“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?” Matt. 7:11.
4. What above all else shows God's willingness to do this?
“He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” Rom. 8:32.
5. Upon what conditions are we promised needed blessings?
“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” Matt. 7:7, 8.
Notes.—“Prayer is not the overcoming of God's reluctance; it is the taking hold of God's willingness.” “Prayer is the opening of the heart to God as to a friend.” Prayer does not change God; but it does change us and our relation to God. It places us in the channel of blessings, and in that frame of mind in which God can consistently and safely grant our requests.
“How shall we pray so as to be heard and to receive help? For one thing, there must be a real desire in our hearts. Forms of words do not make prayer: we must want something, and must realize our dependence upon God for it.”—J. R. Miller, D. D.
6. From whom do all good and perfect gifts come?
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” James 1:17.
7. If one lacks wisdom, what is he told to do?