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!” Luke 11:13 (ESV)
This is the surprise ending to Jesus’ short discourse on prayer. From what He had just said, we might think about praying for things, or events, or people, but Jesus assumes that we will ask to be given the Spirit of God. Let’s put that in perspective.
Several of the great Old Testament characters put words to their earnest desire for God:
O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory.
Psalm 42:1–2 (ESV)
Here’s another:
As a deer pants for flowing streams,
so pants my soul for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God? Psalm 63:1–2 (ESV)
These people deeply loved God; they wanted to be in His presence, and they sought Him diligently. But in our passage for today (Luke 11:13) Jesus goes far beyond that when he says: “How much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Jesus is not merely describing a relationship with God, or closeness to God, or knowing Him intimately. Jesus is talking about God’s very Spirit dwelling in our hearts! When Jesus opens the way to God through His death, burial, and resurrection, we get far more than access to God; we get God Himself living in us through His Spirit!
All of this would be amazing enough, but then Jesus goes on and says that the Spirit of God is ours for the asking! In this one, short statement Jesus lays out the extravagant intimacy that our heavenly Father is eager and waiting to give His children. Are you asking?