Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask him - and so needs not to be informed of our wants, anymore than to be roused to attend to them by our incessant speaking. What a view of God is here given, in sharp contrast with the gods of the pagan! But let it be carefully noted that it is not as the general Father of Mankind that our Lord says, "Your Father" knoweth what ye need before ye ask it; because it is not men, as such, that He is addressing in this Discourse, but His own disciples-the poor in spirit, the mourners, the meek, hungry and thirsty souls, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, who allow themselves to have all manner of evil said against them for the Son of Man's sake-in short, the newborn children of God, who, making their Father's interests their own, are here assured that their Father, in return, makes their interests His, and needs neither to be told nor to be reminded of their wants. Yet He will have His children pray to Him, and links all His premised supplies to their petitions for them; thus encouraging us to draw near and keep near to Him, to talk and walk with Him to open our every case to Him, and assure ourselves that thus asking we shall receive-thus seeking we shall find-thus knocking it shall be opened to us.