The illustration of prayer that our Lord used here is one of a good
child who is asking for something good. We talk about prayer as if God
hears us regardless of what our relationship is to Him (see Matthew 5:45).
Never say that it is not God’s will to give you what you ask. Don’t
faint and give up, but find out the reason you have not received;
increase the intensity of your search and examine the evidence. Is your
relationship right with your spouse, your children, and your fellow
students? Are you a “good child” in those relationships? Do you have to
say to the Lord, “I have been irritable and cross, but I still want
spiritual blessings”? You cannot receive and will have to do without
them until you have the attitude of a “good child.”
We mistake defiance for devotion, arguing with God instead of
surrendering. We refuse to look at the evidence that clearly indicates
where we are wrong. Have I been asking God to give me money for
something I want, while refusing to pay someone what I owe him? Have I
been asking God for liberty while I am withholding it from someone who
belongs to me? Have I refused to forgive someone, and have I been unkind
to that person? Have I been living as God’s child among my relatives
and friends? (see Matthew 7:12).
I am a child of God only by being born again, and as His child I am good only as I “walk in the light” (1 John 1:7).
For most of us, prayer simply becomes some trivial religious
expression, a matter of mystical and emotional fellowship with God. We
are all good at producing spiritual fog that blinds our sight. But if we
will search out and examine the evidence, we will see very clearly what
is wrong— a friendship, an unpaid debt, or an improper attitude. There
is no use praying unless we are living as children of God. Then Jesus
says, regarding His children, “Everyone who asks receives . . .” (Matthew 7:8).
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