Jesus Talks about the Giver of Gifts:
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. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 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!
Jesus’ parable here, his analogy, his illustration, is one where he’s showing and principally teaching that God is like a Father who loves to give good gifts to his kids even more than earthly fathers, who are evil, like to give good gifts to their kids. He’s saying, “Even if sinful dads can give good gifts, imagine your heavenly Father and the kind of gifts that he likes to give.”
This is not prosperity theology, where if you love God and you pray, then prayer is a stick and God is a piñata and if you pray in faith Bentleys fall out of the sky and you get to drive the one of your favorite color. We’re learning this from a homeless guy named Jesus, who is exceedingly poor but also acknowledges that God the Father’s heart is to be generous and to give good gifts.
So we need to come to the Father, knowing that he can give good gifts, knowing that he loves to give good gifts, and just like a dad rejoices when he sees his kids being thankful and grateful, our God likes to hear and answer prayer and give us good gifts so that we can be thankful and joyful and grateful. And he says the greatest gift of all is the Holy Spirit.
This is an adapted excerpt from the sermon, Asking for the Holy Spirit.
