I can remember when I was a kid going to arcades and working as hard as I could just to accumulate those little paper tickets. Do you know what I am talking about? The ice ball machine would spit out rolls of those things and give every little kid hope that they would walk out of that building with a new PlayStation 2 or a giant stuffed giraffe. I usually had enough tickets to get a few Chinese finger traps, vampire fangs, and Warheads.
Those tickets were everything to me in that moment. They were the formula for getting what I wanted.
Looking back, I can now see how silly it was to put so much effort into earning those tickets—my vehicle to happiness. But even as adults, we can sometimes treat prayer to God in the same way. We approach God like we would a prize counter, but the Lord is not a teenage employee disappointing eager children who did not earn enough arcade currency to get the big prize. God is not reluctant to give. God is a loving Father and a generous giver.
Jesus speaks to the giving nature of God in response to our prayers in the Gospel of Matthew.
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
Matthew 7:7-8 (ESV)
I don’t want to step deeply into the weeds of the Greek language, especially since I have zero Biblical language credentials. However, people much smarter than I point out that these three verbs—ask, seek, and knock—aren’t as casual as they appear in our English translations. Ask, seek, and knock are actually written in the present active imperative form in the Greek language. That’s a fancy way of saying these are not just one-time commands. Jesus is telling us to ask, seek, and knock again and again. A more accurate sense of what Jesus said would be: keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking. Jesus isn’t encouraging a quick prayer and moving on. He’s inviting us to persist in faith because God isn’t reluctant to give.
Why not? He is a Father.
Then Jesus paints a picture of the kind of Father we can expect God to be.
Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
Matthew 7:9-11 (ESV)
Jesus is cracking jokes here. If human sinners can be decent parents to our children, why would we expect our Heavenly Father to behave any differently?
Parents do not give snakes to a child who asks for fish. It’s absurd, and that’s the point. Even broken, selfish people like us know how to give good things to our kids. So, how much more can we trust God?
God will never hand us something dangerous when we’re asking for something good. He’s not going to trick us or be cruel to us to teach us a lesson. He’s a Father. That changes everything.
So keep asking for a fish. Seek him out for some bread. Keep knocking on his door until his peace calms your restless mind. Ask him for strength to get through your day. Ask your loving Father for patience when circumstances are tough. Keep asking him for healing. Keep coming to God for clarity when you are confused. Ask him for wisdom when you don’t know which way to turn. Keep asking for the friendships you need to point you to Christ.
Keep on coming to him like a little child. Your God and Father isn’t reluctant to give. He’s not handing out vampire fangs or Chinese finger traps. Nor is he handing out snakes and rocks for his children to eat for dinner. He is giving us good things, and we can trust him with that.
Bee-Attitude
Blessed are those who keep asking, seeking, and knocking, for they will find their Father ready to give good things.
Grant Turner is the editor of the Barnesville Buzz and an educator, coach, and writer based in Barnesville, Georgia. He shares stories that bridge community, faith, and personal growth. In addition to teaching and coaching, Grant is Director of Musical Worship and a Sunday School teacher at New Hope Baptist Church in Zebulon, Georgia. He lives in Barnesville with his wife, Haley.
