Matthew 7:7-11

 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you then, although 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 ‭7‬:‭7‬-‭11‬‬

One of my favorite sermons I’ve preached was in a series of “difficult sayings by Jesus.” This passage is not necessarily difficult to interpret, but it’s one that can be difficult to apply or at least difficult to link with our reality. We like to ask for lots of things but don’t always receive them. Is Jesus a liar?

I like to use this passage to challenge common views of prayer or statements like prayer “changes things.” It sometimes makes me cringe. Or talking about the “power of prayer.” I had a favorite gospel group when I grew up singing about “moving the hand of God.” I understand our sentiment, the theology behind these phrases, and even the verses that support them—including Matthew 7:7-11.

Experience even supports saying things like this. We pray for the most outrageous miracles, and healings occur, or financial crisis finds resolution, or estranged relationships become reconciled. Those without any hope find rest and peace. Prayer has worked. Or has it?

I propose two scenarios in response to help double check our theology. (1) The miracle never occurs. Did we not pray long enough, “hard enough”, not have enough people rallying for our cause? Would we say prayer didn’t work? (2) We never pray or tell anyone about a particular crisis. But something insanely beneficial happens anyway. Would we say prayer is unnecessary?

Rather than using someone else’s near death experiences, financial burdens, relational crises, etc, I usually return to our own infertility/adoption journey as an example. My wife Kim has written extensively elsewhere, and this was about a five year process. Yes, we eventually chose the adoption route, we were matched with a birth mother, and we now have two beautiful girls. 

Scenario 1: What if we had never been able to adopt a child? Would that mean we didn’t pray enough or needed more church friends to pray with us? Would Jesus’ words be considered lies, because they weren’t coming true? 

Christian culture at times needs to be careful on two accounts. First, we conveniently slip in the “Wait” answer. “God’s telling you to wait on His timing.” That may well be true, but I tried telling my toddler to wait, and “wait” is actually “no” until it means “yes.” Which again is fine. God is sovereign and in control, just please don’t try to console me with fake promises of what God “may” do in the future.

Another potential problem with the “wait” answer, is that the hopeful believer is so focused on the one desire that he/she waits, waits, waits, and if they finally receive the sought after gift, then praise may rightfully go to God, and the reaction may go something like this: “Yay, I received the gift which I asked for so long. Now I know that God has heard my prayer.” I would hope that God has received just as much gratitude for all the blessings He gave during the interim. 

Second, Christian language/culture can be dangerous when “consoling” a discouraged, praying soul with Psalm 37:4, “Delight in the Lord, and He will give the desires of your heart.” This is not the place to explain genre, or intent of the verse. It may very well mean that God honors those who take pleasure in Him. But when we say God will change our desires once we focus on Him…well, in our case, I just don’t see many infertile couples losing a desire for children. They may gain a heart for adopting or fostering or contributing to the needs of those around them. But we could use a bit more sensitivity in how we address those seeking, asking, and knocking for their desires.

So in our case, I would suggest that God blessed us with children according to His plan because He is a good God. Our open communication with Him was good but did not sway Him one way or another. 

Ok, all of this to ask the main question. Is prayer needed then? If God is going to work or not work whether we pray or not, what’s the point? What is Jesus saying?

Rather than focusing on the act of prayer or even what we receive first, the greatest point of this passage is the character of the Father. He is good. He is kind and gracious and generous. The best of all fathers, and I know many can’t relate to that thought, but this is Jesus’ point. If we are so so imperfect on our best days, God is far superior. He is willing to help.

I could make a point about wisdom literature and these not being promises. In this sermon, Jesus is within the rabbinic tradition and astounding with His authority. These are general, timeless principles. But this is a minor point in light of the overall message.  

I don’t have time here, but we should take time to put this passage in context of Matthew 7 as whole.

Luke’s sermon has a similar passage, but he changes “good gifts” to Holy Spirit, because Luke loves the Spirit throughout Luke-Acts, and that’s a different discussion why. But it would be interesting how the Spirit could be related to our requests.

Best suggestion I’ve heard was in our daily reading to focus on clear commands of Scripture and ask for wisdom to apply them. “Father give me strength to forgive this person. Help me love my wife/husband as you love me. Show me a person in need that I can serve. Give me a heart of generosity. Fill my heart with joy.” 

Keep asking for those gifts. Continue seeking for those gifts, and He will also be a good Father to give them.