"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!"

We've spent three days talking about persistent prayer, God's perfect judgment, and how He protects us from what would harm us. Today we arrive at the verse that ties it all together and gives us incredible confidence in prayer.

Jesus says, "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!"

Here's what I need you to know. Jesus isn't calling you a terrible person. He's making a comparison. Even broken, imperfect, sinful human parents still manage to give good gifts to their children. We get it wrong sometimes. We discipline when we should encourage. We're too strict or too lenient. We operate from our own wounds and limitations. But even in our brokenness, we still try to give our kids what's good for them.

So if imperfect parents can do that, imagine what your perfect heavenly Father can provide. The logic is overwhelming. How much more will He give good things to those who ask Him?

Can I just say something? This should completely change how you approach prayer. You're not begging a reluctant deity. You're asking a generous Father who delights in giving good gifts. The question isn't whether He wants to give. The question is whether we're willing to trust His definition of good.

Notice what Jesus promises in this verse. Not that the Father gives whatever we request, but that He gives "good things." Luke's parallel account in Luke 11:13 gets even more specific. It says, "How much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

The good gift is the Holy Spirit Himself. The Father's ultimate provision isn't just answered requests. It's the person of the Holy Spirit that leads you into God's provision for you.

Think about it just like Moses leading Israel out of Egypt. Moses was an answer to prayer even though God's answer brought more hardship. God was not the bringer of hardship. That was evidence the world was resisting. But God even redeemed the hardship by not only delivering them from it but turning the burden into a blessing. Exodus 12:35 tells us that when they left Egypt, they plundered the Egyptians and took wealth with them.

Romans 8:28 reinforces this truth. "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." God's definition of "good" includes His redemptive purposes, not just our request for provision. He's working all things together for good, even the things that feel like rejection. Even the things that look like unanswered prayer.

Here's the incredible part. God's judgment in leading Israel out wasn't the way any man would have chosen. Exodus 13:17 says God didn't lead them the short way because He knew they would turn back when they saw war. So He led them the long way through the wilderness. God knew that the burden, the long way, would later become a blessing if they would simply trust Him.

The Red Sea looked like a snake but was actually a fish. Because it would protect them from forfeiting the blessing of the promise land. If the Red Sea crossing would have been avoidable, they would have gone back to Egypt. But the Lord took an impossible moment and turned it into an incredible miracle. The greater miracle wasn't about what He was saving them from. It was about what He was bringing them to.

So the proof that you can trust God isn't just that He's generous. It's that His judgment surpasses yours. Tomorrow we're going to bring everything full circle and talk about what it means to resume asking after you've stopped.

Thank God today for a prayer He didn't answer the way you wanted. Look for evidence of His better judgment in that situation and acknowledge that His "how much more" provision was at work even when you couldn't see it.