Matthew 7:11

This verse comes from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, a long teaching he gave to crowds gathered on a hillside. Jesus is making what scholars call a 'lesser to greater' argument about prayer: if flawed, self-absorbed human parents — whom Jesus honestly labels 'evil,' meaning morally broken rather than monstrous — can still manage to give their children good things when asked, then God, who is perfectly good and loving, gives so much more to those who come to him. The word 'Father' is deliberate and tender — Jesus wants his listeners to stop picturing God as a distant king and start seeing him as a parent who actually wants to provide.

Father, I confess I don't always come to you expecting much. I sometimes decide the answer is no before I even ask. Help me believe that you are genuinely good — that you know what I need better than I do and that you want to give it. Teach me to ask with open hands. Amen.

Think about the worst gift-giver you know — someone who forgets, misreads what you need, gives something technically correct but completely tone-deaf. Now think of the most attentive parent you've ever witnessed. Jesus says God is better than even that best version of human generosity — and he makes that claim while being refreshingly blunt: we are 'evil.' Not in a dramatic, movie-villain way. Just ordinary, distracted, inconsistent people who somehow still manage to love our kids well enough to feed them, comfort them, and hand them something good when they ask. The logic Jesus is using should undo you a little. If you — with all your selfishness and limited understanding — can figure out how to give someone you love what they need, how much more does your Father in heaven understand what you're carrying right now? Maybe the barrier isn't that God is withholding. Maybe you've stopped asking, or stopped expecting an answer. You've pre-declined on his behalf. Try again today. Not with perfectly arranged words — just ask.