"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." Matthew 7:11
No question mark. Look. There is no question mark. The writer here isn't asking. He's telling.
I have this fear that if I ask God for something, that He will give me exactly what I ask for. If I ask wrong, I will screw it all up. So I don't ask. I don't want to be responsible for messing up my own or anyone else's life. Shouldn't I just leave that all up to God? So I just throw out a blanket prayer that covers it all: "Jesus, just do Your will here...whatever that is."
But then I run into a verse like this, "Keep on asking and you will receive what you ask for." But I don't want to for the aforementioned reasons. I get the whole analogy of a parent thing...if my son asks me for candy, I know he's hungry. Sometimes I give him candy, other times I'll give him some fruit. Because I know what he is asking and what he needs. He trusts me to give him good stuff. So he asks me because he trusts me.
So, if I don't ask God, whatever my reasoning, it follows that I don't trust Him. "He might give me exactly what I ask for and it will hurt me," I think to myself. What kind of God is that? With God's strength I am capable of producing good things. God is only capable of producing good things. If I can give my son good stuff, how much more will God give me good things. No question mark. Statement.
So What? What's the payoff? Ask. Simple as that. Because even if you ask for the wrong thing, as long as our motivation is right, God will give what is good. But only if you ask.
