The Importance of Context January 22, 2016

⁷ “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened."  Matthew 7:7-8 ESV

Ah, yes, one of the "name it and claim" it verses.  A "blab it and grab it" promise.  Taken out of context it would appear all you have to do is ask and get, seek and receive, knock and collect.  But with like so many verses, context is everything.  What many prosperity preachers fail to quote are verses 9-11. 

^"9 Or which one 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!"  Matthew 7:9-11 ESV

Yes, God promises to answer your prayers, but only if those request are what is best for you.  After much prayer a job offer doesn't come through when you think you have nailed the interview.  God knew that job was a stone, not bread.  That "perfect" man ends a long-term relationship, even though you prayed for a marriage proposal.  Perhaps he was the serpent when God wants you to hold out for a fish.

What we can't see is our future.  I wonder how many people didn't get hired for a job with a company that had offices in the World Trade Center.  Was there anyone who didn't get a bonus that would have allowed a vacation flight on Asiana Flight 214?

Ours is not the gift of foresight.  We cannot confidently predict what will happen on our ride to work, let alone tomorrow, next week, or next year.  God knows perfectly the future.  What appears to be bread to us, might be the stone God is protecting us from.  Today's "fish" might be next week's "serpent" and only our Heavenly Father has that knowledge.

Yes, He answers your prayers, but only when your prayers are for those things which are a "good gift."  When a prayer is not answered, or answered in a way you did not ask, thank Yahweh for not giving you a serpent.