Saturday's Scripture Story

The Midnight Visitor

Luke 11:5-13

5 Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; 6 a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ 7 And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity[e] he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.

9 “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. 10 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for[f] a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 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!”

Footnotes:
[e] Luke 11:8 Or yet to preserve his good name
[f] Luke 11:11 Some manuscripts for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for

Pondering Point

This parable from Jesus concludes with a teaching that we will receive the Holy Spirit when we ask. I remember hearing a sermon that the best answer to every prayer is more of the Holy Spirit. Think about that. Don’t simply pass over it. How could the Holy Spirit ALWAYS be the answer to whatever I’m praying about?

As you ponder that, consider the role and influence of the Holy Spirit in your life: The question is not "do you have the Holy Spirit?" but "Does the Holy Spirit have you?"

He is a prerequisite to living a godly life, but His presence is no guarantee of a godly life in action. We are to submit to the Spirit and live, as Romans 8:7-15 alludes to.

Conclude with part seven of our Lord’s Prayer expansion.

Praying the Lord's Prayer
Part Seven

But deliver us from evil.

Deliver us from the evil that is in us (Romans 7:24). Loosen the grip that our old nature has on us that we may live in Your freedom.
Deliver us from the evil that is in the world (Galatians 1:4). Loosen its grip on us that we may live in the world but not be of the world. I bring the cross of my Lord Jesus Christ between me and all people as Galatians 6:14 says, “I have been crucified to them and they have been crucified to me.” I command their human spirits bound back to their bodies, and I send all their sin and warfare and corruption bound back to the throne of Christ in their life. I forbid them or their warfare or their sin to transfer to me. And I allow only the love of God, only the bond of the Holy Spirit, between us.
Deliver us from the evil one and his kingdom and the lies that he has told us and that we believe. Loosen the grip that he has upon us that we might live freely as Your dear children in Your kingdom.

Prayer

Deliver us O Lord from evil.
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.