“Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knows
what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.”
(Matthew 6:8)
The Father’s knowledge of His children is perfect, flawless in wisdom, and unsearchable in scope. Before a prayer is formed on the lips, before a sigh escapes the heart, He already knows. There is no deficiency in His care, no blindness in His providence, and no oversight in His provision. The God who numbers the hairs of our head (Matt. 10:30) cannot fail to discern the needs of our soul.
But when difficulties persist and desires remain unfulfilled, it seems He does not hear. We can’t understand why, if He knows, does He not give? It’s because the Father provides what He knows we need in His providence, according to His own perfect wisdom. What we believe is necessity may be a snare, and what we call loss may be the very means of gain. Every gift is weighed, every trial measured, and every answer timed according to His eternal design.
Parents deny requests that would harm their children. So too, the heavenly Father withholds what would injure the soul, even if the child perceives it as good. Christ presses this home: “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts … how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?” (Matt. 7:11).
And yet the Father’s best is often dressed in forms we resist—disappointments, delays, losses, and crosses. Still, these are not the evidences of neglect but rather the instruments of His refining love. To respond with murmuring and complaining is to mistrust His heart. We must instead rest in His goodness, knowing that His providence is neither careless nor cruel, but exact, intentional, and always kind to those who love Him (Rom. 8:28).
As Alexander Hume rightly said, “God rewards his own not according to their worthiness, but according to his greatness.”[1] Contentment, then, is not found in the abundance or nature of the gifts, but in the certainty of the Giver. Paul learned this secret: “In whatsoever state I am, therein to be content” (Phil. 4:11). The believer who trusts the Father’s wisdom can stand in want or in plenty with equal rest of soul, knowing that their portion is chosen by an unerring hand.
Contemplations:
- The Lord, our Helper. Glory to You, O blessed Master, who has helped us with our weakness and given us direction in prayer that we might glory in Your knowledge and necessity to us.
- Teach us to pray. Lord, You gave us the Lord’s Prayer, which was composed by You who hears prayer. I know it is excellent and most agreeable and acceptable to You who knows all my needs and expresses the manner in which I ought to pray.
- Pray in faith. O Blessed Jesus, the only beloved of God, You above all best understand the language of love, and in that language You have taught us to pray and trust. So whenever we pray as You taught we have a humble confidence that our heavenly Father will hear us.
- My attentive Father. Lord, You show us that prayer is the treasury where all blessings are kept, where our strength and weapons are stored, and where we access Your love. Give me grace therefore to call on You diligently and continually in prayer for You already know what I have need of before I ask.
- The end of those who disregard prayer. O the unspeakable misery of those who either totally neglect the duty of prayer, or else profane it by pretending to draw near to You with their lips when their hearts are far from You. How deservedly shall these hypocrites suffer eternal wrath who thought heaven not worth the asking?
Prayer (Supplication)
O Father of mercies and God of all comfort, You know my frame, You understand my needs, You see my path before I walk it. Before a word is on my tongue, You know it altogether. There is nothing hidden from Your sight—no weakness I would conceal, no wound I would disguise, no longing I could name that is not already read in the secret places of my soul.
Forgive me for mistrusting Your wisdom when Your providence denies my request or delays Your answer. Teach me to rest in Your goodness when I cannot trace Your hand. Let me not measure Your love by the shape of my circumstances, but by the cross where that love was displayed beyond question or measure.
Grant me a heart that delights in Your will, whether it brings comfort or affliction, increase or loss. If my desire would lead me from You, let it wither. If my prayer is amiss, correct it. If my expectation is too small, enlarge it. Let me not cling to what You withhold nor despise what You give, knowing Your gifts are perfect because they come from You.
Keep me in the spirit of prayer, O Lord. Let my petitions be shaped by Your Word, tempered with submission, and offered in faith that You always do right. Let my approach be honest, my heart contrite, and my hope fixed on Christ, my Mediator.
And when my understanding falters and I cannot see the good in what You appoint, remind me that You are my Father and You know best. Let this be enough for my peace. Let this be the anchor in every storm: that the God who chose me in Christ orders all my days in love and will not withhold any good thing from me.
In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Further Scripture References for Matthew 6:8:
Matthew 6:32; Psalm 38:9; Deuteronomy 2:7; 1 John 3:20.
[1] Alexander Hume, A Treatise of the Felicity, (Edinburgh: Robert Walde-grave, 1594), 11.
