"Can We Get a Pool, Dad?"

Matthew 7:7-11

"Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. Everyone who asks receives; everyone who searches finds; everyone who knocks will have the door opened. Is there anyone among you who would hand his son a stone when he asked for bread? Or would hand him a snake when he asked for a fish? If you, then, evil as you are, know how to give your children what is good, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!"

Prayer is a pretty big thing to Jesus. He talks about it a lot. We've already discussed His teaching on how to pray, as well as how not to pray, but before He finished His Sermon on the Mount, He had a few more words to say about it. No wonder, since prayer is so incredibly crucial to living in an intimate relationship with God! It's impossible to have a relationship without communication!

In Matthew Chapter 6, Jesus assured us that God knows all of our needs, even before we ask, and yet here, in Chapter 7, Jesus tells us to ask. In fact, the original Greek makes that asking a persevering kind of asking: "Ask, and keep on asking..." Sometimes, God doesn't immediately respond to our prayers with instant answers, but holds off, inviting us to keep seeking for them. Why? Because God wants us to be seeking Him, not just seeking what we want from Him. Sometimes, it seems the only time we ever take time to talk to God is when we really want something from Him. So He draws us after Him through that.

Other times, it's possible that we are asking wrongly, or for the wrong thing. And so God uses the time that we spend seeking Him in our prayer to change our understanding and our perspective. But that can only happen when we take the time to draw close to Him in prayer!

In this waiting, though, Jesus urges us to never give up, but to continue to seek God. Be persistent! It's like that episode of The Simpsons where Bart and Lisa want a pool, and they approach their father to ask him, but before they do, they warn him that refusing will result in months and months of "Canwegetapooldad? Canwegetapooldad? Canwegetapooldad? Canwegetapooldad? Canwegetapooldad? Canwegetapooldad?" A minute-long montage of Homer eating, Homer working, Homer sleeping, all the while haunted by his children, saying over and over, "Canwegetapooldad? Canwegetapooldad? Canwegetapooldad? Canwegetapooldad?Canwegetapooldad?" until finally he's had it, and gives in, and of course, mayhem ensues.

Now, I want to be clear, our Heavenly Father is nothing like Homer Simpson (Thank God!). If I may paraphrase Jesus' conclusion to this segment of the Sermon on the Mount, "If Homer, being as stupid and oafish as he is, can still give good gifts to his children, how much more then, will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!"

So let us draw near to God with boldness, knowing that He hears us and desires us to come to Him! Let us approach Him, seeking intimacy with Him, and persevere in our prayer.

God bless.