On Line Bible Study - For the Week November 29 - December 5, 2010

Lesson 468

Luke 11: ⁹ “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ¹⁰ For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

¹¹ “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? ¹² Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? ¹³ If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

This is the third teaching with regard to prayer that Luke offers to us in these opening verses of Chapter 11. Verses 9 and 10 tell us to "ask", "seek", and "knock". John Nolland says we are invited to pray to God (ask), we are invited to pursue God (seek), and we are given the image of coming into God's presence (knock and it will be opened).

There is a response to our action - asking, it will be given. Seeking, we will find. Knocking, the door will open. There is a three-fold assurance that God will respond to us.

If sinful people have the capacity to respond appropriately to human need, how much more will God respond to us! But here is the important piece - Jesus gets very specific in terms of what it is God wants to provide - The Holy Spirit. How does one receive the Holy Spirit? How is one certain it is God's Spirit and not our imagination, or some mental imbalance or hallucination?

The Holy Spirit is a central theme for Luke, not only in the Gospel, but also in the companion volume, what we call the Acts of the Apostles. A major point is this: Ask for what is needed for your spiritual well-being. Jesus is not suggesting we can ask and get whatever we want. Rather, he is telling us that if we truly desire what is needed for spiritual growth, assurance and maturity, God is faithful to provide it.

To recount the themes of these first 13 verses in Chapter 11:
In the Lord's Prayer (Luke 11:1-4) we learn of our dependence on God, with an emphasis on community (our bread, lead us, etc.).
In the parable that follows (Luke 11:5-8) we are instructed to be bold when we pray, believing God is faithful to answer especially when our prayers have to do with the welfare of others.
The next section (Luke 11:9-13) we are reminded that insight comes to us through the agency of the Holy Spirit.

The next verses take us back into controversy - that's where we are heading in the next lesson.