"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 7:11
Matthew 7:7-12 talks about asking God for things. The passage has the famed verse "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)." I've heard this verse many times, but I never really put too much thought into it. What would be the point of prayer if God never answered them? That was always my mindset when I read this passage. However, recently I've had a new insight into God's character through this passage.
In my sophomore year of college I got my first car as a gift from my grandfather, who unfortunately was very sick and passed away not too long after that time. The car was a really old green Ford Focus, which had a lot of problems over the years. My brother and I shared the car, not daring to drive it on long trips for fear of being stranded. The car served us well, but it clearly was not going to last very long.
Two and a half years later, which was this spring, I graduated from college. I also received a job that I will start soon. One random day in the summer, my dad asked me if I wanted a car as a graduation gift. I said yes, but I didn't really think too much of it. I already had the Focus, so I didn't feel an urgent need to get a new car at the time. Despite me never really thinking about it, my dad would constantly ask me week after week when I wanted to get a new car. After a couple weeks, we finally went to CarMax and purchased a car.
I absolutely love my new car. It drives so much better than the Focus I used to own. I can play music from my phone using Bluetooth, which I could never do before. The car is extremely roomy and just has a great feel. The car accelerates much faster than I would even attempt on the Focus. I'm so grateful for my dad who helped me purchase my new car.
The point of this story is not that I got a new car. Getting a new car is great, but the message I want you to get from this story is that it wasn't me who was responsible for getting the car. It's not like I pestered my dad to buy a new car. In fact, it was my dad who pestered me. My dad was excited when he thought about getting a new car. The car wasn't even for him, but it brought him joy to buy a car. He delighted in giving me a good gift.
That's the principle that I learned from this experience. Often times when I read Matthew 7, I think that I have to somehow earn God's favor. I think that if I just ask hard enough, seek hard enough, or knock hard enough, maybe God will answer my prayer. That mindset completely goes against God's character. Look again at verse 11, posted above. If even my earthly dad delights in giving me good gifts, how much more does God delight in giving us good gifts? God wants to give you good gifts. He doesn't reluctantly give us what we ask for. He is excited at the thought of giving us good things. He's waiting for us to simply ask.
If God delights so much in giving us good gifts, why don't I receive good gifts from Him? You may be thinking, "I ask God for things all the time, why don't I get anything from Him?" Let me ask you this, "what if the good gifts you need are already given to you?" What if what you think you need isn't what you actually need? Or what if what you think you want isn't what you really want? I think we forget to be thankful for what God has already given to us. How can we expect God to give us good things if we can't even appreciate what we already have?
One song that I really like these days is "Good Good Father". One of the lines in that song says "You know just what we need before we say a word". God knows what you need. He knows what I need. He even knows what we want. He wants to give us good gifts. He delights in giving us good things because He delights in us.
-Smart
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