“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. 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!"
I think there are two things going on that Jesus is referring to. One is that God rewards right motivations. And two is that God rewards diligence.
What this is not talking about is a "name it and claim it" kind of theology. God does not give us every whim that crosses through our minds. We are not entitled to BMW's and Mercedes Benz's simply because we want to live in luxury and ask God for them..
What this is talking about is provisioning Kingdom resources for Kingdom purposes. The phrase "seek and you will find," is the clue. If we are truly seeking God's agenda, we will find it -and when we know God's agenda and purposes, we have a right and even an expectation that God will provide adequate resources to accomplish His plans, so we can boldly ask for whatever is needed. And we can also ask and expect that God will open the right doors for us to accomplish His will and purpose.
God gives good and appropriate gifts to His children. Jesus said, "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?" Something Jesus did not say but is, nevertheless true, is that if we are always asking for desserts and junk food, He will likely still provide bread and fish because that is what is good and that is what is needed.
Christians, it seems, tend to fall in two different categories when it comes to asking God for good gifts. Some ask selfishly for things that have no Kingdom value, and some have a difficult time asking for anything because they don't want to appear selfish. God's desire is that we seek Him, His Kingdom, and His purposes and boldly ask for what is needed. He enjoys giving us the best provisions, the best gifts to accomplish His purposes. It is not selfish to ask our Father for such things.
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