“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 the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are 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! “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” ~ Matthew 7:7–12
Heavenly Father, Your Word tells us to ask and we will receive—You will give us better things than a loving earthly father gives his children. Yet in the next verse, Your Word tells us to do to others what we would have them do to us. We find it easy to ask for what we want, but not so easy to treat others the way we want to be treated. We often want to treat people who mistreat us as we believe they deserve, but You tell us to treat them as we want them to treat us—even when they don’t treat us that way. Help me to show Your love to those who don’t treat me right, to care for those who don’t care for me, to treat others as I want to be treated. I ask in the name of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior. Amen.