How Much More Will the Father Give

Matthew 7:11

If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

Two times in the Scriptures, we see this phrase, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give… The first thing that the Father wants to give is answered prayer. God desires to give you answered prayer, but all He asks is that you ask Him. In other words, stop being afraid to ask your Heavenly Father to give you an answer to prayer.

The second thing that the Father wants to give is His Holy Spirit's power. Luke 11:13 says, If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? Again, the Father truly desires to give you the power of the Holy Spirit. However, for you to get the power of the Holy Spirit, you must ask Him. We often talk much about being filled with the Holy Spirit, and I am afraid that we make it sound so hard to get the Holy Spirit’s power; however, the Scriptures make it very clear that all we have to do to have His power is to ask the Father for it.

The key to both of these verses is the phrase: how much more. Let me share with you several things this little phrase means to you.

First, God is much better than man. God is saying that He will treat His own much better than man will treat his own. In both illustrations, God uses the father/child relationship. In both illustrations, it was obvious that the father would give good to his children if they will ask him. However, if an earthly father is willing to give good gifts to his children, how much more is God better than man. God will never allow an earthly father to give more to his children than the Heavenly Father will give to His own.

Second, God loves us more than man. This phrase means that the earthly father loved his children so much that he will give these things to them. Just as the earthly father loves his own children, how much more the Heavenly Father loves His children. As much as a father may love his own child, the love of the Heavenly Father is much greater. Because His love is much greater, He will desire much more to give good things and the Holy Spirit to His children if they will just ask Him.

Third, God’s great desire is to give you these things. Oh, the great desire of the Heavenly Father is to answer the prayer of His children. God does not sit in Heaven with a scowl on His face withholding from His children that which would help them to serve Him. God's great desire is to answer your prayer, and His great desire is to give you the power of His Holy Spirit. God desires to answer your prayer and to give you His power much more than you could ever desire. If you were to gather all the desires into one, God desires to give you answered prayers and His Holy Spirit power, but you must ask.

Fourth, God’s only prerequisite is that you ask Him. My friend, it is not if God will give you these things, it is if you will ask Him. The burden to have answered prayer and the Holy Spirit's power is not on the Heavenly Father, but on you asking Him for these things. It is simply asking the Heavenly Father to answer your prayer and to give you His Holy Spirit's power, and when you do this, you have His word that He will give these things to you.