Matthew 7:11

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If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

Matthew 7:11 (NKJV)

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!

Matthew 7:11 (NIV)

If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

Matthew 7:11 (KJV)

So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.

Matthew 7:11 (NLT)

If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

Matthew 7:11 (ESV)

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

Matthew 7:11 (NASB)

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org

If you then, being evil [that is, sinful by nature], know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven [perfect as He is] give what is good and advantageous to those who keep on asking Him.

Matthew 7:11 (AMP)

Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMP), Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org

If you then, evil as you are, know how to give good and advantageous gifts to your children, how much more will your Father Who is in heaven [perfect as He is] give good and advantageous things to those who keep on asking Him!

Matthew 7:11 (AMPC)

Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMPC), Copyright © 1954, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org

If your child asks for bread, do you trick him with sawdust? If he asks for fish, do you scare him with a live snake on his plate? As bad as you are, you wouldn't think of such a thing. You're at least decent to your own children. So don't you think the God who conceived you in love will be even better?

Matthew 7:11 (MSG)

Scripture quotations from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.

New Covenant Meaning

The Argument From the Lesser to the Greater

Jesus uses a form of reasoning in Matthew 7:11 that appears repeatedly in His teaching: if something is true of the lesser case, how much more is it true of the greater case. The lesser case here is fallen human fathers. Even they, operating out of a nature marked by self-interest and limitation, know how to give good gifts to their children. The greater case is your heavenly Father, who operates out of pure goodness, unlimited generosity, and perfect love. The conclusion is not that the Father might give good things. The word translated "how much more" (posos mallon) is a rhetorical escalation that makes the outcome a certainty. If imperfect fathers give good gifts, the perfect Father absolutely gives good things.

Evil Here Is a Description of Nature, Not a Moral Accusation

The word poneros, translated "evil" in this verse, refers to the fallen condition of humanity in general, not to a specific moral failure of the person being addressed. Jesus is not calling His listeners terrible people. He is acknowledging the reality that all human beings, even loving parents, operate out of a nature that is fallen, self-interested, and limited. The point is not to condemn. The point is to build the argument. If even people with a compromised nature manage to give good gifts to their children out of love, then a Father whose nature is entirely and perfectly good will give how much more. The contrast serves the encouragement, not the indictment.

Luke's parallel account in Luke 11:13 records a notable difference: instead of "good things," Luke records "the Holy Spirit" as what the Father gives to those who ask. This is not a contradiction but a specification. The Holy Spirit is the supreme good gift of the New Covenant age. Matthew records the general principle: the Father gives good things. Luke names the chief gift of the new era. Both are true and both are the natural overflow of a Father whose nature is generosity itself.

Application for Your Life

Your Theology of the Father Shapes How You Pray

Many believers pray with an underlying assumption that the Father is reluctant to give, that they must convince Him or earn His response or work up enough faith before He acts. Matthew 7:11 dismantles that assumption completely. The Father is not reluctant. He is not withholding good things pending sufficient faith performance. He gives good things to those who ask. The ask is the access, not the earning. If your prayer life is characterized by striving to convince a distant God rather than asking a generous Father, this verse is an invitation to update your understanding of who you are praying to.

Asking Is the Practice Jesus Describes

Verse 7 commands it: ask. Verse 8 guarantees it: everyone who asks receives. Verse 11 grounds it: the Father is good and gives good things. The theological structure Jesus builds in Matthew 7:7-11 is designed to produce confident, expectant prayer. Not prayer that strains for breakthrough but prayer that comes to a Father who is already disposed toward generosity. The practice Jesus commends is simply asking. Not performing. Not convincing. Not accumulating spiritual credits. Asking, from the position of a child who knows the character of the Father they are asking.

Prayer Based on This Verse

Father, I believe what Jesus said about You. That You are not reluctant to give. That Your nature is generosity itself, not managed abundance released on good behavior. I come to You as a child, not as a negotiator. I ask You for what I need, not because I have earned it but because You give good things to those who ask. I receive what You give as the overflow of Your goodness, not as payment for my performance. Thank You that the argument Jesus makes here is airtight: if fallen human fathers give good gifts, You give how much more. I rest in that certainty today. In Jesus' name. Amen.