If You Know He Knows

Matthew 7:11
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!

Jesus is encouraging His disciples of that time together with us to pray. Jesus tells us that praying has been made a condition for receiving anything from God. For us to receive what God has planned for us, we must pray for it. If we do not pray, we do not receive, yet it was prepared and planned for us. There Jesus encourages us to be prayerful in our relationship with God.

Prayer is not informing God what He didn’t know. Prayer is communication that helps any relationship to thrive. The simplest and quickest way to kill any relationship is to cut off all communication and for sure that relationship will die. There are three cardinal rules for all relationships and none should be neglected. (1) Communication (2) Communication (3) Communication. Even a strained relationship that has many problems has a high chance of surviving if there is communication. But a good relationship but with little or no communication is no good and will soon die. Relationships are sustained by communication.

When people fall in love. The initial days have a lot of communication. All the time reaching out to each other. Talking the whole time, the whole night, etc. That communication is what solidifies their beginning. When relationships end, it is after a couple reaches a point where they cannot even quarrel, they go quiet. Communication ceases. When communication ceases the rift starts widening steadily and for sure it will be easier to part for good after that. Communication is at the heart of any and every relationship. There are three cardinal rules for all relationships and none should be neglected. (1) Communication (2) Communication (3) Communication. Communication is at the heart of any and every relationship.

Our relationship with God requires constant communication. That communication is prayer. Prayer does not inform God what He didn’t know. Prayer is the communication that is necessary for any relationship. It is coming to God because you love Him and You need Him. Even in our human relationships, when we communicate it is not always informing each other what we didn’t know. We communicate to show love and care. In the process of communication, we say a lot that the other person already can guess or knows. “I am really tired.” “I am hungry.” “I am now going to work.” “Honey, I am home.” Obviously if honey can hear you then you must be home. We communicate to show love, care, concern and need for each other, and not always to inform.

People who pray once in a while do so partly because they think prayer is information. You pray to inform God of something major. That is wrong. God is omniscient, He knows everything. You do not pray to inform Him. We pray so that we draw closer to Him. God doesn’t need communication, it is we who need communication. That is why someone has said, prayer does not draw God closer to us, it instead lifts us up to God. Prayer helps us to be closer to God. It is us who were created to need communication. Therefore we pray mentioning the obvious to God for that process of communication helps us to be closer to God. Pray without ceasing, 1 Thessalonians 5:17. Praying without ceasing is sustaining our relationship with God. It is like saying, stay in touch.

Therefore do not be afraid of mentioning the obvious in prayer. It is not information, it is a moment of love, care, concern, and closeness. Since it is a moment of love, you now do what another great writer has said, talk to God as to a friend. Since prayer is not information, the tone and attitude should be of talking to a father or a friend and not making a speech to an audience that is assessing you. Fully express yourself in prayer. mention your doubts and fears. God is listening as a friend and as a father.

Our text today gives us the assurance that when we pray we shouldn’t doubt about receiving good things from God. God is a friend, He cares and can’t let us down. God is a Father, He knows what to give us. Jesus had earlier on made it clear that even before we pray, God knows all our needs, Matthew 6:32. Now in our text today, Jesus challenges us that if we know good gifts for our children, yet we are evil, surely can’t a good God know what is good for us? If we know that we give bread and not stone, doesn’t God know? If we know that we give fish and not a snake, doesn’t God know? If you know good gifts for your children, yet you are evil, surely, God knows good gifts and correct answers to prayer for us. If you know, He knows!

If you know what good grades are in school, God knows good grades. If you know a good job, God knows a good job. If you know a pay rise and pay drop, God knows a pay rise and a pay drop. If you know profit, God knows profit. If you know that the money is urgently needed, God knows the money is urgently needed. God is omniscient and knows everything. We, evil people, can’t know better than God. If you know this sickness is serious, God knows it is serious. If you want happiness in marriage, God knows you need happiness in marriage. If you are lonely and need a partner, God knows you are lonely and that you need a partner. If you know, He knows!

We should pray to communicate and not inform. We should pray to a friend and father and not making a speech for a disinterested audience that needs big words to capture their attention. Change of tone, etc., is not communication but being dramatic, which in communication to an all-knowing God may not really be necessary. The assurance we carry with us in prayer is that if we know what is good for us, surely God should also know what is good for us. If you know, He knows.

Therefore when God delays answering, it is not because He doesn’t know, but because in His wisdom that is better than ours, the time has not come for Him to answer our prayer. We should trust Him. If you know, He knows. Sometimes answers to prayer delay because we have not played our part. You want to pass exams but you don’t attend classes, you don’t do assignments and you don’t study. God is ready to grant you success but you have not done your part.

God knows what is good for us, He will grant it after we play our part, at the right time according to His divine wisdom, and after we communicate to Him as a Father and friend. May this understanding improve our prayer life, and may God answer all our prayers, in Jesus’ name, Amen!

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