The Word God Spells

Matthew 7: 7-12
Est C:12.14-16.23-25 / Ps 138

Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.
(Matthew 7:7-8)

Whatever we seek in prayer,
We must be confident we shall find;
Jesus said, trust God your Father,
What we’ve received we must give in kind.

In today’s Gospel passage of Matthew, our Lord seems to be making an emphatic statement that His Father in heaven will reward those who ask Him in prayer. He even repeated Himself, and gave a comparison of a human father’s response to his son to reinforce His promise. His only condition is that we must do likewise to others. This is the Golden Rule. If we are living the Gospel values as true Christians, then we will receive what we are asking for, we will find what we are seeking, and doors of opportunities will be opened to us. “Whatever we ask we (will) receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight.” (1 John 3:22)

Reflection

A certain brother in our community (we will call him Bro. Rey) always practiced the Golden Rule in his dealings with others. Kindness is inherent in his nature. But one’s kindness can also be abused by those to whom it is given. When the Department of Agrarian Reform included his 5 hectare farm in its Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP), Bro. Rey’s tenant demanded a share of 1.5 hectares, or P750,000 cash settlement. This he considered unfair, as his tenant had lived off his land for so long without giving Bro. Rey any substantial share of the crops. But the DAR being always on the side of tenant-farmers, Bro. Rey could not find any solution to prevent his small farm from being further reduced. He was willing to pay P450,000, which was already a very substantial amount for the poor family of his tenant, but the latter refused to settle for the lesser amount. Call it karma, but not long afterwards, the tenant figured in a motor accident. The farmer was killed and his son hospitalized. The wife of the tenant was left with no choice but to accept Bro. Rey’s kind offer.

In the case of that tenant, God did not give him what he was praying for, because as St. James tells us: “You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.” (James 4:3) Yes, in this case there are also prayers that are not granted. In our prayers, let us ask God for enlightenment, so that what we ask for will not be for our own good alone but for others as well.

Lord, You always know what is best for us. Remind us to seek first Your kingdom and Your righteousness, as Jesus taught us, with the assurance that all other things will be given us besides (Mt. 6:33). Amen.