Staying in Touch

Staying in Touch          January, 2021 

“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 - Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 - If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him” (Matthew 7:9-11)!  

Remember this oldie but goodie? A twenty-something woman is painting the interior of what appears to be her “first place.” A knock at her apartment door is lost in the music from the stereo. Seamlessly the scene changes and outside we see a man slip something under her door. Back inside, the young woman notices the object. She walks over and picks it up. It’s a cell-phone - preprogrammed. Upon being opened the display reads: 

Dad - Home     Dad - Office     Dad - Cell 

Now she is smiling a little, a smile with a twist to it, like the smile of a child determined not to weep. The commercial closes with the dad answering his ringing cell as he walks down the sidewalk. “Helping you stay in touch,” the commercial beams. And we watched and thought, “Wow, wouldn’t it be sweet for someone to do that for us? An anytime connection with love. 

Well…God has done this and better for you my friend, yes, for you! “That God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them” (2 Corinthians 5:19). Reconciliation restitches the unraveled and erases the rebellion. Thanks to Christ’s redemptive work “forgiven” is our watch word and harmony with our heavenly Father is our gift. Through Christ you can now stay in touch with a perfect loving Father at any time and for anything in prayer. What is more he always answers with what is best for you.  

After all, bad dads give good gifts to their kids, right? They don’t trick a boy who wants bread with rubble? Or what dad dupes a child longing for a fish with a viper on his plate? As bad as we are, we are at least decent to our own children. So, don’t you think the God who conceived and saved you will do even better, far better? 

I love that argument. Jesus really did want us to feel hopeful when we pray. He is trying to overcome our skepticism about prayer. So, are you staying in touch? Do you give God the Father your waking requests? Your waiting requests? Your waning requests? The point is this: God ignores no prayers from his children. And he gives us what we ask for, or something better (not necessarily easier), if we trust him. “Thou art coming to a King. Large petitions with thee bring. For his grace and mercy are such. None can ever ask too much.”