Matthew 7:7-11
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in Heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him!
Jesus is telling us that He wants us to ask for what it is we want or need. That means that we need to know what we are going to ask for. So often we pray in such generalities, how could we ever know when God would be answering? When we know what it is we need, or what we want to specifically ask for; then when His answers are that specific, then it's obvious that He is the One Who is working in our lives, and He gets the glory.
When Jesus says that our fathers are "evil," He doesn't mean that they are "bad people;" He just is referring to the fact that none of us comes up to God's perfection, we have all "sinned," or "missed the bull's eye," and are therefore "evil" in that sense.
So the more we know of God and His ways, the ways He designed this world to work, and endeavor to live our daily lives according to His rules; then when we pray, we will be asking our Father for what He wants to give to us, anyway, but is waiting for us to ask. And the more specific the prayer is, the better we will praise Him when He answers.
Let us seek to know our Father's character: His goodness and great love, His wisdom and how He designed our world to work, and His mercy and graciousness to us. Then we will be able to know what it is we need to ask for in order to carry out His plans for us. And He will get the credit for all He has done.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
