MY BIRTHDAY is coming up and I know what I want for a present.

Do you know what you want for your next birthday?

An iPhone 7? Spa day?

New pair of socks?

Are you better at giving or receiving?

Parents usually love to give to their kids.

They can’t always afford to give what their daughter or son wants, even if they would like to.

It’s part of being a mum or dad, that we know how to give good gifts to our kids.

What we don’t do is give them the opposite of what they’ve asked for.

If your child has asked for a bike, we don’t give them a packet of mouldy biscuits. Jesus said that if we know how to give good things to our kids – how much more will God do this to us (Matthew, Chapter 7).

It’s incredible, he simply says that God’s even better at giving gifts than even a mum or a dad, so we can come and ask him about anything. Yes, anything.

He promises to answer, not always in the way we would like, after all haven’t you ever said “no” to something your kids asked for?

I began to ask God about stuff when I was about 18, it was new to me.

What surprised me was the answers.

Again and again it seemed like God has answered, sometimes absolutely remarkably.

But is this not just coincidence or wishful thinking?

Well, why not give it a try and find out.

William Temple, the former archbishop said: “When I pray, coincidences happen. And when I don’t, they don’t.”

Jesus said that God the Father is better at giving presents than even the warmest and most generous mum or dad.

Let’s find out if it’s true.

MATT FROST

Cirencester Baptist Church