Have you ever wondered to yourself, “Does God really care?”
He is the God of the entire universe. He spoke the world into being. Yet in Matthew, Jesus tells us to “Ask, seek, and knock and it will be given to us.”
“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
God can’t really mean that, can He?
Does He really care about my little toothache or my husband’s cold?
Does God care that I’m stressed and overwhelmed by all I have to do today?
There have been times where I have refrained from praying something because I think it is too trivial and God doesn’t really need to hear about that.
Friends! That is a lie from the enemy.
Anything that affects your day, big or small, good or bad, God wants to hear about!
In the passage above, Jesus compares God’s heart to the heart of a parent who delights in hearing from their child about what they want and what they need, but also delights in giving them good gifts.
Is a Good Gift God Giving Us Exactly What We Want?
In short, no. You can ask, seek, and knock, but God will not always give us exactly what we ask for. Why then? What’s the point?
If you are a parent, it will greatly help your understanding of this passage. Matthew 7 compares God to a parent. What does a parent have that a child often doesn’t? Foresight. Parents think of future consequences. When a child asks for candy before bedtime, a parent thinks of the sugar rush that will follow causing the child to not be able to fall asleep. Foresight.
Parents often will not give a child exactly what they want, but rather what they need.
I know that’s exactly what you wanted to hear. Not. We are “children” of God. Sometimes we ask for things that seem good to us, but He knows better. As 1 Corinthians 12 states, “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child…. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” One day we will fully understand, but that day is not today.
Why Does God Want Us To Ask, Seek, Knock?
Jesus tells his followers to ask and they will receive, to seek and they will find, and to knock and the door will be opened. Why would God want us to do that? God wants to hear from us! He delights in fellowship with us. He desires to give us good gifts. However, like a child would ask a parent a million times for something they need or want, God wants us to ask him.
The process of asking and seeking God brings us closer into relationship with Him, and it tests our faith.
The funny part about that is even before God answers our prayer, He has already given us TWO good gifts: a closer relationship with Him and more faith. Through the process of asking, seeking, and knocking He is refining our faith and bringing us closer to Him.
To sum up Matthew 7:7-11, God will hear our requests and give us good things according to His superior parental love and knowledge.
Don’t stop asking and praying because God WILL come through. He always does.
Dig Deeper
If you felt God speaking to you through this study of Matthew 7:7-11, here are few questions you can use to dig deeper into the text yourself.
- Read Matthew 7:7-11 again.
- List what Jesus asks the disciples to do.
- How do these actions require humility and faith?
- What attributes are used to describe God in this passage?
- Based upon your reading of the text, do you interpret it to mean that God will give us whatever we ask for? Why or why not?
- Do you believe God will give us better gifts than we would choose for ourselves? How does your prayer life reflect that?
- Write your own 1 sentence summary of the passage.
- Pray. Pray this verse over your life. Ask God for things you normally would hold back from him for fear of them being too trivial.
- Apply. Apply this verse to your life for the next week. Note any changes you notice and any prayers that are answered, whether you get a yes or no from God!
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