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Questions Week 11, Day 6

by David Joynt on July 14, 2017


 

LUKE 11:9-13

 

 

Jesus teaches that God is eager to answer our prayers. Like a good parent, He wants the best for his children. His joke about giving our kids deadly presents, like snakes and scorpions, points at the absurdity of “good” parents ever giving evil gifts. How much more can we trust a truly good and gracious God to bless us.

 

But the last part of this passage is very critical. Since God wants what is best for us, not what is second or third best, He has our eternal destiny in mind, and not our earthly pleasures or desires. He wants to shape us into creatures fit for eternity, not just happy campers or satisfied customers. Sometimes our holiness and growth happen best under conditions of adversity and not ease.

 

 

What is the best gift God can give us?

 

The issue for Jesus is not whether or if God will answer prayer, but when and how? Do you agree?

 

FAMILY TIME—

Share a hard time in your life that helped you to grow.

 

Tags: best, no, prayer

About the Author
David Joynt

Dave Joynt began his service as a pastor at Valley Presbyterian Church in Paradise Valley, Arizona in September 2014. This meant a move away from the Northeast, where he has a long history, growing up in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and then serving congregations in Delaware and New Jersey for a total of 23 years.

Dave was nurtured in a great church in Bethlehem where his parents, Anne and Carey, served as elders. He graduated in classics from Lehigh University where his Father taught, and then from Oxford, where he met his wife Julia. Ordained in 1988, he completed a Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1993.

He and Julia have a son, Tristan, and a daughter, Madeleine.

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