A GENEROUS FATHER

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”

“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him!”

Matthew 7:7-11

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

We serve a loving, giving Father. There is no disputing this truth.

Just as a father loves and cares for his children, our heavenly Father, the Father of us all, loves and cares for every one of us and He does so at an even higher level. Indeed, God the Father of us all gives perfectly just as He does all things perfectly.

Now this doesn’t mean He gives us everything we ask for. That would be foolish and there is no foolishness is God. I didn’t give my children everything they asked for when they were growing up so why would God do the same for us.

No, God provides for His children but He does with discernment and wisdom, providing what He knows His children truly need, what they need to satisfy and fulfill His will for them. Look at these words from John’s first letter in the New Testament:

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of Him. 1 John 5:14-15

Did you catch how this process of asking God for things works?

We are to first seek His will and then ask for anything that is in accordance with that will. When we do that, then we can expect to receive what we ask for.

This is different from a common held misassumption about prayer, the misassumption that God will give you EVERYTHING you ask for WHENEVER you ask for it.

God is not like an ATM where you plug in your prayer and out comes what you want instantly. It doesn’t work like that. He dictates your needs based on His desires, not yours. And rest assured that God wants the best for you. It’s just that His best doesn’t marry up with what we want.

Well, as you may have guessed, Jesus had something to say about this matter of God the Father and giving since we have been focused on His Sermon on the Mount for quite some time now. Look at His words from the Gospel of Matthew:

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”

“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him!”  Matthew 7:7-11

When I was raising my two daughters, I wouldn’t give them anything that would not have been to their benefit. If they were hungry, I gave them food proper for eating and this translated to other things I provided them, all this despite the fact that I am a sinner and capable of as much evil as good.   

Jesus here is asking this question:

If I could give my children good gifts, in lieu of my potential wickedness, how much more would the Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask, those who seek and knock on heaven’s door with their requests?

As John so aptly framed, when we pray, seeking the Father with an appeal that is in accordance with His will, then God hears, opens the door of provision, and the one who asks receives good gifts, blessings from above from the giver of every good and perfect gift (James 1:17).

Friends, we have a generous Father, a Father willing to give us what we need as long as it meets His will for us. Won’t you give Him thanks and praise today and every day?

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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