"Ask and you shall receive", really?

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Filius_Prodigus

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Matthew 7 goes:

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! …]"

Then why are not all prayers answered?

For example, was there no one of true faith and goodwill to pray that WW1 and WW2 stop?

How can there be theology after Auschwitz? Can these events be reconciled with faith, and specifically with Matthew 7:7-11?

(I’m sorry if this has been asked before, but I could not find a thread with this subject.)
 
Try a search on 'the problem of evil". Because what you’re basically asking is the age old question of 'how can a good God let bad things happen". Which has been hashed over a million times here.

'Ask and you shall receive" is not the same thing as “ask and you shall get exactly what you ask for”. After all, as the famous song line goes “you can’t always get what you want … you get what you NEED”. And sometimes, let’s be honest, we’re too stupid either to know what we should be asking for - or how to take what we’re given and turn it to good.

Were WWI and WW2 bad? Sure, there was plenty of evil aspects to them. But we only have limited vision, we only see part of the picture.

Kind of like a little kid who goes to the doctor. They don’t understand the significance of the vaccinations the doctor is giving them, and the good that will result. They just know that they’re getting a big old needle that hurts a lot, they don’t know why. So of course they think doctors are horrible!

But when they’re just a little bit older and wiser, they learn that Mom and Dad were right when they did all those mean things like making you brush your teeth, eat your vegetables, do your homework. Even when they made you endure all those painful visits to the doctor, dentist, or hospital when you needed them.
 
LilyM said:
Try a search on 'the problem of evil". Because what you’re basically asking is the age old question of 'how can a good God let bad things happen". Which has been hashed over a million times here.

'Ask and you shall receive" is not the same thing as “ask and you shall get exactly what you ask for”. After all, as the famous song line goes “you can’t always get what you want … you get what you NEED”. And sometimes, let’s be honest, we’re too stupid either to know what we should be asking for - or how to take what we’re given and turn it to good.

Were WWI and WW2 bad? Sure, there was plenty of evil aspects to them. But we only have limited vision, we only see part of the picture.

Kind of like a little kid who goes to the doctor. They don’t understand the significance of the vaccinations the doctor is giving them, and the good that will result. They just know that they’re getting a big old needle that hurts a lot, they don’t know why. So of course they think doctors are horrible!

But when they’re just a little bit older and wiser, they learn that Mom and Dad were right when they did all those mean things like making you brush your teeth, eat your vegetables, do your homework. Even when they made you endure all those painful visits to the doctor, dentist, or hospital when you needed them.
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Problem of evil? Yes and no. It’s more a question about prayer. Well, actually, what it’s precisely about is Matthew 7:7-11. Incidentally, regarding the problem of evil, I understand it the same way I interpret you do. I do not have a problem with it and I would prefer the thread not derail into that subject.
 
Filius_Prodigus said:
Problem of evil? Yes and no. It’s more a question about prayer. Well, actually, what it’s precisely about is Matthew 7:7-11. Please read the passage.

… And regarding the problem of evil, I understand it the same way I interpret you do. I do not have a problem with it.
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You quoted the passage in its entirety in your post, so of course I’ve read it 🤷

If you have no problem with evil then you should have no problem with unanswered prayer.

If I pray for something that I think is good - a million dollars, for example - but God knows that it would be a source of evil for me - that I’d spend it all on drugs or something - then why would He grant it?

Even the passage you’ve quoted says that what He gives is the same as what any father gives - in other words, He gives what is for our good. Which is not the same thing at all as saying that our biological or heavenly fathers ever promised to simply grant whatever we ask.

Again - read the wording. “Ask and you shall receive”, not “ask and you shall receive PRECISELY WHAT YOU ASK FOR”. You will receive something good, something in accord with the Father’s will for you (which is goodness itself), in answer to your prayers, absolutely. But that doesn’t mean, and the passage doesn’t say, that you’ll get exactly what you ask for.

For example, you pray for an end to WW2. You won’t get an end to WW2. Instead you’ll get the inspiring actions and sacrifices of an Anne Frank, a St Edith Stein, a St Maximilian Kolbe. And the millions of less-celebrated but no less heroic martyrs of that war. What we DO receive will do more good for our souls (which matter infinitely more than our bodies) than a million years of uninterrupted peace and prosperity.

Why would we bother striving to get to heaven, to God’s presence, if there was nothing happening on Earth to make us prefer it, no people doing good deeds in an evil world to inspire us to goodness and sanctity?

Hope that’s made it a bit clearer for you.
 
Filius_Prodigus said:
Matthew 7 goes:

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! …]"

Then why are not all prayers answered?
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If you prefer to see the bad, then the bad is what you will see. Or “seek and you shall find”.

You probably prefer to see any scripture as wrong, and thus you see a wrong within it. You are proving the truth of that very passage.

As you ask of others, they try to point out the truth in the passage, but of course, you prefer to see the wrong in it. “Seek not, and ye shall not find.”

The issue is really one of humility.

"For those who are humble to Reality/God, seek of God and it shall be shown to you. Knock upon the door provided by God and that door shall open. Ask truly of God (in dire humility) and it shall be given in full measure."

But void of full humility, what you get is a measure of your obstinance.

I find the truth in that every minute of every day and I am not even Catholic. 😃
 
Filius_Prodigus said:
Matthew 7 goes:

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! …]"
Click to expand...
Some other relevant passages, all of which must be heard in harmony:

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33 NIV)

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

“If you love me, you will obey what I command.” (John 14:15)

“The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” (James 5:16)
 
This is in reference to asking for spiritual things, not earthly things. All spiritual gifts are from God and a spiritual gift is going to be a blessing to our lives. People who get on their knees and pray for wordly things do not have a full understanding of the Gospel, for this is not what the Gospel preaches. We are to come broken before God as salvation is a gift,

God says in Luke 18:13** And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

This is a picture and instruction as to how we are to approach God, We are to appear before God broken and begging for mercy. We do not tell God his will, we do not ask God for our will, the greatest gift in all of the universe and history and time and everything, is to be eternally saved, forever and ever, nothing in this life is more important than eternity with Christ, we must recognize this first and foremost and then appear broken before God and beg for mercy. This is what it means by ask and you shall recieve.

This is called having faith, which in itself is a work and will not get us saved, however the faith is really not ours but Christ in us, and to have this deep faith is a good indicator we our on the right path,

God says in Hebrews 11:1** Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Faith has substance, and that means there is work or energy that has been expended. Faith is evidence of things not seen. faith is not just a smoky or cloudy area with no substance. Faith is a very substantive activity,

and the Bible says in I Thes 1:3-4** Remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father; Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God.

God says in Ephesians 2:8-9****For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast**.

We read in Galatians 2:16****Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of jesus Christ, even we have believed in jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of christ, and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified**.

If we are indifferent, and we do not care about salvation, and we say fatalistically, “Well, I will just wait and see what God does,” then we are not reading the Bible with any intelligence at all. that is rebellion against God, but God can still save us, he will save those whom He wishes to save. God says in Jeremiah 29:13** And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

What does this mean, This means first of all, to search with all your heart is to continue our study in the bible, as that is the word of God, secondly to search with all your heart is to realize we are broken before God.

That is how you pray, and that is how you get answered, by recieving blessings in your life which are a gift from God, only by searching for Him with all of our heart and appearing before Him broken and begging for mercy.

Come before God broken and begging for mercy, seeking with all of our heart, and our Father and Lord in Heaven will bestow mercys unto us, that is recieving the greatest gift, eternal salvation, by His good pleasure, by His will,

(or what father among you, when your son asks for a piece of bread, would instead give him a stone to eat. How much more will our Father in heaven give us if we ask?)

i hoped i was able to help you.
God bless
 
James_S_Saint said:
If you prefer to see the bad, then the bad is what you will see. Or “seek and you shall find”.

You probably prefer to see any scripture as wrong, and thus you see a wrong within it. You are proving the truth of that very passage.

As you ask of others, they try to point out the truth in the passage, but of course, you prefer to see the wrong in it. “Seek not, and ye shall not find.”

The issue is really one of humility.

"For those who are humble to Reality/God, seek of God and it shall be shown to you. Knock upon the door provided by God and that door shall open. Ask truly of God (in dire humility) and it shall be given in full measure."

But void of full humility, what you get is a measure of your obstinance.

I find the truth in that every minute of every day and I am not even Catholic. 😃
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Wow, maybe you’re not as far from the Kingdom as I thought! Great post. But you need to apply this same principle to faith: If you want to believe, then you will; if you don’t, then you won’t. Because if you sincerely seek the truth of God, then He will give you all the graces you need to believe. And when you believe, He will give you all the graces you need to understand His ways…

“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32)
 
LilyM said:
You quoted the passage in its entirety in your post, so of course I’ve read it 🤷

If you have no problem with evil then you should have no problem with unanswered prayer.

If I pray for something that I think is good - a million dollars, for example - but God knows that it would be a source of evil for me - that I’d spend it all on drugs or something - then why would He grant it?

Even the passage you’ve quoted says that what He gives is the same as what any father gives - in other words, He gives what is for our good. Which is not the same thing at all as saying that our biological or heavenly fathers ever promised to simply grant whatever we ask.

Again - read the wording. “Ask and you shall receive”, not “ask and you shall receive PRECISELY WHAT YOU ASK FOR”. You will receive something good, something in accord with the Father’s will for you (which is goodness itself), in answer to your prayers, absolutely. But that doesn’t mean, and the passage doesn’t say, that you’ll get exactly what you ask for.

For example, you pray for an end to WW2. You won’t get an end to WW2. Instead you’ll get the inspiring actions and sacrifices of an Anne Frank, a St Edith Stein, a St Maximilian Kolbe. And the millions of less-celebrated but no less heroic martyrs of that war. What we DO receive will do more good for our souls (which matter infinitely more than our bodies) than a million years of uninterrupted peace and prosperity.

Why would we bother striving to get to heaven, to God’s presence, if there was nothing happening on Earth to make us prefer it, no people doing good deeds in an evil world to inspire us to goodness and sanctity?

Hope that’s made it a bit clearer for you.
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Yes, thank you very much.
 
James_S_Saint said:
If you prefer to see the bad, then the bad is what you will see. Or “seek and you shall find”.

You probably prefer to see any scripture as wrong, and thus you see a wrong within it. You are proving the truth of that very passage.

As you ask of others, they try to point out the truth in the passage, but of course, you prefer to see the wrong in it. “Seek not, and ye shall not find.”

The issue is really one of humility.

"For those who are humble to Reality/God, seek of God and it shall be shown to you. Knock upon the door provided by God and that door shall open. Ask truly of God (in dire humility) and it shall be given in full measure."

But void of full humility, what you get is a measure of your obstinance.

I find the truth in that every minute of every day and I am not even Catholic. 😃
Click to expand...
No, I’m sorry, I don’t think so. It was an honest question, BTW answered to satisfaction by LilyM.

And I would rather we not get personal, if you don’t mind.

-F.P.
 
Luke65 said:
Some other relevant passages, all of which must be heard in harmony:

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33 NIV)

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

“If you love me, you will obey what I command.” (John 14:15)

“The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” (James 5:16)
Click to expand...
Ah great, excellent passages!
 
EnterCanaan said:
This is in reference to asking for spiritual things, not earthly things. All spiritual gifts are from God and a spiritual gift is going to be a blessing to our lives. People who get on their knees and pray for wordly things do not have a full understanding of the Gospel, for this is not what the Gospel preaches. We are to come broken before God as salvation is a gift,

God says in Luke 18:13** And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

This is a picture and instruction as to how we are to approach God, We are to appear before God broken and begging for mercy. We do not tell God his will, we do not ask God for our will, the greatest gift in all of the universe and history and time and everything, is to be eternally saved, forever and ever, nothing in this life is more important than eternity with Christ, we must recognize this first and foremost and then appear broken before God and beg for mercy. This is what it means by ask and you shall recieve.

This is called having faith, which in itself is a work and will not get us saved, however the faith is really not ours but Christ in us, and to have this deep faith is a good indicator we our on the right path,

God says in Hebrews 11:1** Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Faith has substance, and that means there is work or energy that has been expended. Faith is evidence of things not seen. faith is not just a smoky or cloudy area with no substance. Faith is a very substantive activity,

and the Bible says in I Thes 1:3-4** Remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father; Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God.

God says in Ephesians 2:8-9****For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast**.

We read in Galatians 2:16****Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of jesus Christ, even we have believed in jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of christ, and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified**.

If we are indifferent, and we do not care about salvation, and we say fatalistically, “Well, I will just wait and see what God does,” then we are not reading the Bible with any intelligence at all. that is rebellion against God, but God can still save us, he will save those whom He wishes to save. God says in Jeremiah 29:13** And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

What does this mean, This means first of all, to search with all your heart is to continue our study in the bible, as that is the word of God, secondly to search with all your heart is to realize we are broken before God.

That is how you pray, and that is how you get answered, by recieving blessings in your life which are a gift from God, only by searching for Him with all of our heart and appearing before Him broken and begging for mercy.

Come before God broken and begging for mercy, seeking with all of our heart, and our Father and Lord in Heaven will bestow mercys unto us, that is recieving the greatest gift, eternal salvation, by His good pleasure, by His will,

(or what father among you, when your son asks for a piece of bread, would instead give him a stone to eat. How much more will our Father in heaven give us if we ask?)

i hoped i was able to help you.
God bless
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Yes, definitely. 👍
 
Luke65 said:
If you want to believe, then you will; if you don’t, then you won’t. Because if you sincerely seek the truth of God, then He will give you all the graces you need to believe. And when you believe, He will give you all the graces you need to understand His ways…

“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32)
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It’s not quite as easy as that. I know. I’m a person who struggles with unbelief. I want to believe with all my heart. God has not given me those graces yet, though I hope that day comes.

I can say this, though; I can see that it is possible that my unbelief serves a purpose. God is on my mind more intensely than He was when I believed. I realize more of His greatness, of how incredible it is if He really does exist, that the Good News is really goodness well beyond our imagination. I have grown in all sorts of ways. I am now trying to embrace my unbelief, hoping that God is actually using it, that it is His will, at least for this time in my life.

But just know, it’s not as easy as wanting to believe.
 
I just finished a great chapter on this very question…It is in a book called “The Case for Faith” by Lee Stroebel. He also wrote a great book for those searching for belief in Christ call “The Case for Christ”. I highly recommend it to anyone who is trying to find a faith in God.
 
Incomplete said:
It’s not quite as easy as that. I know. I’m a person who struggles with unbelief. I want to believe with all my heart. God has not given me those graces yet, though I hope that day comes.

I can say this, though; I can see that it is possible that my unbelief serves a purpose. God is on my mind more intensely than He was when I believed. I realize more of His greatness, of how incredible it is if He really does exist, that the Good News is really goodness well beyond our imagination. I have grown in all sorts of ways. I am now trying to embrace my unbelief, hoping that God is actually using it, that it is His will, at least for this time in my life.

But just know, it’s not as easy as wanting to believe.
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Yes, I know, I left out the journey part of it. :o But don’t worry, keep seeking and you will find - God keeps all His promises. And you’re definitely right, God has a greater purpose that you can’t see yet, but you will see in hindsight, and you will marvel at His wisdom. A book like Strobel’s, “The Case for Faith”, sounds right up your alley. And you can read St. Augustine’s “City of God” online, which is a great treatise on salvation history (though you might want to start with his “Confessions”). God bless.
 
You guys are great. Thanks.

On an unrelated note, I’d appreciate prayers. I got the flu a week ago, thought I was finally improving, woke up quite ill this morning. I’m feeling a bit at the end of my rope.
 
Incomplete said:
You guys are great. Thanks.

On an unrelated note, I’d appreciate prayers. I got the flu a week ago, thought I was finally improving, woke up quite ill this morning. I’m feeling a bit at the end of my rope.
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Dios te bendiga y te guarde.
En el nombre del Padre y del Hijo y del Espíritu Santo. Amén.
 
Filius_Prodigus said:
Matthew 7 goes:

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! …]"

Then why are not all prayers answered?
A concordance is very useful for looking up different topics in the Bible
For example James4:V3 says " you ask and do not receive , because you ask amiss"
John 15 V 7 says " If you abide in me and if my words abide in you, ask whatever you will and it shall be done to you"
Faith is an important element. The biblical notion of living by faith is
making a petition
thanking God for providing .
perseverence ,| not giving up.] 👍
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I searched for this verse and found this old thread. Hope it’s not too late to post this.

I want to believe in Him too, but my own demons and doubts in my head prevent me.

Sorry Jesus. It’s very hard for me to believe in you and if you read this and my maggot-riddled mind, you will know me for who i am. My daily, terrible thoughts don’t help and they cause me to give up. I found the quote below whilst searching online for Catholic saints and was receiving also, daily emails about a different saint’s feast day for a year.

Make “them” go away please!!!.. and you come to me, because i can’t find you. My pathetic attempts at praying (they enter ,even when i try to pray) and all that i am and was, is ruining everything.

:crying:
 
St James gives the answer: We ask for the wrong things. If we ask for the things Jesus asks for, for the reasons Jesus would, our prayers will be answered–in God’s timing. For instance, Jesus’ prayer for unity will be answered, will be fulfilled. Now, Jesus said wars would come; therefore, He did not pray that there be no wars. I believe it was St James also that said wars come as a result of our sins. We seek for what Jesus sought for, and we will find.
 
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