When it comes to prayer, Jesus is first and foremost promising that the Father will help us to bear with fellow believers. If we ask God for a more humble and a less critical attitude towards others, then he will give this good thing to us. He will give us humility and insight to recognise and admit our own faults. He will give us the power to change, to remove the plank from our own eye. He will give us the wisdom to know how best to help in a particular situation. He will give us greater patience and love, and by his grace, work to transform their bad habits as well as our own. These are the primary good things in view. Not financial prosperity. Not the earthly blessing of long life and health, but the gift of the Holy Spirit, the strength, energy, and love that is needed to live together as his family in this fallen world.

Of course, the good things that God promises extend beyond the communal life. In the context of the Sermon on the Mount, it includes the provision of daily bread as well as help to live in the way that Christ has taught us. Help to forgive those who have harmed us. Help to turn the other cheek. Help to speak the truth and remain faithful to our marriage vows. Seek first the kingdom, we were told in Matthew 6:33; we can be confident that our Father will help us to do the same.

There is a wider application to Jesus’ words, but the first and most central application is with regards to judgment and getting rid of a critical spirit. God will answer our prayers in this regard. He will help us to live together with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Ask and it will be given, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you.