Ask, Seek and Knock

Post # 94

Luke 11:9-13 says,  “I tell you, keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep seeking, and you will find. Keep knocking,
and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened. Which of you fathers, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he won’t give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? Or if he asks for an egg, he won’t give him a scorpion, will he? 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?” (World English Bible)

What did Jesus say we should ask for?

In Verse 13 Jesus says, “If you then, being evil (that is, without being led by the Holy Spirit), 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?”

Why do we need the Holy Spirit?
Christians are called to experience the love of God and to share it with others. This involves show and tell, aided by the guiding presence of the Holy Spirit. We need to have received the gift of the Holy Spirit following faith and repentance, which led us to surrender our wills to God. The Lord’s prayer emphasizes this in Matthew 6:9-10,”Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. Let your Kingdom come. Let your will be done, as in heaven, so on earth.” ….. We pray in this way for God to help us to worship him, to look forward to his coming and help us to do his will in our own lives, as well as praying for help for the world.

It is God’s will that we should love each other as he loves us. John 13:34-35 says, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also love one another.   By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” It is also God’s will to ultimately give us eternal life in his kingdom, according to the gospel. In short, the gospel is the good news about God’s free gift of eternal life by grace through faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Master.

Romans 10:13-15 says, “For, Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved. How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in him whom they have not heard? How will they hear without a preacher? And how will they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the Good News of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!’ ”

What is his righteousness?
God has caused Christian believers to experience his unconditional love, his righteousness, and expects them to
share it with others in a way that honours him and his name.

Psalm 23:1-3, “Yahweh is my shepherd: I shall lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me
beside still waters. He restores my soul. He guides me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.”

Mathew 6:31-33, “Therefore don’t be anxious, saying, ‘What will we eat?’, ‘What will we drink?’ or, ‘With what will we be clothed?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first God’s Kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well.”

Romans 8:14-17 says,  “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are children of God. For you didn’t receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God; and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ; if indeed we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified with him.”

We need to ask God to help us to allow the Holy Spirit to work in us in order to cultivate a personal relationship with him and be transformed into his likeness, so we may love one another and receive the gift of eternal life.

James gives further direction concerning the purpose to ask, seek and knock. James 4:1-3 says, “Where do wars and fights among you come from? Don’t they come from your pleasures that war in your members? You lust, and don’t have. You murder and covet, and can’t obtain. You fight and make war. You don’t have, because you don’t ask. You ask, and don’t receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it for your pleasures.”

What then should we ask for that would not be motivated by self focus?

Before his passion Jesus prayed in Luke 22: 42, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” Jesus, being human, did not want to suffer the painful crucifixion with his own strength and wondered if there were not some other way to be the Savior of the world. However, he continued to submit and surrender his own will to his Father’s will, and prayed “Nevertheless, not my will, but yours  be done.”

For us, we are not able to love all other people unconditionally with our own strength. We need to pray such as directed in the Lord’s Prayer. Our Father in heaven…… may your will be done on earth (and in my life) as in heaven. Father help us to love each other.