Ask, Seek, Knock > 나눔과교제

When we call God “Father,” we typically associate that term with “affection and authority,”, however, back during the Roman Empire (New Testament world) days, according to author Ben White, this would have been significantly counter-cultural. In those days, fathers played virtually no part in parenting, whereas infanticide was practiced regularly, and men ruled their families as absolute tyrants, including owning all property and having the right to make or break children’s marriages.  In other words, White says, “The New Testament authors portray God the Father as radically unlike Roman fathers.” When we as God’s children pray to Him, then, we are not praying to a romanticized version of a human father but to a far superior Father. If even human fathers normally do the right thing by their children, how much more so will God? Or if even a grumpy person for whom it is inconvenient will give a friend bread because of that friend’s tenacity, how much more so will God? He has none of the sinfulness that causes human fathers to sometimes wrong their children or friends to sometimes act selfishly.

In above passage (Luke 11:9-10), Jesus taught His disciples about prayer, mainly highlighting the need for boldness and persistence. To say, “Ask and it will be given to you,” was not a blank check for getting our own wishes and desires. Rather, Jesus meant that prayer is how we seek to align our wills with God’s will, and when that happens our prayers will be granted. His ways are higher, His plans are better, and one day we’ll see that all His answers to our prayers were best.  The third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, is described here as an answer to prayer.  To those who ask, God gives the best gift of all—Himself.

As you spend this day, Ask the Spirit to help you to reflect on your prayer life. In verse 9, the imperative verbs imply a continuous action: “Keep on asking,” “Keep on seeking,” and “Keep on knocking.” A prayer request is not a one-time event; instead, prayer is a spiritual habit or discipline, a way of life. That’s how Paul could exhort us to “pray continually” in 1 Thess. 5:17.