50 Days of Prayer for Fellowship CRC

Lk. 11:5-10 – “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”

These famous verses are part of a larger section on prayer, Luke 11:1-13.  The part we are addressing here contains the parable of the friend at midnight.  It is a story we can all relate to.  We want something from our friend, so we ask, even though we know it’s a big ask.  For all sorts of common sense reasons, our friend denies our request. But because we are friends and we know what our relationship can bear, we keep on asking – persistently, insolently, with shameless audacity (to use various translations of verse 8), until the request is met.

That is how Jesus tells us to pray—persistently.  The Amplified Version attempts to highlight the verb tenses from the original Greek, and translates verses 9-10 this way: “For everyone who keeps on asking [persistently], receives; and he who keeps on seeking [persistently], finds; and to him who keeps on knocking [persistently], the door will be opened.”

So don’t give up! Keep on asking your good Father, seeking from the one who hears, knocking   on the doors of heaven. God knows you, loves you, and knows how to meet your needs.  But the surprise ending is that you might receive something better than what you ask for—the Holy Spirit! And who knows then what exciting things God might be doing in your life? Your prayers may be answered in far different ways than we expect!

So we pray:
Father God, you are good.  Sometimes we don’t understand why you don’t just say yes to our requests right away, but we trust you. We know you love us and want the best for us. Teach us to pray persistently, and hear us when we do. But because we trust you, if you choose to give the Holy Spirit to answer our needs as only you know them, we certainly ask that you would do this for us.  Make us to be those who ask, seek and knock without giving up! Amen..