I remember when one of my daughters was two. She got into the pantry and she grabbed a bag of brown sugar. And she brought it up to me, and held it up and said, "Eat!" Well, what did she want? She wanted a snack. And so I'm a loving father and I wanted to give my child what she wants so I said, "Yes" and I opened the bag for her, and I let her have at it, and then I ran out of the house and screamed to my wife, "Hey our daughter's having a snack in the kitchen. I'll be back later!" 

No, no, no, obviously I did not do that, right? That would be totally unloving. So instead of giving her something that would be bad for her, I answered yes to her having something to eat by giving her something healthy. 

You know, a lot of times when we look at the answers that God gives to prayer, that we very traditionally hear, "He says yes," "He says no," "He says yes, but wait." And, and that's absolutely true from our perspective, but have you ever looked at it from God's perspective? This is what Jesus says in Matthew chapter 7 verse 11. He says, "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?" (Matthew 7:11) 

In other words, if an earthly father knows what's best for his child, and gives that child what's best, how much more won't God, our Heavenly Father, know what we need and give us what's best? That's what we want anyway, right? And that's what we're asking when we say, "Your will be done." And we make a request, God says every single time, "Yes, I will do what's best for you." 

Let me put this in perspective. So let's say that I pray for a Lamborghini. "Lord, I need a Lamborghini." And God will say, "Yes, I will give you transportation." Now, does that mean I get the Lamborghini? Well, God knows that there are some pretty sweet country roads outside of the city I live in. I am also familiar with those roads and he probably knows that I would try to go about 150 miles an hour on those roads and wrap my Lamborghini around a tree and leave my wife and six children without a husband and father. Now, would that be the best thing? Probably not. And so what does God do? He blesses me with a 2004 Mercury Grand Marquis that has tens of thousands of miles on it. And whenever you try to go over 70, it kind of shakes a little bit. Isn't that better? Well, I made it here today, didn't I? 

God tells us this in his Word. He says whatever promises God has made they are yes in Christ. And so you can pray confidently. Lord forgive me. Yes. Lord, provide for me. Yes. Lord, bless me. Yes. Lord, take me to heaven. Yes. Tomorrow we're going to take a look at when it seems like God's saying no to our prayers from our perspective. Let's pray. Father, you know what's best for us. Give me all those things I need and help me to see the answer to prayer from your perspective, that you are always saying yes to blessing your children. In Jesus' name, amen.