Season 4 - Episode 15
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When I was a kid, I went through a phase where every time I was asked what I wanted - for Christmas, my birthday, whenever - I asked for a puppy. And every time the answer was a hard, "No." Actually...that's not entirely true. Once the response was, "It's a dog or your dad." Despite my response, my dad stuck around and I didn't get a dog.
I wonder if my parents had ever paid attention to the verses in the Sermon on the Mount that we're considering today in this Covenant Weekly for December 17, 2024!
Matthew 7:7-11
7 “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.
9 “You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? 10 Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! 11 So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.
This is, in some English versions, given a heading about "effective prayer." And the implication of this teaching seems pretty straight forward.
If you want something from God, keep bugging him about it and you'll get it! After all, earthly parents give stuff to their kids so of course God will provide you with what you want, too!
Or is it this simple? While I've heard things like this taught, it seems to neglect an aspect of the metaphor regarding earthly parents and their children's requests.
The children's requests in the metaphor are for bread and fish. The kids are asking for basic survival items to help them have the nutrition and health for basic thriving! No reasonable parent will deprive their child of bread and instead give them a stone if meeting their needs is an option. No loving parent will withhold available fish and give their child something that could poison them.
When a child cries, "I'm hungry!!!" There are times when a parent may not believe the child. But if the cry persists, it becomes undeniable and food will be given.
The same may not be true if a child is crying out for a toy, a gaming machine, or...a puppy.
The image here is of us, as God's children, crying out for what we need from God. The assurance is that God will come through to meet our essential needs as we cry out. In fact, it is God's pleasure to. So we're not to give up expressing our needs to God.
Truthfully, as I read this, I wonder about those extreme cases where deep poverty leads to starvation and famine and people not getting their basic needs met. Are those cases that disprove what this passage says about God and God's heart? As I consider this, I can't help but think about the next verse. I'll let you look ahead at it. As I think about it, I wonder about the idea that maybe God does provide, but his conduits for provision (other people) get in the way.
God provides. Let us take comfort and rest in that. And may we join God in ensuring that provision gets to where it needs to.