Good morning and welcome in everybody. Today, we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture, but before we do that, I wanted to tell you a little story.
As most of you probably know already, I’ve got an orange cat named Timmy who hangs out pretty close to my side. Each morning when we pull out the guitar and start singing, he will run immediately out to the living room and perch himself on the back of the rocking chair, almost as if to say, I’m here too! But as we go about our duties around the house, occasionally he wants to go out and run around so he will start scratching on the 2×4 frame of the front door. Sometimes he will scratch so hard that he puts deep ruts in the wood, and you can actually hear it from the other side of the house. He’ll keep doing it until somebody eventually comes up and opens up the door.
This reminds me of the Christian Life.
Our cat is very persistent when it comes to asking for things, and we need to be the same way in our prayer life towards God. We must ask diligently for the Holy Spirit, and know that God is capable of granting each of our requests, provided they are according to his will
Luke 11:5-13 (KJB) And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him? And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth. And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
First of all today, how diligently are you asking God for things? Do you keep scratching at the door until He finally opens it? How many times have you asked your dad for something while he was in the middle of a project? Perhaps he told you that it was going to have to wait, but after you persistently asked him over and over again, he finally took a break and gave you what you needed. Most of us know that when we have a small child at the grocery store, they might find some good thing that they want, and continue to repetitively ask over and over again until the parent eventually submits to their wishes. Sometimes they can be extremely needy, but it’s because they trust in their parents’ love, and know that they are capable of providing them with whatever they desire. Even in my own life, my wife would ask me to spend some time together and go for a drive. Over the span of an hour or two, she would continue to humbly petition me until I finally grabbed the truck keys and took her to some rummage sales.
But one must remember that not everything that we ask for we are going to receive because it depends upon the situation at hand. For example, if your 5-year-old wanted to drive your car to town, obviously you wouldn’t give him the keys no matter how much he asked! But you can know thar when you petition God for things that are according to His will, He will most certainly answer your prayers.
1 John 5:14-15 (KJB) And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
Many times, God will answer prayers according to His specific timing and what is best for us. Parents do the same things with their own children. We might hold something back from a child simply because they are not mature enough at that moment to handle it. They might want to go do something fun over the weekend with their friends, but if their grades don’t warrant that, then their request might be withheld. Don’t consider God as an overly permissive parent who gives their child whatever they desire. That’s simply not going to happen.
James 4:2-3 (KJB) Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
Again, the main point in our passage today is that Jesus is teaching us to continue asking specifically for the gift of the Holy Spirit, not a brand new car, a beautiful home, or a brand new pair of tennis shoes. One must cry out for the Holy Spirit of God, and continue asking persistently until you receive it. How many times have you fasted for the Holy Spirit? The disciples would pray and fast for the Holy Spirit, only later to find themselves filled up with the strength and the power of God! This is a great gift to ask for that He definitely will give us, along with the knowledge and wisdom of His Holy Word.
James 1:5-7 (KJB) If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.
We might ask for a lot of things and not receive them, simply because they are not beneficial to our lives in the eyes of God. It is far better that God makes all the decisions for us, and answers our prayers according to His will, because in the end He knows what’s best for us and His Divine purpose.
Luke 11:2 (KJB) ……Thy will be done,……
One thing is for sure, keep asking God for the Holy Spirit! Seek and desire it diligently with all of your heart, because it is one of the greatest gifts that you could ever receive. How diligently have you been asking for this precious gift? How long have you been…..
……Scratching at the Door
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you all, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody.
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