QUESTION #8 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children?

    QUESTIONS JESUS ASKED BIBLE STUDY


 

     







      Read Matthew 7:7-11 KJV: 

 

   What man is there of you, whom if his son ask of him bread, he will give him a stone? Or if he ask for a fish, he will give him a serpent? (Matthew 7:9-10)

       If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him? (Matthew 7:11)

 

THE FATHER GIVES GOOD THINGS TO THEM THAT ASK

Reference: Matthew 7:7-11, 21:22; Mark 11:2; Luke 11:9-13, 18:1; John 14:13-14, 15:7, 16:23-24

 

First, we can make these questions say more than it does. Many have misunderstood Matthew 7:7-11 as teaching a “blank check” theology of prayer, namely, ask God for whatever you want, and He will give it to you. This understanding makes the statement say too much and rips it out of context. In verses 1-6 the Lord has been warning His disciples against sinful judgmentalism and encouraging them to be spiritually discerning. The question that would naturally come to mind after such a warning and encouragement is, “Wow, this is a tall order to fill. How can I avoid such judgmentalism and cultivate such discernment?” Jesus gives us the answer in verses 7-11. We must ask for it. And so, verses 7-11 don’t provide us with a blank check to ask for whatever we want from God. Rather, they teach us to strive in prayer for the wisdom and enablement demanded by verses 1-6. The parallel passage in Luke 11:13 tells us that what the Lord gives in response to such prayer is, in fact, the good gift of His Holy Spirit, who grants wisdom and discernment.

 

Second, we can make these verses say too little, stripping them of any real promise at all. Prayer is a powerful means by which the Lord carries out his will in and among his people (James 5:13-20). It is an effective instrument, and we must resist the temptation to believe that it is not.

 

Jesus’ point here, then, in Matthew 7:7-11 is not that God will give us anything we want. Rather, He teaches us that when God’s children ask for things such as wisdom, discernment, and the like, God will not grant them something evil in return. With this said, as God’s children we must be diligent to ask in faith without doubting (James 1:5-8; Luke 18:1). But if you ask and receive not, it may be because you asked for the wrong reasons or you asked out of your own desires (James 4:3).

 

Notes:

 

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