometimes we forget the most simple things in life; we need to slow down. We can’t forget our Maker, we can’t forget our Source. No more excuses. You can’t just try to find time, you have to make time to be intentional and adamant about living life with Christ, seeking Him in the most basic ways. 

There are times when we just don’t feel like it, though. But there are a lot of things we have to do that we don’t feel like, aren’t there? Do you think God felt like sending His Son to Earth to die for us? He did it anyway. Do you think Jesus felt like suffering and dying on the cross for us? No! But He did it anyway, and He did it for us. So whether or not I feel like sliding out of bed to hit my knees first thing in the morning, that’s what I’m going to do. 

It’s great when we have a desire to be with God, but we have to execute. In football, we always say we want to win, but we have to really be willing to work hard and do everything necessary to win the game. In the same way, if we want to live for Christ, we have to put steps in place to get there. We need to pray on a daily basis, we have to get in the Word on a daily basis. It’s about having an intimate relationship with Christ on a daily basis.

Put yourself in a better communion with the Father so when your name is called, He will say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” 

— Kelvin Beachum, New York Jets offensive tackle

The Increase, part of the Sports Spectrum Network, is a community of Christian pro athletes sharing their personal stories of the decrease of self and the increase of Christ (John 3:30). Visit TheIncrease.com for more stories and videos.