IVP New Testament Commentary Series – God Can Supply Anything to the Righteous Who Seek His Purposes (7:7-10)
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God Can Supply Anything to the Righteous Who Seek His Purposes (7:7-10)

This text indicates some important lessons for us today. First, Jesus promises his disciples extraordinary power from God, like that of Elijah of old. In this case the Gospel narratives (such as 14:28-31) and other "charismatic" sayings (such as 21:21-22) demonstrate that Jesus was not speaking figuratively, but training disciples to express bold faith. Early Jewish teaching did celebrate God's kindness in answering prayer (Hagner 1993:174), but rarely promised such universal answers to prayer to all of God's people as the language here suggests; only a small number of sages were considered pious enough to have such power with God. But both the Hebrew Bible (for example, Gen 32:26-30; Ex 33:12-34:9; 1 Kings 18:36-37, 41-46; 2 Kings 2:2, 4, 6, 9; 4:14-28) and the Gospel tradition (Mk 5:27-34; 7:24-30; 10:46-52; Mt 8:7-13; Jn 2:3-5) provide examples of such bold faith. The most crucial model for bold holy persons in Jewish tradition is probably Elijah, who despite his human frailty (1 Kings 19:4) could summon fire from heaven against those potentially threatening his life simply by declaring, "If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven" (2 Kings 1:10, 12-15).

James likewise tells us that Elijah was a person of flesh and blood just like us; if we begin to see ourselves as and act as men and women of God, we will have access to the kind of miracles that Elijah had (Jas 5:16-18). Scripture shows us Elijah's frailties as well as his faith. We are likewise men and women of God by God's grace, and as we dare to believe that and to live according to the relationship our Father has given us with himself in Christ, that confidence will transform our prayer lives.

Second, this empowerment presupposes that we are ready to be as committed to God's purposes as Elijah and like-minded servants of God were. Such a call to believing prayer supposes a heart of piety submitted to God's will; it would not apply to a man praying to obtain another man's wife or to a woman praying for a nicer car as a status symbol of conspicuous consumption. Although Jesus states the promise graphically, he implicitly addresses only men and women of God who will seek the things God would have them to seek for the good of his kingdom and their basic needs (Mt 6:11, 19-34). Jesus' promise is for the righteous-people who share kingdom values-asking basic needs and requests concerning the kingdom. Jesus' disciples were to be prophets (5:12) and holy persons, like Elijah, whose requests God would hear.

Third, this passage's context suggests the kinds of prayers such righteous people offer. They seek first in prayer the purposes of God's kingdom (6:9-10, 31-33; compare Ps 9:10; 24:6; 27:4, 8; 34:14; 63:1; 69:6, 32; 70:4; 119:45; 122:6-9; and especially Prov 2:4-5; 8:17; Is 55:6; Jer 29:13), and also request that God meet their own basic needs (Mt 6:11). The specific examples Jesus gives that children would request are basic staples in the Palestinian diet-bread and fish; and Jesus has already promised his hearers the basics (6:25-34). Jesus later provided bread and fish for his followers (14:19-20; 15:36-37), encouraging us that he will also hear our requests for provision today. While such basics do not include mere status symbols or other objects of fleshly appetites, they do include whatever is ultimately for God's kingdom-anything necessary for us to fulfill our life and call.

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