Life Group Discussion Guide
2.14.21
ONE Series
God the Father
Matthew 7:7-12
7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For
everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be
opened. 9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a
snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more
will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! 12 So in everything, do to others what
you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
OPEN
When you hear the word “father” what words come to mind? We don’t all have the same
experience when it comes to fathers but what words should describe a father?
NEXT
On occasion God is referred to as “Father” in the Old Testament, (Ex. Isaiah 63:16) but
something changes with Jesus. Do a quick scan of the teaching known as the Sermon on the
Mount in chapters 5-7 of Matthew. How often does Jesus use the word “Father?” Why is that
significant? How is Jesus filling out our understanding of God?
Read Matthew 7:7-12 together. Jesus builds a case for the character of God as “Father” by
using a method know as an a fortiori (the Jewish rabbis called it qal wahomer). It is an
argument from lesser to greater. If this is true “…how much more will your Father give good
gifts to those who ask Him!” What is the point Jesus is making here? Have you found this to
be true? What “good gifts” have you received from your Father in heaven when you have
asked?
Jesus begins this section of teaching by making some bold statements. “Ask…receive.”
“Seek…find.” “Knock…opened.” What about the times when you “ask” and it seems like
nothing happens? Have you prayed and found that an answer has been long in coming or
yet to come at all? Does God ever say “no?” How do you make sense of that? Does God
withhold from us? Why might God withhold from us?
The final sentence in this section has been known as the “Golden Rule.” How does the
Golden Rule relate to what Jesus has just been saying about the nature of God as Father?
How might our understanding of God change the way that we interact with the people
around us?
CLOSING
Jesus dares us to “ask” with trust that our Father in heaven is ready to give good gifts. What
do you want to ask of God? What are you searching for? What would you knock on the door
about?
What do you need this group to be praying over you this next week?