“Ask and it will be given to you.” Does this mean that if we have enough faith God will give each of us a Cadillac? Does this mean the “name-it-and-claim-it” preachers of the prosperity gospel are right?

Well, they’re not completely wrong. Look at verse 11, where Jesus compares God to loving human parents. He reassures us that if we know how to give good gifts to our children, God will give us good things when we ask for them. That’s a wonderful promise, and a great reassurance to those of us in desperate need. Jesus urges us to rely on the love and power of our Heavenly Father when we go to Him in prayer.

But for what should we ask? Notice that in verse 11, Jesus’ promise only applies to good gifts, good things. If we are asking God for selfish things, for things that are not good for us, we should not expect Him to answer our prayers. Indeed, we should hope that He would do what all good human parents would do – give us the broccoli and spinach that we need instead of the ice cream sundae that we want.

In the same vein, at the end of this passage, Jesus reminds us that we can’t simply rely on our own reason and experience to determine what is good for us. The easy way, the way that makes sense to us, the way that feels good to us is the way that leads to destruction. In contrast, the way of life is hard, so we should expect the things that are truly good for us to be just as demanding and difficult.

So, what kinds of things are truly good for us? What kinds of things should we ask God to give us? We find the answer in verse 12 – the way that leads to life is focused not on ourselves, but on the needs of others. The best thing is to ask God to help us do for others and give to others what we would want for ourselves. For isn’t that the way of the cross, the road that Jesus Himself walked?

So today, let’s keep on asking God to bless our loved ones. Let’s keep on seeking His perfect will for our lives. Let’s keep on knocking, begging God to open up more of His Holy Spirit to us and others. For if we ask prayers like these, prayers for truly good things, we can be confident God will give us what we truly need.

Matthew 7:7-14 (ESV)

7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?
10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?
11 If you then, who are 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!
12 “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.
14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.