Father Knows Best

Jesus said, “Your Father knows the things you need before you ask him.” Matthew 6:8 NCV

Jesus gave his disciples the Lord’s Prayer as an example of how to pray. Right before he spoke those famous words, Jesus shared a few reasons why one should pray. To do this, he provided two examples—negative ones. Jesus said the Pharisees prayed in public because they wanted to be seen as holy by other people. He also said idol worshippers prayed, repeating themselves over and over, because they believed that the more frequently they asked for something, the better chance they had of having their request granted. After those negative examples, Jesus spoke the reassurance that God already knows what you need.

At first, his words may seem to provide a reason why not to pray, instead of why to pray. If God knows what we need before we ask, why bother asking in the first place? Jesus’s point is the purpose of prayer isn’t to be noticed by other people—or even by God. God already notices you. He knows everything about us and our life. Prayer is not a way to draw God’s attention to our needs. It is a way to draw our attention to how much you need God.

Our greatest continual need is to better know and love God. Communicating with him about details of our life keeps us aware of how involved he already is. It also helps us see how many of our needs he meets every day. The more we recognize our dependence on God, the more thankful we become, and the deeper we grow. 

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The Lord’s Prayer teaches you to pray for your daily bread. Jesus’s words from Matthew don’t contradict that lesson. They’re a reminder that God needs to be involved in your life, not merely informed about it.

Source: The 100 Most Important Bible Verses. W Publishing Group