Text: Luke 11:5-13
Summary: There are two times when Jesus asked us to pray with persistence — 1) when asking our Father for justice from our adversary the devil, and 2) when asking our Father for more of the Holy Spirit. We need to be filled with the Holy Spirit each day in order to follow Jesus and the example that He set before us in terms of speech, attitude, gratitude, humility and relationships.
Luke 11
5 And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, 6 for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? 8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. 9 And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Father, we want to practice how you’re teaching all disciples of every generation to pray. And you filter down and you get to the root of all of our prayers. Lord, I pray that we will start practicing this prayer of asking for the Holy Spirit. We ask that you fill all hearts that are gathered here and over zoom, fill our hearts, fill this place with the Holy Spirit, so that we can follow Jesus properly. Thank you. Teach us today, Lord Jesus, when two or three are gathered, you promise that you are among us. So, Teacher, we pray that you would teach us. In Jesus Name we pray, Amen
This is an odd set of verses especially 9 through 30. Because it talks about asking, seeking, and knocking, and then suddenly there’s a surprising ending. Jesus says, ask for the Holy Spirit. The Father wants you to ask and if He far surpasses earthly fathers who are evil, of course our good Heavenly Father will give the best gift that He can think to give to His children. And He’s saying, ask for the gift of the Holy Spirit.
We think of the Holy Spirit in terms of power. We know Acts 1:8, where it says that you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all of Judea, all of Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. We hear the gifting and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit for ministry and for mission work, and that’s usually what we think of the baptism of the Holy Spirit or the filling of the Holy Spirit. That it is for ministry or some type of mission.
There are cases in Scripture where Jesus warns us of not over emphasizing the gifting for power from the Holy Spirit. And cases when the Holy Spirit is given a bad name, and one passage that comes to mind is Matthew 7:22-23 when a bunch of supernaturally gifted ministers come to Jesus, and they say, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not cast out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty works in your name? And Jesus declares to them, I never knew you. So it is possible to be supernaturally gifted by the Holy Spirit and to miss the whole point entirely. And at the end of your life, instead of being welcomed by Jesus, Jesus says, I don’t know you, and you end up in hell.
So we have to be clear. The gifting of the Holy Spirit, that is part of the package, but that is not the primary function of the Holy Spirit. Jesus says it in another way in Luke 10:17-20.
Luke 11
17 The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” 18 And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. 20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
When the 72 were sent out with authority and power that Jesus gave to them, they returned with joy, having been successful in their ministry and they say, even the demons are subject to us in your name Lord Jesus. Isn’t this great! And Jesus says, yes it’s true, I’ve given you authority even to tread on scorpions and serpents. And nothing shall hurt you physically. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, and we covered this last Sunday. Instead, rejoice that your names are written in heaven.
Another passage that comes to mind is John the Baptist and his ministry in Luke 3. He baptized with water, but then he says there’s someone who is coming after me who is mightier than me. I’m not even worthy to untie the straps of his sandal. And this Jesus will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. And I think these are representatives of His two comings. The first time Jesus came, He baptized the world with the Holy Spirit, specifically believers. He baptized believers with the Holy Spirit. It happened at Pentecost.
When Jesus comes a second time, not just believers, but the whole world will be baptized with fire. Because when Jesus baptizes specifically with fire, some people in charismatic churches try to say this is a positive thing. But there is such a thing as a baptism that in Jesus’s mind is negative, which I think speaks of the Second Coming in judgment.
In Luke 12:50, Jesus says. I have a baptism to be baptized with. Jesus is looking at the cross and the suffering that is before Him, and He says, how great is my distress until it is accomplished. So Jesus as He is nearing the end, says, I am going to be baptized with fire. It is a difficult suffering that I need to undergo. And believers who are part of the end times, we, too, will go through a baptism of fire.
So speaking of the true function or the primary function of the Holy Spirit, it is not power. It is not ministry, it is not missions. It is something entirely more fundamental to who we are as disciples of Jesus Christ. And when Jesus teaches His disciples to pray, because this passage comes at the heels of the Lord’s Prayer, this is all part of the teaching of prayer reserved for disciples. This is a private teaching to the disciples of Jesus because His disciples ask in Luke 11:1, teach us, Lord, how to pray.
And to those who already have the Holy Spirit, those who are already born again, He says, you already have the Spirit but pray for more. What you have is not enough, you’ve got to pray for more. So you have the Holy Spirit because without the Spirit you would not be a disciple of Jesus Christ. Without the Holy Spirit, you would not have open eyes, open ears, open hearts regenerated. Without an encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ that came through the sending of the Spirit when it blew upon your heart, that is the first deposit of the Holy Spirit. But given that you are a disciple, a born again believer, now, ask for more.
The context here is interesting because remember I said last week that this is an orderly account. Luke is writing an orderly account to his friend, Theophilus. He’s trying to win his friend over. And he has organized these accounts in a very strategic way, like pieces of a puzzle. And so we have to look at when Jesus teaches his disciples to pray. Where did Luke decide to put this section of the Gospel of Luke, and what is surrounding this section?
These verses about the true disciples learning how to pray is in the backdrop of false religious people who do not have the Holy Spirit.
Luke 11
15 But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons,” 16 while others, to test him, kept seeking from him a sign from heaven.
And so if you’re a religious person, you might not even feel logically that you need to ask for the Holy Spirit. You might say, whatever I received at initial salvation is enough. And so this passage, the Lord’s prayer and then the persistence of asking, seeking, knocking and the Father wanting to give you this gift of the Holy Spirit in greater proportion, for some, it’s not even on their radar that they should ask. Because they think, why do I need the Holy Spirit? I received enough when I first met the Lord Jesus Christ.
So there are religious people who look at the abuses of those who are baptized in the Holy Spirit and are empowered by the Holy Spirit, they see the craziness and they see the holy laughter. They’re just freaked out and they just judge because they don’t understand it. Because in their own experience, their walk with the Lord is very organized. It’s very safe, it’s very orderly. And I’m not knocking it, but they’re just judging.
And even in the body of Christ, we judge things that we don’t understand. Saying this Holy Spirit business, I don’t want to even go there. Let me just play safe with what I received at initial salvation. Some of us experienced some supernatural manifestations of the Holy Spirit and for a time, the Lord allowed us to to pursue it and to be excited about it. And there was a season the Lord allowed it.
But after a while, I think all of us who were on that road, we saw, okay, we don’t want to chase it. That’s not what we’re after, because there’s warning in Scripture that if you pursue it, you might get lost. And so the Lord gently reeled us in, and said, there’s something more fundamental about the gifting of the Holy Spirit and the ministry of the Spirit. So we, as religious people or as people in the body of Christ, let’s not judge things we don’t understand. We should seek to understand.
The second type of people judging is found in Luke 11:37-38.
Luke 11
37 While Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him, so he went in and reclined at table. 38 The Pharisee was astonished to see that he did not first wash before dinner.
So the first group of people who judge are those who judge based on their own experience. Whatever they don’t understand, they say, it must not be from the Lord. They say, Jesus cast out demons but He’s doing it with demonic power. And Jesus just has to dismiss it with logic. How can you cast out demons with demonic power? That is a kingdom divided. And so, that type of thing is just illogical.
So people will say that we don’t need the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit have ceased. It’s just illogical. You look at the book of Acts, you see the gifting of the Holy Spirit everywhere and so of course, we should expect that we’re going to see signs, wonders and gifting. Of course, it’s just illogical for people to construct their theology and say, from my own experience, I don’t see it so whatever is out of my experience, it must not be of God. It’s a kind of judgment, we don’t want to do in the body of Christ.
Also there’s a kind of judgment that you don’t do things my way, you don’t subscribe to my rules and my traditions, and whenever you do that, I’m just going to judge you and say, you’re doing it wrong. Let’s not do that in the body of Christ. We may differ on many things that are second tier and third tier. Let’s not judge. Let’s embrace the body of Christ as long as the first thing is primary, as long as Jesus is lifted up, as long as He is the head of His universal church. Let’s not judge one another.
When Jesus says in v.9, And I tell you ask and it will be given to you seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be open to you, I think there is a progression here. When you ask some things you just ask but you’re never that desperate for, it’s a nice to have. It’s nice if the Sixers win the championship in my lifetime. I won’t be that upset with God if it doesn’t happen. Eagles won the Super Bowl so that should be enough for me. So there are things that you can ask for. It’s nice to have, it’s not a big deal if you don’t get it.
There are other things that you seek. And this is not just seeking. Whether you find it or not, does matter. This you’re seeking in order to find. That is the definition here. You’re seeking in order to find, and so this one is much more serious. You’re not just asking. You’re not just presenting your petition. You’re saying this one, I’m seeking answers. I’m investigating, I’m proactive, I want this Lord.
But this final one of knocking. It’s like you’ve exhausted all other doors. You’ve come to the single door that’s in front of you. You’re knocking on heaven’s door and you’re telling your heavenly Father, this one must be open. I’m persistently knocking. This one must be open. Like a parent with a child who is sick, they will not stop knocking on heaven’s door until God gives His final answer whether He’s going to heal, or He’s not going to heal. But you’re going to knock until you get the answer.
And so there’s a progression. You ask, you’ll receive. Seek, you will find. Knock, the door will be open. It reminds me of Luke 18, another parable about persistence in prayer. Because Jesus is saying in Luke 11, be persistent in this. Keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking. Again He also says in Luke 18, He’s saying be persistent. This widow was persistent, as she brought before an unrighteous judge her petition for justice against her adversary. So we know who our adversary is, it is not flesh and blood. We’re not fighting against people in this world. We’re fighting against the accuser of the brethren, fighting against the devil, our adversary.
As people of God, when we are under attack, Satan is constantly looking for an opportune time to devour the disciples of Christ. We bring that tormented spirit, we’re bringing our beaten down spirit because we’re under constant assault. We bring this spiritual attack to the Lord and God’s promise is, you bring it to not an unrighteous judge but you bring it to a righteous judge. And His answer will come speedily. And that means God who is outside of time, for Him, 1000 years is like a day, so when He gives an answer, we might think it’s slow, but in God’s economy and in His timing, it is immediate.
We might not perceive it for 50 years. But God when He heard it, the answer was given. If you want justice from your adversary the devil, God heard that prayer that you persistently prayed over a period of time. His answer was, your answer is going to come speedily, justice is on the way. And if it happens 50 years, to God that is a speedy answer. Anything that God does, if it takes decades, to God, it is a speedy answer. And when we are in heaven with Him for eternity, a million years from now, we’re gonna say yes, those 50 years, it was a speedy response.
So getting to our main text. Why is there this surprising twist that you’re asking for many things, and you will receive. You’re seeking to find many things, you will find. And you are knocking persistently on heaven’s door, and that door will open. And you do this persistently. Why does it end with, and the Father wants to give you the Holy Spirit? And you have some already because if you didn’t have the Holy Spirit, you would not even be a disciple, you would not even want more, but as a disciple who has the Holy Spirit, why don’t you ask for more. And the Father is so eager to give you more of His Holy Spirit.
I think to understand why the Holy Spirit is something we need to ask for, let’s turn to Ephesians 5:15.
Ephesians 5
15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit.
The will of the Lord is that you and I are filled with the Holy Spirit, not just partially or a little bit in my cup, not just half full, but filled to overflowing. Filled with the Holy Spirit. And is this a one time filling? No, this is a daily asking to be filled with the Holy Spirit. And some people end with, I just want to be filled with the Holy Spirit and they talk so much about the Holy Spirit. I don’t think that’s the intention of the Holy Spirit. He does not want to be lifted up as some people say, Old Testament was the era of God the Father, and then the New Testament in the gospels is the era of the Son of God Jesus Christ, and now we’re in the era of the Holy Spirit. No, I don’t read it that way. God was there in the beginning, middle and end. Jesus was there in the beginning, middle and end. Holy Spirit was also there in the beginning, middle and end. There’s no eras of when one is primary over another. No, they’re all active. They are one.
And so the Lord’s will, why is it then that we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit? So that we can follow Jesus. Not just follow Him in terms of ministry. Yes, it’d be nice to follow Him as he goes to a town and we witness miracles in that town. That would be nice. But there’s something much more fundamental about being asked to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
And I think it means, following in the example that Jesus laid before us in His earthly life. The way that Jesus spoke to people. The way that Jesus taught. The way that Jesus exemplified humility. The way that Jesus was joyful. The way that He was thankful. The way that Jesus lived, His example. Now follow it. And in order to do that, we need the Holy Spirit. So let’s read on in v.18.
Ephesians 5
18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
People love reading the last part of this chapter for marriage. And it is true, there is submission, there is leadership in the marriage covenant among husbands and wives. But we must not miss these verses that we just read. These are more fundamental to the Christian. Before we jump into the roles of a husband and a wife in a marriage context, let’s look at these verses about being filled with the Holy Spirit.
And what does the filling of the Holy Spirit do? In v.19, it allows you to address one another in psalms, in hymns and spiritual songs. We don’t address one another with annoyance. We don’t address one another with judgment. We don’t address one another with, I’m right and you’re wrong. There’s a softness in our tone when we address one another. There’s almost a singing when we address.
When you’re around this kind of person, it lifts all the spirits of everyone in the room because the way that we talk is the way that Jesus talks. And it’s why when Jesus is speaking, the crowds are being drawn to Him. It’s this kind of speech that draws men and women, young and old, rich and poor, to the feet of Jesus Christ. We are to speak in this manner. So if you want to model and to represent and to testify about Jesus Christ and show it through your speech, you need to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
The second half of v.19 says, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart. Not addressing our heavenly Father with so much burden and stress. No, we come to Him maybe initially with some burden but we release the burdens to Jesus immediately. That’s maybe the first portion of our prayer, just releasing the anxieties, releasing the burdens, releasing the stress, noticing that our spirit is being lifted up, and ending this prayer with praise and thanksgiving. Maybe you couldn’t start the prayer that way, but certainly by the end, you’re ending your prayer that way.
And to get to that point, you need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. When you started the prayer and when you ended the prayer, nothing may have changed in your surroundings and in your circumstance. But if you ask for the filling of the Holy Spirit, you can end that prayer time with a melody in your heart to the Lord, worship and praise to the Lord.
Ephesians 5
20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ
If you realize that your name is written in heaven, it is possible that you will never have another bad day in your life. Because what can be so bad in your life if you’re going to heaven. If you’re not going to end up in hell, what can happen in this life that is so terrible that will prevent you from rejoicing on any given day? If you’re filled with the Holy Spirit, there can be thanksgiving in your hearts always, and for everything, whether there’s fire and the air quality is terrible, you can give thanks. Certainly, in the last couple of days, we are giving thanks for air. I never gave thanks for air before until now when it was taken away from me. Now I can give thanks for the good air.
Peter and Bekah left on Friday. On the day they left, the air cleared up. So Peter and Bekah, if you’re listening, you can come back home. The air is clean. So we can praise the Lord in fire, in clean air, in lockdown, when the lockdown lifts, COVID-19 2020, post COVID-19, prayerfully, 2021.
Whether you are rejoicing that Trump wins or somebody else wins and you’re distraught. Doesn’t matter. You can give thanks in all circumstances. I think, when politics comes to the table. Many people just don’t obey God’s Word. Meaning, they’re not filled with the Spirit, because their candidate loses, and they think it’s the end of the world and it gives them a right to grumble, to complain, to lash out. I want to say, that person needs to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
If you’re filled with the Holy Spirit, you don’t have to be nervous about election season, whether you have a certain candidate in mind, and that person wins or not, it’s not the end of the world, or it’s not a time to rejoice just because your person won. No, that’s not how we think. Whatever the circumstance, whoever wins, win or lose, rich or poor, it doesn’t matter, in everything, you can give thanks, if you’re filled with the Holy Spirit.
And submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. Pastors should do this to church members. Some pastors and some church leaders never submit to others. I want to say, that person needs to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Some wives are supernaturally gifted, but there’s something about that wife who’s supernaturally gifted that just doesn’t seem right. You see how they talk down to their husbands, that is just not right. The Holy Spirit might be there for power, but it’s a mixture. It’s their character, it’s unclean spirits, something is wrong, something is off. If you say you’re filled with the Spirit and that’s why you’re gifted, how can you at the same time not submit out of reverence for Christ? That goes for husbands to wives and wives to husbands. But I noticed this thing among spiritually gifted women that I’ve met, that there’s something that’s just not right in their home.
Ephesians 6
1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
For a child to obey their parents, always, in everything, it requires a filling of the Holy Spirit. You may not agree all the time. You actually might be right some of the time. But God is pleased when you’re filled with the Holy Spirit and out of respect, you submit and you obey, you honor.
Ephesians 6
2 “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), 3 “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.”
So people, children or adults with elderly parents, honoring your parents if you want a good life. If you want a long life, this is God’s word, you must, whether that parent is worthy of respect or not, you must honor them. You must respect them. You don’t have to listen and follow everything they say, but out of respect for God and the fact that you came from those set of parents, you have to honor them. And God says you will have a long life and it will go well with you. And so if you want a long life and you want things to go well, children or adults, honor your parents. And then in Ephesians 6, he is going through all the different relationships.
Ephesians 5
4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
Many things that children do are frustrating to parents, and it requires a daily filling of the Holy Spirit in order for you to discipline in the right way, not to exasperate, not to annoy, not to frustrate them, but you give the discipline. And at the same, same time you’re instructing them. And you’re bringing them up together in the way of the Lord. This requires a filling of the Holy Spirit to do this well.
Ephesians 5
5 Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, 6 not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, 7 rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, 8 knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free.
And so this is the attitude of workers in their workplace toward their bosses. We’re working hard because we’re doing it unto the Lord. We’re not doing it because we’re paying attention to our boss and we’re noticing their eyes are upon us, and we’re writing status to them because we want them to know how hard we work and how talented we are, how valuable we are to the team. No, that’s not why we do excellent work in our school and in our workplaces. We do excellent work out of respect to God, out of an honoring of God to show Him that we are doing it before Him and not before men.
We’re not people-pleasers, we’re not doing it for money. We’re not doing it for promotion. We’re doing it because the Lord is looking upon us and seeing how we represent Him through our character. We’re not lazy, we work hard. We’re not shady, we have integrity. We are the first one in, the last one out, we have that type of work ethic, and we’re excellent people respect us, whether they believe in the God that you believe in or not. They see your character, and your work ethic, your dependability, your trustworthiness, you’re safe, you’re not judgmental, you’re not critical. You’re a thankful person. They see it all. And God above everybody sees it. We need to be filled with Spirit so that we work like this for the right purpose toward the right audience.
Ephesians 5
9 Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.
And so if you are a boss, if you’re a person of authority, God looks at how you treat people under you. When you’re under stress and there’s a deadline and your boss is looking at you and seeing if you are producing and asking, is your team producing? Are you the kind of person that just threatens, intimidates and lashes out at people under you, because that’s how you deal with your own stress? God looks at whether you’re a worker or you’re a boss of workers. God sees how you treat people. In order to do it in a way that God wants you to do it, you need to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
So, in our asking, of course we have many different requests and they’re not exactly tied to the Holy Spirit per se, but in our asking God is saying, you need the Holy Spirit. Whether you receive, according to your timing or not. I’ve already given you the answer, it is on its way. It is already given. But in your asking, you need to follow Jesus in His total trust in His heavenly Father as Jesus gave His request to His heavenly Father. And so in order to follow Jesus, how Jesus asked the Father in total trust, in peace, not burdened, not stressed in the asking, we need to follow Jesus. How do we do that? You need to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
In our seeking, we’re a little bit more desperate now, we need an answer for this. We’re proactive, we’re looking for the answer, we’re seeking to find the answer. In that, we need to follow Jesus’s example. When Jesus prayed all night to know among all of the disciples who are the 12 that the Father has hand-picked. Jesus was seeking an answer for this. And it was not automatic, it was an instant just because He’s the Son of God. He had to pray all night. He had to go through every person, every face. Is it this person? Wait for the answer. He’s not stressed, He’s not burdened. He’s just patiently waiting for God to give an answer.
See, Jesus is showing us by example what it looks like to ask, and to seek, and to knock. And the things that are really urgent, the things that we’re really desperate about, I think that reveals whether we trust in Jesus or not. Jesus shows absolute trust in His heavenly Father, because in His knocking, no matter what it was, whatever the Father said, He said, not my will, your will be done. Even in the garden of Gethsemane, the most difficult stress that He was under. He saw the baptism of fire that was coming upon Him in these final days. And then He said not my will, but your will be done.
He was knocking at that point for an answer. Is there another way, Father? And the Father says, no, this is the door for you to go through. You must go through this, in order to save the people of God. And there are things that we’re knocking on heaven’s door but in our asking, in our seeking, in our knocking, more important than getting what we ask for, in the way that we ask for, and the timing that we expect to get the answers, more important than finding what we’re seeking, more important than the door opening right away urgently because I’m so desperate, and it has to happen right now according to my timetable. Instead of that, because God already said, you asked, it’s given. Seek, you’ll find it. Knock, the door is open. It will be open, don’t worry.
More important than getting the answers to these prayers, Father is saying, how you ask, how you seek, how you knock if you have the Holy Spirit, you will ask the way Jesus asked the Father. If you have the Holy Spirit you will seek the way that Jesus sought the will of His Father. If you’re filled with the Holy Spirit, even as you’re desperately knocking, you’re going to be persistent, you’re not going to be shaken, you’re not going to be distressed, you’re not going to be annoyed. Even though what you’re facing is a serious emergency, you need an answer ASAP. It’s an emergency, Lord. You’re knocking on heaven’s door. God’s answer is speedy. Even if it’s 50 years, it is a speedy response when you say, I want justice from this adversary.
How much more does the Father want to give us the Holy Spirit. He’s not going to wait 50 years. If you persistently ask, you will receive the Holy Spirit and it will come upon you in a way that maybe you would not expect. Because maybe you expected the power, the signs and wonders, and what you see on youtube of people who are gifted by the Holy Spirit, the supernatural ministers. You might think, okay, that’s what I’m looking for.
Have you ever looked for this? The filling that changes your speech. The filling that changes how you talk to people. The filling that as a boss you interact with your workers a certain way. And a worker, you interact with your boss a certain way. And a father and mother toward an unruly child, and a child out of respect honoring their parents. All of this submission is out of reverence for Christ, and a melody is bubbling up from your soul.
Did you know these are manifestations? And I would say, these are even more fundamental. These are more primary because if you do not have this, and you only have the supernatural stuff, at the end you might be surprised if Jesus says, I never knew you. Because these things are more fundamental for the disciple of Christ who interacts with Jesus, who knows Jesus. You’re following not just His actions, His ministry, His mission, you are following His very life. His life is coming forth out of you. His speech, His attitude, His love. In order to do that, you need the filling of the Holy Spirit.
So let’s ask, seek and knock, and the Father will give us the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Let’s pray.
Father, we have many requests. Many things we are seeking to find answers to. Many emergencies that we are knocking on heaven’s door. We leave all of these at the feet of Jesus. Because more important than getting answers right away to these requests, we’re more concerned with our attitude. We’re more concerned with the manner in which we ask. We’re more concerned with our hearts. Our heart matters most to you. Are we following Jesus’s example? When He sought the will of God, when He asked for certain things and waited for the Father’s answer, when He sought the face of God, when He knocked at heaven’s door, when He needed an answer by morning. Father, more important than getting what we ask, seek, and knock for, our heart matters to you infinitely more.
And so to have the right heart, it is not enough what we received, the initial deposit of the Holy Spirit at salvation, it is not enough. Each day we need to be filled afresh. So today, we ask for the filling of the Holy Spirit. I pray that you would baptize us with the Holy Spirit. Not with fire, but with the Holy Spirit. We’re not doing this because we want to be impressive and we want to cast out demons in your name and demonic spirits subject to us in your name. THat’s not what we’re after, Lord. That may come in time. But Lord, what we’re really after is emulating you, imitating you in your speech. Imitating you in your attitude while you pray. Even when you’re under emergency, you’re never stressed.
Even when you’re at sea and there’s a storm, you’re asleep. That is how at rest you are in your soul. And so we want to follow you, Lord Jesus in the attitude of our hearts, while we ask, seek, and knock for a multitude of requests and needs. We ask, Lord, that you would meet us in a special way, as we partake in the Lord’s Supper. We thank you that you died. We pray that your blood would cover us today in our body, soul, spirit, mind, will and emotion. We pray that you would cast out every unclean spirit that bothers us. We’re persistently asking, and we know that you give us a speedy response from any adversarial attacks from the devil that is tormenting us. We ask for relief, we ask for justice in Jesus Name from all the attacks from the evil one that are pressing your people and tormenting your people.
We ask, Lord Jesus, that your blood cover us and cleanse us from every disease. We pray for every mountain to move in our midst. We pray for autism to move in Jesus Name. We pray that we would experience the miraculous hand of God that only requires a mustard seed size faith. We pray that our faith in you will be absolutely sincere. We don’t know how big it is right now, but whatever size it is, we pray that you would grow it and that it would be sincere. It is not counterfeit, but it is real. And from there you start building us, leveling us up, one level at a time, growing our faith bit by bit. Lord Jesus, we pray that you would meet us. Thank you, Lord. In Jesus Name, Amen.