eFollowingJesusJan30 - Does prayer work? (read Matthew 7:7-11 - printed below)

   Does prayer work?  If prayer works, it doesn't work very well; it jams up like a snack dispenser when you're famished.

   When Jesus says "Ask, and it will be given," he isn't saying prayer is a machine.  Prayer is love.  Prayer is a relationship.  How do fathers love their children?  Not by simply doling out whatever the child wants.  The wisest gift is restraint.  The most tender gift is trusting the child to stand or fall on his own.  Children know no better than to ask for stones and serpents (or their modern equivalents).  But good fathers give bread and fish.

   And aren't bread and fish ancient symbols of the presence of Christ?  What better gift can a father give a child than his own self, his time, his love?  What better gift could God give us than God's own self in Jesus?  Ask, and you will receive.  Knock, and the door will be opened.  God gives the most precious gift:  his own Son - and whatever else he finds to be genuinely helpful to Your soul.

   Lord, I am knocking.  Help me to want what You want.  Give me only the finest of all conceivable gifts:  Your self.

James

james@mpumc.org

Here is the full text of Matthew 7:7-23 -  7: "Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8: For every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9: Or what man of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10: Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11: 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! 12: So whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them; for this is the law and the prophets. 13: "Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14: For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few. 15: "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16: You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? 17: So, every sound tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears evil fruit. 18: A sound tree cannot bear evil fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19: Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20: Thus you will know them by their fruits. 21: "Not every one who says to me, `Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22: On that day many will say to me, `Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' 23: And then will I declare to them, `I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers.'  

The full eFollowingJesus series (thus far!) may be found on our web site.