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If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?” (Luke 11:13, NASB1995)
In Luke 11:1, the disciples ask Jesus, “Lord, teach us to pray.” Jesus then instructs them in prayer.
Jesus first gives a shortened version of the Lord’s Prayer (Luke 11:2-4) that many of us know from Matthew 6. Then Jesus adds nine verses affirming the disciples (and us today) that our heavenly Father loves us and will answer our prayers.
Jesus gives the example of a man needing a loaf of bread in the middle of the night and then going to a friend’s house asking for bread. Jesus uses subtle humor to indicate the frustration of anyone with a friend knocking on the door at night for a measly loaf of bread.
Consider the following OGV version (Old Guy Version) of Luke 11:10-13:
We wouldn’t be happy if a friend pounded on our door in the middle of the night for just a loaf of bread. We would think all sorts of negative thoughts about the stupidity of our friend not having the foresight to go to Kroger during the day. We would wonder, “Why does he need bread? He should be on the Atkins diet. Doesn’t he know carbs are the worst thing to eat at night?”
Jesus concludes the “bread in the middle of the night” scenario by saying …
I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs. I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened (Luke 11:9-10, NASB1995).
Our Father in heaven is different than we are. He never minds us pestering Him over and over, and I think He enjoys hearing our prayers at 3 a.m.
Jesus isn’t finished, as He uses another example in Luke 11:12 of the Father’s willingness to answer prayer. Again, an OGV version of these verses …
Now suppose one of you is asked by your child for a McDonald’s fish sandwich, you won’t give your child a stone, will you? Or if your child asks for an egg omelet in the morning, you won’t give your child a scorpion, will you?
Our heavenly Father loves us and wants us to ask. When we ask God, we are being who we are … human … and He is being who He is … God. We get the Father/child or the God/human relationship right when we ask.
Ask and ask and ask! Never stop asking.
God replies to the fish sandwich and egg omelet request of Luke 11:12 by saying in Luke 11:13 …
If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?” (Luke 11:13, NASB1995)
As I read this teaching on prayer recently, I saw something that I hadn’t realized before.
Jesus adds the Spirit – which is not in his previous teachings on prayer in Matthew 6:9-13 and Matthew 7:7-12. He encourages us to …
… ask for the Spirit.
Not food, clothing, money, a job, and healing (which are good requests), but ask a request more important, because, if answered, then food, clothing, money, a job, and healing will be answered as we walk in the power of Spirit!
Let’s all ask for the Spirit.
In Luke 11, Jesus teaches us to ask for a fresh and continuing filling of the Spirit!
I appreciate that Jesus begins by saying, “If you being evil,” when He tells us to pray for the Spirit. God knows we fail, that we ask amiss, that we are hypocrites, but it doesn’t matter.
How much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask?
I now have a 2023 request for my personal prayer list. I’m going to ask every day from today till the end of 2023 for the Holy Spirit.
I think that we all should ask for God’s Spirit.