Good gifts
“You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.” Matthew 7:9-11
This way of teaching was typical of the Jewish rabbis. It’s amusing and forces home the point with incredible power. Jesus was saying that if we, as very imperfect parents, manage to give good things to our children, it is absolutely certain that our perfectly loving heavenly Father will give us the best gifts imaginable. We can totally depend upon his generosity as his desire is always to bless us.
We need to get our understanding of God right before we will really understand the nature of prayer. If our view of God is as a remote old man with a flowing white beard sitting on a distant cloud, then we probably have no expectation that he is ever likely to hear or respond to our prayers. Or if we see him as a fierce disciplinarian who is just looking for any imperfection in our lives so that he can judge us, then we will always approach him with reluctance and fear. But if we can be sure that God is generous and is always looking for ways to bless us then our prayers will be confident and expectant.
I believe that the strength of our Christian lives and also the effectiveness of our churches is totally dependent on having the right understanding of God. When we are certain of the generosity and grace of God, we will have every reason to approach him in the way that is described by the writer of Hebrews: “Let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most” (Hebrews 4:16).
QUESTION
What is your understanding of God? Do you think it needs to change?
PRAYER
Lord God, thank you for your amazing generosity to me. Help me always to approach you with confidence and expectancy. Amen