“What father among you, if your son asks for bread, would give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, would give him a snake instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, would give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?” (Luke 11:11-13)
At Christmas time, we’re told if we’re naughty, we’ll get coal in our stockings. Our parents want to give us something nice for Christmas, so they don’t usually keep that promise. If we ask for necessities and good things, most fathers would help. Even though our earthly fathers are attacked by the enemy, they still know how to give good gifts. But the one gift our earthly parents cannot give us is the Holy Spirit.
When we declare our belief that Jesus is our savior, God gives us the gift of His Holy Spirit. But this scripture tells us we need refills of the Holy Spirit and that God will give them to us whenever we ask. The Holy Spirit: 1) gives us power (Acts 1:8), 2) pours God’s love into our hearts (Romans 5:5), 3) gives us wisdom (John 14:26), 4) helps us kill sin, 5) makes us holy (2 Thessalonians 2:13), 6) helps us pray (Romans 8:26-27), 7) changes hearts (Ezekiel 36:26-27), 8) changes us to be more like Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18), 9) gives us spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:11), 10) gives us self-control (Galatians 5:22), 11) gives us joy, peace, and overflowing hope (Romans 15:13), and 12) gives us knowledge of God’s will (Colossians 1:9).
We’ve already learned in our study of Luke that praying with confidence in the name of Jesus makes our prayers more effective. Asking God for the Holy Spirit also gives power to our prayers and helps us match our prayers to God’s will.
Dearest Father in Heaven, thank you for the many blessings you’ve given me. I commit myself to doing Your will. In the name of Jesus, I ask for your Holy Spirit today so my prayers and actions will be more powerful and your love will overflow from me to others. Also help me give good gifts to the friends, family, and even strangers whom you’ve entrusted me with. I pray in Jesus’ name, amen.
Our Heavenly Father has given us many blessings and our earthly father gave us many blessings as well. I have always felt fortunate that dad was a man of God. I feel that dad asked to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Dad had great faith and the older he got the stronger his faith became. When I was going through hard times and I felt defeated, Dad was always the first one to remind me what was important. He made me more aware of God’s blessings in my life and the power of prayer, and the power of positive thinking.
You’re right. Dad gave me a lot of support when I was going through my divorce.
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Thank you so much for your encouragement and coming to my website. I hope you will return so that we can become family! I prayed for you today and hope you know how wide and long and high and deep God’s love for you is. Blessings, Jody