Grains of Sand

thegospelcoalition.org (Google Images) Prayer is tricky. No, the actual action of praying is not difficult, but praying correctly is. I don’t mean the form of prayer we use when I say, “correctly” but rather the content of those prayers. When Jesus gave us His model prayer in Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4, He gave us the basic elements that should be included in our prayers. Most of them are very straightforward. But when it comes to the “ Give us each day our daily bread ” we often run into the problem of “correctness.” We know that this statement is a general one, and can include every need that a human being can have. But it is what to ask for that will guarantee a positive response from God that troubles us. “How do I know that what I am asking God is according to His will?” is the question that many ask. I remember the prayers that our missionary team prayed many years ago on behalf of a woman in our small congregation in Caracas. She was one of the first converts to Christ. ...

“ 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; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened ” –Matthew 7:7, 8, NIV. These were good verses for this morning. I had a question that had been niggling away at the edges of my mind for some time. So I took the verses with me into my prayer time this morning and asked God for an answer to my concern. When I got to my office that answer was lying on my desk. It hadn’t been there yesterday when I dropped in, but sometime between yesterday afternoon and this morning, it had been delivered. There are plenty of times when we ask and the answer isn’t quite that immediate. There are times we go looking and what we seek is elusive. There are times when we pound on doors that refuse to open. But moments like this morning remind me that God responds when the response is needed, not a moment too early or a moment too late. He is a Father who...

What looks like one thing often turns out to be something different when seen in its context. That's true with this well-known verse of Scripture: " 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; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened " —Matthew 7:7, 8. And everyone rushes into God's presence with his wish list. Since Jesus used an illustration about food to describe God's perfect responses to this prayer, we immediately think material things when we claim this verse. But context is everything. In Luke's Gospel, these verses are summed up this way: " 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 the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! " (11:13). Holy Spirit? What's He got to do with food, clothing, financial security, health, job opportunities—all the things o...