Not Judging, but Doing
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mercy and loving-kindness of God. As an illustration of their need,
and of God’s willingness to give, He presents before them a hungry
child asking his earthly parent for bread. “What man is there of you,”
He said, “whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?” He
appeals to the tender, natural affection of a parent for his child and
then says, “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto
your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven
give good things to them that ask Him?” No man with a father’s heart
would turn from his son who is hungry and is asking for bread. Would
they think him capable of trifling with his child, of tantalizing him by
raising his expectations only to disappoint him? Would he promise to
give him good and nourishing food, and then give him a stone? And
should anyone dishonor God by imagining that He would not respond
to the appeals of His children?
If ye, then, being human and evil, “know how to give good gifts
unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give
the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?”
Luke 11:13
. The Holy Spirit,
the representative of Himself, is the greatest of all gifts. All “good
things” are comprised in this. The Creator Himself can give us nothing
greater, nothing better. When we beseech the Lord to pity us in our
distress, and to guide us by His Holy Spirit, He will never turn away
our prayer. It is possible even for a parent to turn away from his hungry
child, but God can never reject the cry of the needy and longing heart.
With what wonderful tenderness He has described His love! To those
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who in days of darkness feel that God is unmindful of them, this is the
message from the Father’s heart: “Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken
me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. Can a woman forget her sucking
child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb?
Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven
thee upon the palms of My hands.”
Isaiah 49:14-16
.
Every promise in the word of God furnishes us with subject matter
for prayer, presenting the pledged word of Jehovah as our assurance.
Whatever spiritual blessing we need, it is our privilege to claim through
Jesus. We may tell the Lord, with the simplicity of a child, exactly
what we need. We may state to Him our temporal matters, asking
Him for bread and raiment as well as for the bread of life and the robe
of Christ’s righteousness. Your heavenly Father knows that you have
need of all these things, and you are invited to ask Him concerning