Our Heavenly Father will give us good things
“Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?” Matthew 7:9-11
Earthly parents, though far from perfect, pay close attention to the needs and requests of their children and give them good things. As Jesus said, what father, if his son asked for bread, would give him a stone? And, what father, if his child asks for a fish, would substitute a snake? Earthly parents seek the wellbeing of their children and give them those things which are good and beneficial for them.
Our Lord Jesus tells us to come to God our Father in faith and pour out our needs and requests before Him, trusting that He will hear and answer all our prayers for Jesus’ sake. He tells us: “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened” (Matthew 7:7-8).
Would our perfect and holy Father in heaven deny our requests and give us what is hurtful rather than what is good? Of course not! He desires what is good for us. Again, as Jesus says, “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?” If we sinners – who are evil – give good things to our children when they ask, how much more certain we can be that God our Father will give us what is good and beneficial to us when we ask Him!
“And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him” (1 John 5:14-15). Or, as St. Paul wrote in Romans 8:32: “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?”
If we bring our prayers and petitions to God our Father, asking for and seeking His perfect and holy will, why would He not grant our requests? He loves us so much that He gave His only-begotten Son to suffer and die for our sins. He brought us to faith in Christ Jesus and adopted us as His own dear children. He, as our loving heavenly Father desires what is good and best for us, and nothing is too hard for Him.
Dear Father in heaven, we come before You with our petitions and requests for the sake of Your own dear Son, Christ Jesus our Savior, who shed His holy and precious blood to redeem us and make us Your own. Grant to us those things which are for our good, and keep from us those things which would be of harm to us in body or soul. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
[Scripture quotations from the King James Version of the Bible]
