HOW MUCH MORE
Matt. 7:9-11
Often we develop the mistaken attitude that prayer and particularly persistent prayer is the means by which we wrest from God the things which He does not really want us to have. Quite the contrary is true.
Prayer is the divinely ordained channel through which God gives His children all the good things He designs for our benefit and blessing. God is far more willing to give than we are to ask.
He is more willing to answer prayer than we are to meet the conditions under which He can answer prayer.
Using the analogy of the relationship of children to an earthly father, our Lord teaches us that our relationship to God as His dear children will provoke a much quicker and greater response to our pleas than that gained from an earthly parent.
In the HOW MUCH MORE we see the WILLINGNESS OF GOD TO ANSWER PRAYER.
Using the illustration of a human father, imperfect as he is, Jesus compares how much more wonderful is our Heavenly Father.
It is a reasoining from the less to the greater. If godly parents respond to the cries of need from their children, what may we expect from Him who is supremely excellent and kindly inclined unto His children?
In knowledge, in wisdom, in benevolence, in power, in resources, our heavenly Father infinitely surpasses all earthly parents, and therefore we may petition Him with the fullest assurance that He will supply all our need. What conclusive reasoning is this! What persuasive appeal is here!
"Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?" (vv. 9, 10). He bids us ponder the conduct of earthly parents. Does a godly father deliberately mock his son when a reasonable request is made of him?
As the child trusts his parent, so must you your heavenly Father. "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?"
"What man is there of you ,whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?" Do you know a loving father that would do that? The bread that they used was a little kind of a pale flour, just a little round thing. It looked like the same exact as those little limestones that you find on the shoreline of Israel. A father could deceive his child. “Father, I need just the basics of life -- bread.” Would a loving father give him a little rock? The answer is, "Of course not."
“If he asks a fish, will he give him a serpent?” A fish was a clean animal, according to ceremonial law, and a fish could be eaten. But a serpent was and unclean animals. They could not be eaten. He’s not going to give his an unclean animal.
Some people have the mistaken idea that this means a snake that would bite him. No, the assumption is that it’s cooked. Cooked snakes don’t bite. The idea is the uncleanness of it.
A father will not purposely deceive his son. He will not purposely defile his son.
He won’t purposely destroy his son, either. And Luke 11:12 adds the fact that if his son asks for an egg, will he given him a scorpion? Scorpions in that part of the world are large, and when they tuck their legs and their claws underneath and sleep, they look exactly like an egg from the top. If the son asks his father for an egg, is his father going to give that which not only deceives him and defiles him, but destroys him? No father would do that.
Well, verse 11 says, "If ye, then, being evil," do that much out of a sense of parental love, "then how much more shall your Father give good things to them that ask Him."
So much of the problem of persistent, believing prayer is found right here: we have a low view of God as Father.
I. God is more willing to answer prayer because of His Character.
A. Earthly parents are inherently evil - "if ye then, being evil’.’
The ruin of sin rests upon us everyone - Rom. 5:12
B. If sinful parents give bread instead of stones and fish instead of serpents, HOW- MUCH MORE shall your Father which is in heaven give ?
God is inherently good.
The Lord is good!
Psalms 107:1 O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Psalm 107:1,8,15
II. God is more willing to answer prayer because of His Capability.
A. Earthly parents according to their ability provide for their children.
Yet there is a limit to how much men can do. Even those with the greatest of means can only go so far for there are some things that money cannot buy.
B. If earthly father do their best within the scope of their limitations, HOW MUCH MORE- shall your Father which is in heaven give?
He is Greater because He is not limited.
Ephesians 3:20,21
Able to do all that we ASK
Able to do all that we ask or THINK
Able to do ALL that we ask or think
Able to do ABOVE all that we ask or think
Able to do ABUNDANTLY above all that we ask or think
Able to do EXCEEDING abundantly above all that we ask or think
God is inexhaustible in His ability. God exceeds our expectations.
We cannot ask God for something that is beyond His ability. We can’t even think of something that is beyond His ability.
Thou art coming to a King,
Large petitions with thee bring,
For His grace and power are such,
None can ever ask too much.
Who can explain the "how much more" of God’s grace, the "how much more" of God’s mercy, and the "how much more" of God’s love? Anything the Lord does is always "much more" than we ever requested, anticipated, or deserved.
The disciples simply needed a catch of fish, but their nets broke and their boats began to sink. From a few loaves and fishes, a multitude needed feeding, but twelve leftover baskets were carried away. It is impossible to out give or outguess the Lord! Just when we think we’ve seen the best the Lord has to offer, He amazes us with "how much more."
III. God is more willing to answer prayer because of His Compassion.
A. Earthly fathers love their children and delight to give them those things which they ask.
B. HOW MUCH MORE shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?
1. God’s love is beyond knowledge or comprehension but thank God not beyond experience
2. God is to loving to refuse His children any "good thing" and too wise to indulge them in anything that is not good.
3. God does not answer our prayers because we deserve answers but because He is gracious.
His grace is His love in action.
Conclusion
Earthly parents may "know how to give good gifts unto your children," but straitened circumstances often prevent him carrying out his desires. Not so our heavenly Father: He not only "knoweth how," but actually gives unto His children.
Jesus use of "much more" is what is referred to as an argument from the lesser to the greater, in this case from the human to the divine. If it is true of the lesser, how much more of the greater.
Some time ago a I read of a letter a missionary had received from a little girl whose Sunday School class was writing to foreign missionaries as a class project. Evidently their teacher had told them that real live missionaries were very busy and might be unable to answer their letters, for the one he received said simply:
Dear Rev. Smith:
We are praying for you. We are not expecting an answer.
Without realizing it that little girl summed up the prayer life of many Christians: we are praying; we are not expecting an answer. The truth is, most of us aren’t surprised when our prayers aren’t answered – and we’re often amazed when they are. But the opposite ought to be true!
Prayer is not about overcoming God’s reluctance, but about laying hold of His willingness. Prayer is making the most of God’s willingness to act on our behalf.
