Thursday 1st March, 2012
Esther 4:17. Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me—Ps 137(138):1-3, 7-8. Matthew 7:7-12.

  
Meditation: mp3 | podcast
Readings: Text | mp3 | podcast

‘Which of you, if your child asks for bread, will give them a stone?’

Matthew here seems to be talking about prayer as an act of faith rather than as a tool for getting what we want—which is often the way we regard prayer, and understandably so, considering there is so much suffering and unmet need in our personal and broader worlds. But we all know that suffering exists and our prayers are not answered in the way a child expects to receive a gift from Santa Claus. However, Matthew reassures us to maintain faith in our God, likening God to a parent who could never be so cruel as to replace bread with stone.

This urges us to continue to pray in the faith that God never refuses to listen and would never give us what would be hurtful.