SEEK THE FATHER’S GIFT

Luke 11:1-13 / Keywords 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.

 

Jesus’ Teaching on Prayer

11:1 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

2 He said to them, “When you pray, say:

“‘Father,[a]

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come.[b]

3 Give us each day our daily bread.

4 Forgive us our sins,

    for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.[c]

And lead us not into temptation.[d]’”

5 Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; 6 a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ 7 And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity[e] he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.

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[f] 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!”

Footnotes

a. Luke 11:2 Some manuscripts Our Father in heaven

b. Luke 11:2 Some manuscripts come. May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

c. Luke 11:4 Greek everyone who is indebted to us

d. Luke 11:4 Some manuscripts temptation, but deliver us from the evil one

e. Luke 11:8 Or yet to preserve his good name

f. Luke 11:11 Some manuscripts for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for

1. Jesus’ disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. Jesus taught them what we now know as the Lord’s Prayer. He says to, first, address God as “Father”. Our Father God fearfully and wonderfully created us with all the love and hope of a good and loving father. When we see ourselves as children of God, we can find our sense of absolute worth and belonging. God the Father desires to have an intimate and deep relationship with us. Through prayer we can encounter God who provides, shows grace and forgiveness, and protects us so that we may dwell in his kingdom of love on earth as it is in heaven.

 

2. Jesus goes on to share a story of a desperate man needing bread to give to a visitor at midnight. It is an example of how we should seek God for what he offers to us and to those we share our world with. We should not be hesitant or only seek him in our desperation, but as of first importance, more than wealth or material things of the world. We should seek God for the Holy Spirit whom he gives to us freely and joyfully. Sometimes we may not even know what we are looking for, but God knows the groans of our soul and what we truly need. When we seek him, he will open our eyes and ears to see and hear him.

 

Prayer Father, I want to receive the deeper truth, the priceless gift--the absolute love that you offer to me and all your children.

One Word Seek and you will find