Matthew 7:10

Jesus asks this pointed question as part of a longer teaching on prayer in the Sermon on the Mount — a famous speech he gave to large crowds in ancient Galilee. In first-century Jewish culture, fish was a staple food. A snake would be not only useless but dangerous — the contrast is stark and deliberate. Jesus is drawing on the universal instincts of any loving parent: no good father would answer a hungry child's request with something harmful. His point is simple but profound: if flawed, imperfect human parents know how to give good things to their children, how much more will God — who is perfectly good — give good things to those who ask him.

Father, I want to trust that you are good — not just as a doctrine but when my prayers feel unanswered or strange. Help me come to you like a child who believes their parent wants to give good things. Loosen my grip on suspicion, and let me pray with open hands. Amen.

There's something almost funny about the question — of course no one hands their kid a snake when they asked for dinner. Jesus seems to be almost laughing with the crowd as he says it. But behind the absurdity is something deeply tender: he's trying to get you to see what kind of Father you're actually praying to. Not a distant deity who ignores requests, not a trickster who baits and switches — but a Father whose instinct is to give good things. Maybe you've prayed for something and gotten what felt like a snake — or worse, silence. Jesus doesn't promise you'll always receive exactly what you asked for. But he does promise something about the character of the one you're asking. When answers are confusing, late, or nothing like you expected, this question is worth sitting with: do you actually believe God is good toward you? Not just powerful. Not just holy. Good — like a parent who would never hand their hungry child something harmful.