How Much More Does He Love Me

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. 

“ There is nothing in your hands that God won’t replace with more of Himself.” - Jackie Hill Perry

My dad has always been a great gift giver. I have always admired this trait about him, because his gift giving is so intentional. He gives us gifts that we didn’t know we wanted or even think to ask for, but for some reason he just knows it’s something we would enjoy or might need. Everytime I read this passage, I think of my dad and his talent for gift giving. I am grateful for an earthly father who reminds me of my heavenly Father that gives even better gifts than any earthly parent could give.

That is the emphasis of this passage. It’s steeped in the parental relationship between a father and His child. God is our Father who loves us. He hears us when we talk with Him. He invites us into the kind of relationship in which we keep bringing our requests and needs to Him. He is our heavenly Father, who will provide for us far greater than we, or any human endeavor possibly could.
 
Matthew 7:7-11 teaches us about the power of effective prayer. More specifically, persistent prayer sown in the soil of consistency. It’s tempting to read passages like these and see them as formulas to get what we want. What if, however, we took the pathway of invitation? Invitation into a relationship with a Father who loves us beyond measure, that because of Jesus we can come boldly into the presence of? A relationship with a Father who will never grow weary of our asking, or tell us to figure it out. An invitation to continue asking, seeking, and knocking. The invitation on the table is to return to Him over and over again and the gift is more of Him.

As Jesus lays it out here, this is how we come to the table, and this is what He offers in return. Jesus promises that everyone who asks, receives what they ask for, everyone who seeks, will find what they are looking for, and everyone who knocks, the door to His presence  will be opened.
 
We ask, He gives.
We seek, He makes known.
We knock, He welcomes. 
These are all persistent imperatives. They encourage prayer as a continual habit of life. 
(“ Never Stop Praying” 1 Thess. 5:17)

In today’s generation, our lives have become so instantaneous that anything requiring patient perseverance can appear unattractive. We require instant returns and instant results.

The message of Jesus here is that prayers sown in the soil of faith and consistency are eternally effective.
 
The audacious and almost sarcastic language Jesus uses here is that essentially God knows how to care for you better than anyone else. If we, in our own weak and insufficient selves know how to show up for the ones we love, HOW MUCH MORE does our Father? Our Father who never fails to show up because He is faithful. Our Father, who owns the cattle on 1000 hills. Our Father who is compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love.

James 1:17 - 18 says that “ Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens.He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.[b] 18 He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession.”

What keeps you asking, seeking, and knocking in prayer? Him.
His relationship and His love towards us keeps us returning. 
 
There is no formula for receiving His gifts, only a healthy expectation of His grace. In His grace we can ask, seek, and knock because He is our Father, who loves us, and He will be faithful to open the door to His presence every time we go to Him.

“ Everything I need, I know my Father has it. I know The Lord will provide. “

“ Never Stop Praying” 1 Thessalonians 5:17

Create rhythms in your day that will remind you to ask, seek, and knock. Set alarms on your phone that will invite you to pause and enter into the Lord’s presence even if it is just for a few seconds. Your alarm clock app might even allow you to even title these alarms. Consider a morning prayer for asking, a mid - day prayer for seeking, and an evening prayer for knocking. 

Listen to the song “The Lord will Provide” (by Passion Band, and Landon Wolfe) and allow it to encourage you with the truth that your Father, who loves you, has given you access to His presence, and He has access to all that you need. 

Father, you love me. In you, I have all that I need. I return to you today, because my deepest and greatest need is you. Thank you for never growing weary with my persistence, but always inviting me back.