Matthew 7:9-12 (NIVUK)
7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 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! 12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
On Sunday we thought about the phrase ‘give us this day our daily bread’ from the Lord’s prayer. In Matthew’s next chapter, we find these verses that encourage us to ask with the promise that God gives us if we do so. Like the Lord’s prayer, this is grounded in the nature of our relationship with him: we can ask and receive because he is ‘Our Father’. Instinctively we know that a parent should provide for their children. If fallible humans do so, then all the more can we expect God to do so. There’s a twist, though, the reminder to do to others what you would have them do to you. Is this another hint that in our prayers and actions that we should not just be seeking the Kingdom, but helping develop it, not just praying, but also being the answer to prayer?
Father, I’m knocking on the door for myself and for others. Father, we need…
Photo by Wesual Click on Unsplash
Leave a Reply