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- Oct 26, 2007
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"If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! Matthew 7:11 NKJV
Parents care deeply for their children and give them good gifts, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they can or will give their kids everything they ask for each day. Even when the answer isn’t “no,” it very often may be “wait.”
Although not a perfect or comprehensive image of prayer, the concept of parents and children helped Jesus convey to His listeners both the concern of God for His people and the more complex dynamics at work in prayer that go beyond telling Him, “Give me what I want!”
Do you even know whether you’re asking for something that is good for you? Jesus is inviting you to think of prayer as a relationship with a caring God who wants to give you good things, much like a parent would give a child good things. Consequently, this means God sometimes gives you what you didn’t ask for and not what you think you need. That simple explanation hardly captures all of your disappointments or struggles in prayer, but it does offer you encouragement to pray with greater hope and expectation.
Prayer: Father, I trust that You are a loving parent who wants me to pray in faith and hope.
Parents care deeply for their children and give them good gifts, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they can or will give their kids everything they ask for each day. Even when the answer isn’t “no,” it very often may be “wait.”
Although not a perfect or comprehensive image of prayer, the concept of parents and children helped Jesus convey to His listeners both the concern of God for His people and the more complex dynamics at work in prayer that go beyond telling Him, “Give me what I want!”
Do you even know whether you’re asking for something that is good for you? Jesus is inviting you to think of prayer as a relationship with a caring God who wants to give you good things, much like a parent would give a child good things. Consequently, this means God sometimes gives you what you didn’t ask for and not what you think you need. That simple explanation hardly captures all of your disappointments or struggles in prayer, but it does offer you encouragement to pray with greater hope and expectation.
Prayer: Father, I trust that You are a loving parent who wants me to pray in faith and hope.
