Matthew 7:1-12

Be Still: Lord, I take this time to sit at your feet; to encounter your loving guidance. Open the eyes of my heart to your words. Amen

Read: Matthew 7:1-12 

If your children ask for bread, which of you would give them a stone? Or if your children ask for a fish, would you give them a snake? (v 9-10)

Encounter: The Smyths Toys magazine has just landed on our doorstep. Excitedly, our children scrabble to circle all the gifts they want for Christmas. Young as they are, and trusting in the provision of their parents, they have no concept of cost or value of each item. They are simply asking and expecting to receive a good thing. 

I wonder what your expectations are of what happens when we ask God for a good thing? Do we instead expect a stone or a snake? 

Has our experience of unanswered prayer shaped our expectation of who God is?

Jesus points out: if imperfect human parents know how to give good things to their children, how much more does God – the perfect Father – know how to give good things to us.

Sometimes we forget that. We pray and don’t get the answer we hoped for. We start to wonder if God is holding out on us, or if maybe he’s stopped listening. But Jesus reminds us that God’s heart is never to harm or ignore us. Even when his answers are delayed or look different from what we expected, his love and his goodness haven’t changed.

Apply: What Jesus is revealing here is that our inner growth is found in a persistent prayer relationship with the Father. What are you asking God for today? Are your expectations like that of a child: whole-hearted and trusting? Share with God the prayers that puzzle you: the ones that you are yet to see God answer. Ask him to help you trust his good purposes. He might give you something different – something wiser, deeper, or better timed – but never cruel, never careless.

Devote: Thank you that you are a good Father, whom I can trust to take care of my physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. I choose to trust that truth today.