Matthew 5:45

Be ye . . . followers of God, as dear children.—Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.—Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.

The fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth.

Thy lovingkindness is before mine eyes.

The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.—Your Father which is in heaven: . . . maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

There is nothing more difficult than to ask. We will long and desire and crave and suffer, but not until we are at the extreme limit will we ask. A sense of unreality makes us ask. Have you ever asked out of the depths of moral poverty? "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God . . . but be sure that you do lack wisdom. You cannot bring yourself up against Reality when you like. The next best thing to do if you are not spiritually real, is to ask God for the Holy Spirit on the word of Jesus Christ (see Luke 11:13). The Holy Spirit is the One Who makes real in you all that Jesus did for you.

"For every one that asketh receiveth." This does not mean you will not get if you do not ask (cf. Matt. 5:45), but until you get to the point of asking you won't receive from God. To receive means you have come into the relationship of a child of God, and now you perceive with intelligent and moral appreciation and spiritual understanding that these things come from God.

The illustration of prayer that Our Lord uses here is that of a good child asking for a good thing.

We talk about prayer as if God heard us irrespective of the fact of our relationship to Him (cf. Matthew 5:45).