By Nagaland Post | Publish Date: 8\/24\/2021 1:02:30 PM IST<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? \u2014Matthew 7:9<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The illustration of prayer that our Lord used here is one of a good child who is asking for something good. We talk about prayer as if God hears us regardless of what our relationship is to Him (see Matthew 5:45). Never say that it is not God\u2019s will to give you what you ask. Don\u2019t faint and give up, but find out the reason you have not received; increase the intensity of your search and examine the evidence. Is your relationship right with your spouse, your children, and your fellow students? Are you a \u201cgood child\u201d in those relationships? Do you have to say to the Lord, \u201cI have been irritable and cross, but I still want spiritual blessings\u201d? You cannot receive and will have to do without them until you have the attitude of a \u201cgood child.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n We mistake defiance for devotion, arguing with God instead of surrendering. We refuse to look at the evidence that clearly indicates where we are wrong. Have I been asking God to give me money for something I want, while refusing to pay someone what I owe him? Have I been asking God for liberty while I am withholding it from someone who belongs to me? Have I refused to forgive someone, and have I been unkind to that person? Have I been living as God\u2019s child among my relatives and friends? (see Matthew 7:12).<\/p>\n\n\n\n I am a child of God only by being born again, and as His child I am good only as I \u201cwalk in the light\u201d (1 John 1:7). For most of us, prayer simply becomes some trivial religious expression, a matter of mystical and emotional fellowship with God. We are all good at producing spiritual fog that blinds our sight. But if we will search out and examine the evidence, we will see very clearly what is wrong\u2014 a friendship, an unpaid debt, or an improper attitude. There is no use praying unless we are living as children of God. Then Jesus says, regarding His children, \u201cEveryone who asks receives\u2026\u201d (Matthew 7:8).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Nagaland Post | Publish Date: 8\/24\/2021 1:02:30 PM IST What man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? \u2014Matthew 7:9 The illustration of prayer that our Lord used here is one of a good child who is asking for something good. We talk about prayer […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1022","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1022"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1022\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}