Ask Your Good Father

Today’s Passage

Jesus continues his teaching on the mountain by issuing a direct command to bring specific needs to God. He instructs his listeners to keep asking, and he builds his case on the character of the One receiving the request. As you read, recognize that you must keep asking your good Father, and treat others the way you long to be treated.

Matthew 7:7-8 (BSB)

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; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

Jesus issues three active commands. Ask (αἰτέω) aiteō, pronounced eye-TEH-oh. Strong's G154, to ask, request, ask for something needed. This word indicates a request for a specific need, resembling a child approaching a parent. The Greek verb tense reveals a continuous, repeated action. You must bring your needs to God and persist in asking. . Seek. Knock. Each verb requires continuous action. You must come to God with your requests, and you must persist. The accompanying promise is absolute. Everyone who asks receives. The door opens for the person who keeps knocking.

Matthew 7:9-10 (BSB)

⁹ Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰ Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?

Jesus presents a standard household scenario. A child requests bread. A normal father gives him bread, never a stone. A child asks for a fish. A normal father provides a fish, never a snake. Even a flawed, ordinary parent supplies actual food to a hungry child.

Matthew 7:11 (BSB)

¹¹ So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

Here is the verdict. Human beings possess a flawed nature, yet they still know how to love their children and provide for them. God possesses a perfect nature. He is a Father who surpasses the best human father you know. When you ask him for provision, you appeal to a God who takes pleasure in giving good gifts.

Matthew 7:12 (BSB)

¹² In everything, then, do to others as you would have them do to you. For this is the essence of the Law and the Prophets.

Notice the word “then.” Jesus connects receiving from God to giving to others. Since your Father places good things into your hands, you have the capacity to open your hands to the people around you. You know the exact treatment you desire. Give that exact treatment to others. Take the initiative. This single sentence summarizes the entire Old Testament law. A person loved by a generous Father possesses the resources to demonstrate generosity. Today, identify one pressing need and ask your Father for it out loud. Follow that request by doing one concrete act of kindness for someone else, providing the exact treatment you would want to receive.

Pray to Close

Thank God for his perfect nature and his desire to give good gifts to his children. Bring him a specific need you have carried alone, and commit to asking him continuously until he answers. Ask him for the strength to take the initiative today and treat the people around you with intentional kindness.