What comes to mind when you think of praying for something you want? I see heads bowed, knees bent, and quiet moments of humble requests offered to the Lord.
How did Jesus describe such praying? A ceaseless, door pounding, bar room brawl: Because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you what you as much as you need.
So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks find; and the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
Can I really pray so aggressively? Jesus says to go to the Father and ask. To go again and again. Knock and knock and knock and yell bold requests through the door. This is not my normal prayer experience—perhaps I’m going about it all wrong?
Also, Jesus provides a sure-fire answer to one prayer: If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!
If I ask for more of the Holy Spirit, then more of the Holy Spirit infuses my life. As the Holy Spirit seeps into the cracks of my hidden places, my prayers reflect more of the Lord. As my prayers reflect more of the Lord, the Holy Spirit splits more rocks in my soul. A virtuous cycle pulls me further up and further in.
These ideas click together. I ask for the Holy Spirit, and ask for what I want from the Lord. I ask over and over. The Holy Spirit guides my asking in fresh ways, giving insight into results or lack thereof. My life changes, and lives around me change under the influence of the Holy Spirit.
My role? Keep asking with shameless audacity.
Luke 11 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022
Photo by Alexander Tsang
I am thinking it is more about asking God what God’s will is for me. Rather than asking God for “things”