09/01/2021
Jesus' Most Precious Gift
“How much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
LUKE 11:13
I Have Nothing
“Lord, teach us to pray!” the disciples pleaded. They saw how Jesus connected daily with His Heavenly Father and longed for the same power in their own lives.
Jesus responded with a memorable prayer lesson in three parts: the Lord’s Prayer, the parable of a friend coming at midnight, and—in climax—the need to continually request the Holy Spirit (Luke 11:1-13).
In the parable (verses 5-8), a man has nothing to feed a visitor who arrives late in the evening. The man hurries to his neighbor and asks for bread to feed the visitor, explaining, “I have nothing.” He continues asking until at last he receives bread to share with his guest. In this story we see that we have to come to Jesus in order to have something to share with others. When we want to pass on the Bread of Life, we often realize that we have nothing to give!
Then Jesus links the problem in this parable (I have nothing) with our need to request the Holy Spirit: “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you” (Luke 11:9).
Jesus Invites Us: Keep Asking
Here in Luke 11, Jesus emphasizes 10 times that we should ask for the Holy Spirit in our lives. I know of no other passage where He so lovingly urges us to take something to heart.
“So 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. If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 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 11:9-13).