Next Jesus tells a story of a man who had a friend arrive at his house from a journey. The man had no food in the house, so he went to another friend at midnight for bread. He knocked on the door, but the friend did not want to be bothered as he was asleep. The man kept knocking on the door until his friend finally got up and gave him the bread he was asking for. Notice how the bread in this story reminds us of praying for our daily bread. Jesus goes on to tell us the principle we are to learn from this story.
Luke 11:9-10 (ESV) And I tell 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 the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
The first principle is that you need to keep on asking until the answer comes. If you give up when the answer isn’t immediate, the answer will not come. In this verse, Jesus speaks of prayer as asking, seeking and knocking. These verbs are in the order of intensity of prayer You ask and if you don’t receive, you begin seeking more diligently and finally you knock vigorously until the answer comes.
Luke 11:11-12 (ESV) What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?
These next verses are very important, but ignored by 95% of churches. Jesus asks two rhetorical questions about a son asking his father for a fish or an egg, both forms of food. No earthly father would give his son a deadly serpent or a scorpion when the son asked for food. So, certainly our heavenly father would not give us something hurtful when we ask him for what we need. Why would Jesus have to explain what seems like common sense? We are going to see in the next verse.
Luke 11:13 (ESV) If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Jesus concludes this entire section of the three secrets of spiritual growth with this stunning verse. An earthly father is evil compared to the heavenly father, yet would give good gifts to his children, not harmful gifts. How much more, Jesus says, would our heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to everyone who ask Him. This entire passage is about spiritual growth through prayer.
Jesus concludes with the most important thing that we can ask the Father for, the most precious gift of all. The one thing that is necessary for us to accomplish God’s purpose for our lives is the Holy Spirit. Jesus is clearly saying here that one must ask the Father for the Holy Spirit.
You may be asking, doesn’t a person have the Holy Spirit when they’re saved? Why would Jesus tell us that the most important gift we can ask for is the Holy Spirit? The answer is clear when you read the entire books of Luke and Acts. When a person believes, the Holy Spirit comes into them and they are born again. You don’t ask for the Holy Spirit in order to be saved, you simply believe in Jesus.
But there is another step to receive the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus told His disciples after He left to pray and ask God for the promise of the Father, the baptism in the Holy Spirit. God began to baptize in the Holy Spirit, those who asked the Father for the Spirit, on the day of Pentecost. And He continues to baptize in the Spirit, those who ask to this day and they receive the power of the Spirit.
Why did Jesus have to make clear that the gifts of the Father are good, not evil? Many churches teach against Spirit baptism and spiritual gifts as being not of God. Yet, we see here, Jesus’ clear teaching that most important secret for spiritual growth is to be baptized in the Spirit. Ask God for the Holy Spirit.
Oftentimes when we read the Bible, especially the Gospels, we just take out one story or section and study it. Today, we’ve looked at three sections, which are often taught by themselves. Yet, we’ve seen how each of these three sections give us one of the secrets of spiritual growth.
To grow spiritually, we must choose the one thing necessary in life, to spend time with Jesus. In our time with Jesus, we grow by listening to Him speak to us and speaking to Him in prayer. Our prayers should be for God’s glory and His kingdom first. As we put first things first, He will meet our needs in this life.
Finally, Jesus makes clear that the most important gift the Father desires to give each of His children is the promise of the Father, the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Spirit baptism does not come automatically to each believer, it must be asked for in faith. That good gift of the Spirit gives us the power to be Jesus’ witnesses and spread the Gospel to our world. To learn more about Spirit baptism, I would encourage you to pick up and read the books Power for Life, available for free on the table in the foyer.