Ask

A dear sister in Christ recently showed me something in Scripture I had not noticed before.

 

Luke 11 begins with one of the disciples asking Jesus to teach all of them to pray and from this, Jesus teaches them the Lord’s Prayer. He continues to teach about prayer, emphasizing persistence in prayer and assuring them that all who seek will find and to all who knock, the door will be opened. (Verses 5 – 10)

 

Then, in verses 11 and 12, He says, 

“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?

 

That’s a very familiar passage, and I have long taken to heart that it means if we ask our Father in heaven for the things that we need for our physical bodies, He will most certainly provide it. But, what my sister pointed out is in the next verse:

“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 the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

 

The teaching is not primarily about asking for our physical needs. It’s about asking for the Holy Spirit!

 

Of course, our Father does indeed provide for all our physical needs, but the point of knocking on the door in the middle of the night and being persistent in prayer is not for bread, but for the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead! 

 

The same Spirit that was hovering over the earth when it was created, the same Spirit He breathed into the man of dust to bring him to life, the same Spirit who is the guarantee of our inheritance as children of God! 

 

We’ve all felt that Spirit ebb and flow in our lives. 

 

There are times on the mountain top when the Spirit seems very near and fills us. There are times when we despair and the Spirit seems very far away indeed. There are times when we’re in a rut and the day-to-day grind makes it seem as if the Spirit is silent. There are times when we need the direction and guidance of The Counselor who is the Holy Spirit.

 

But, in the context of these first thirteen verses of Luke, I get the distinct impression that Jesus is saying we who are His disciples should persistently, even daily, ask to be fed and filled with the Holy Spirit as if we’d be spiritually starved without it. 

 

From its very inception, prayers were lifted that the power of the Holy Spirit would go out over the airwaves of Kinship Christian Radio. It’s an absolute miracle how the Holy Spirit works and that this amazing power can be shared and delivered to others via the gift of radio. 

 

In about six days, Kinship Christian Radio’s Share-A-Thon will begin and you will hear the testimonials of many, many listeners who will describe how this ministry has blessed them. As they speak, listen for and pay attention to how the Holy Spirit worked in their lives by giving answers, light, and hope through the music, the preaching, the teaching, the tapestry of the announcers, and the testimonials of others over the radio.

 

And, if you would, please pray that the Holy Spirit would continue to bless and lead this ministry to the praise and glory of the name of Jesus Christ. 

 

Today’s Praise

However, as it is written:

these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. 1 Corinthians 2:9 – 13 (NIV)