One thing I always hear in churches is that maybe you're not getting what you want because you're not asking for it. At which point, the pastor or youth director or custodian usually quotes this verse.
Not meaning to take the verse out of context, I'd like to explain Jesus is talking about prayer here. He's basically explaining how to pray and what we should pray for.
Even so, it really is simple as asking God for whatever we need and we will receive it. If it weren't, why would God (the author of the Bible for the record) repeat it in the next verse?
One could argue there are stipulations attached to this promise of getting whatever we ask for, but even then it's not like they affect God's ability to give us what we ask. If anything, we've got to ask in Jesus name, trust that God will provide, and ask with the right motive. If we ask God for a car battery, jumper cables, and duct tape so we can get even with the guy who skipped in front of us at the post office, then he's obviously not going to supply you with what you ask.
It's just simple stuff like that, really.
The verses that come next reiterated (again) for me that I need not worry about my recent break-up. Jesus asked a hypothetical question about a dad's ability to give sweet presents to his kid. Of course, no loving father unit would give his kid cruddy stuff if he could do better. But, Jesus pointed out that every loving father unit we may or may not know is pretty screwed up on the inside, and yet they still manage to give some pretty sweet gifts every now and then, right?
God's like that, minus the screwed-up bit. So, therefore, if our screwed-up paternal things know how to choose a High-Def TV for us, shouldn't God be able to give us so much more?
To quote a good friend of mine, God always dreams bigger for us than we do for ourselves!
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