Asking for Gifts

The simplicity of this promise of Jesus can become its own stumbling block. In its essence, it is incredibly simple, especially when looked at in context of the passage in Luke 11. God is a good father who loves His children, and therefore wants to give them good, wonderful gifts. Even when you compare Him as a Father to earthly fathers, even earthly fathers want to give good gifts to their children, and our heavenly Father even more so! 

However, the key point here is in verse 13, where it says, ‘how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?’ It does not say how much more will your heavenly Father give “fill in the blank” to those who ask Him. This verse about asking, receiving, seeking, finding, knocking, and opening is NOT about treating the Lord as a genie in a bottle. It’s not about asking for your Christmas wish list and expecting Him to hand it over on a silver platter. 

At the other extreme, many of us (often myself included) see this passage as just too good to be true. There aren’t enough conditions and to-do lists to fulfill in order to find God. We feel like we should do something to receive the Lord’s favor. And yet just as it was with salvation, the Holy Spirit is a free gift that is provided to us through Christ’s sacrifice, not our own! We don’t have to go down a checklist in order to be good enough to ask, seek, and knock. To the contrary, when we seek the Lord, He is found, and then He helps us grow closer to Him, get more inside His will, through His strength of the Holy Spirit, not our own. 

I was reminded of this just yesterday while teaching about the miracle of Jesus raising Jairus’ daughter from the dead. (Luke 8:40-56) I asked my students, of all the people who probably died during Jesus’ ministry, why did He choose to raise this little girl from the dead, of all people? My students, who are around the same age as that little girl, just stared at me, although one said, ‘because He loves children.” I told him that yes that is true, but it may be even simpler than that. It’s because Jairus asked! Jairus sought out Jesus, literally fell at His feet, and begged Jesus to heal his daughter. A leader in his community, yet he wasn’t afraid to embarrass/humble himself for the sake of his daughter’s life. And Jesus responded, and that little girl was one of 2 resurrection miracles (aside from Jesus himself), that is recorded in the Gospels. What an example we have in Jairus of how to ask, seek, and knock! Let us walk in that same faith as we seek to glorify God in all that we think, say, and do. 

Brittany H

’94 / 08 San Jose Costa Rica

CoLaborers International Missionary

www.colaborers.com/Hynsons

Contact [email protected] to learn more about the Hynson family and their ministry to refugee families in Cost Rica