“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. 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? 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!”
Mathew 5, 6, & 7 are some of my all time favorite chapters in the New Testament. There is so much packed into such a short time of Jesus' life yet everything he teaches in his life comes back to many of the Kingdom lessons discussed in this encounter with his disciples and the crowds.
I especially love how the character of God is put on display for the world to see like it never has been before.
Jesus in his teaching on prayer in Matthew 6 teaches the disciples to pray using the title "Our Father..." for God. This is a new revelation for the Jews of Jesus' day. For them God has been redeemer, deliverer, punisher, healer, promise keeper and so on, but never Father.
In Jesus' teaching the people about the Kingdom of Heaven he must also teach them about the character of God for the Kingdom of Heaven on the Earth is the physical manifestation of the character of God.
For me Jesus' teaching here in Matthew 7 on prayer highlights what following Jesus is really all about and that is relationship with a good Father.
God's desire is that you and I would approach him and ask, seek, and knock. The trick is that if we don't understand or misunderstand the character of the one we are asking of, seeking to find, and knocking to talk with then we won't approach him.
I love being married and now I love being a dad, both of those roles have taught me an immeasurable number of lessons. When my wife and I have a disagreement or I know she is frustrated with me, I can be reserved in approaching her. However, I know her character. I know that at the core of who she is, she loves me and is for me. So when I mess up or we aren't seeing eye to eye on something, I know that I can still approach her and ask for something, or enter into conversation about something.
Knowing the character of my wife causes me to lead my feelings in the moment instead of withdrawing from relationship. Jesus' heart for you and I is that we would understand and know the one that we have surrendered our lives to.
Jesus understands that you and I must know the character of God so that in our times of need, our times of failure, our times of joy and celebration, we will know that we have a good Dad in a good mood who gives good gifts to His kids when they ask.