Reminiscing about my childhood, I remembered all the times my siblings would put me up to ask our father for money on their behalf.

Being the youngest, or baby sister as they so often referred to me, I had the spirit of persuasion that seemed to work well with my father.

The dialogue with my father would go something like this: "Dad, they need money." He’d say, "I don’t have any." I would then say, "They really need it, can you please give it to them?" After asking several times and pleading their case, he’d say with an abrupt, "Here, go give it to them." And I’d respond "thank you, thank you" because whatever the father does for us, it is always necessary to give thanks.

My standing in the gap for my siblings allowed them to receive the very thing they asked for. I never really knew the reason they needed the money, but I believed my father gave it in faith that it was for something that would benefit them, not harm them. My persistence in asking was due to my confidence in our father to provide what we needed.

Matthew 7:9-11 gives a comparison of our earthly father versus our heavenly Father. "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 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!" (NIV).

I’ve never met a loving father who would give a stone or a snake to a hungry son, if he asked for a piece of bread or a fish. Our heavenly Father gives good things to his children when we ask him. He wants us to have complete confidence in his provision for our spiritual needs, as well as our natural needs.

The Bible tells us in James 1:17 that, "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows" (NIV).

Have you asked your heavenly Father for those good gifts that he has stored up just for you? When you ask, you must believe that you will receive them.

Matthew 7:7-8 says, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened" (KJV).

The great thing about our heavenly Father is that you can go to him without fear or reservation — or a baby sister.

Ferrell is pastor of True Worship Praise Center in Allenhurst and a member of the United Ministerial Alliance.