Today's readings are about prayer, specifically prayer of petition. Today's gospel sounds marvellous. "Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find..." And yet, we all know from experience that that is simply not true. What is happening? Is Jesus telling lies? Are there some hidden conditions that we are not aware of?

I believe the answer lies in the second half of the passage. Jesus asks whether a father would offer a stone to his son asking for bread or whether a snake would be offered instead of a fish. "If you, then, who are evil, know how to give your children what is good, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him."

The problem is that we ask for the wrong things. We do not give a child a sharp knife to play with even though, when we refuse to do so, he throws a temper tantrum and gets angry with us. Jesus is saying that God will give "good things" to those who ask. It is really a question of surrendering to what He wants for us rather than trying to manipulate Him.