There are a number of passages...
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There are a number of passages where Jesus is praying and his disciples can see him at prayer. Just as John's disciples asked to be taught how to pray, now Jesus' disciples want a lesson. The prayer he gives them is the one used in every church and every service since that time! We study it in our catechism. It is the center of most of our prayer life, as it covers so much of our needs! To some it may seem curious that we should be taught to pray. Don't we just start talking to God and give him our shopping list? Jesus' prayer covers more ground than just a list of things we want.
We always start with our praise to God. When we meet a friend, don't we usually start with some almost standard greeting? "Hey, good to see you! How are you today?" We don't start right in asking for things -- like daily bread.
The illustration is interesting and seems to say that God wants us to keep pounding on the gates of heaven until he answers. I'm sure God is not the grumpy guy who wants to go back to sleep, though sometimes we may think God is sleeping when we pray and God doesn't seem to hear us and answer as quickly as we want.
When I was tempted to take on a questionable assignment in my movie business before I went to seminary, I had not been attending church faithfully, but I had a little thing on my dresser that my folks gave me that quoted the verse that Jesus gives his disciples: "Ask -- seek -- knock, because if you do, God will answer!" Since I had to find out if I should yield to this temptation and had not given much thought to him or was not even sure if God was there, I decided to try. At first there was no answer -- but after three days my eyes opened and when I saw a new translation of the Bible that my folks had given me, which had sat there unread, it dawned on me that maybe he was answering me in there! He did answer me through my Bible reading, and it surprised me so much that it changed my whole life and I entered the ministry.
Think of God as our own parents. If we ask for food, will they give us bugs to eat? Won't our God be even more generous?
Are we just supposed to ask for food or other gifts? Jesus is telling us that we should be asking for his Holy Spirit! That is the most important and fulfilling thing we can ask for! All the other things we need for life, God provides -- even for the wicked and evil! But we should ask for God's presence in the Spirit! It is a sign that he is the most important one in our life -- because he is!
We always start with our praise to God. When we meet a friend, don't we usually start with some almost standard greeting? "Hey, good to see you! How are you today?" We don't start right in asking for things -- like daily bread.
The illustration is interesting and seems to say that God wants us to keep pounding on the gates of heaven until he answers. I'm sure God is not the grumpy guy who wants to go back to sleep, though sometimes we may think God is sleeping when we pray and God doesn't seem to hear us and answer as quickly as we want.
When I was tempted to take on a questionable assignment in my movie business before I went to seminary, I had not been attending church faithfully, but I had a little thing on my dresser that my folks gave me that quoted the verse that Jesus gives his disciples: "Ask -- seek -- knock, because if you do, God will answer!" Since I had to find out if I should yield to this temptation and had not given much thought to him or was not even sure if God was there, I decided to try. At first there was no answer -- but after three days my eyes opened and when I saw a new translation of the Bible that my folks had given me, which had sat there unread, it dawned on me that maybe he was answering me in there! He did answer me through my Bible reading, and it surprised me so much that it changed my whole life and I entered the ministry.
Think of God as our own parents. If we ask for food, will they give us bugs to eat? Won't our God be even more generous?
Are we just supposed to ask for food or other gifts? Jesus is telling us that we should be asking for his Holy Spirit! That is the most important and fulfilling thing we can ask for! All the other things we need for life, God provides -- even for the wicked and evil! But we should ask for God's presence in the Spirit! It is a sign that he is the most important one in our life -- because he is!
