The Friend at Midnight Receives Loaves of BreadBible World
11:9Luke 11:9
And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
Everyone who asks receives, everyone who seeks finds, and to everyone who knocks the door will be opened. The promise is without exception, reaching even the weakest and least gifted who seek with the whole heart. It is doubly sure because Jesus Himself spoke it and staked the honor of His throne upon His word. Asking means asking continually without weariness, holding on in faith when the answer delays until desire is tested and deepened. Above all the promise means the Father gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask, more willingly than earthly parents give good gifts to their children, and unlike the reluctant neighbor or the unjust judge He never turns the persistent seeker away.
Words and Immediate Context
The promise is threefold: asking brings receiving, seeking brings finding, and knocking brings opening. Everyone who asks receives, everyone who seeks finds, and to everyone who knocks it will be opened and admitted. Those who ask, seek, and knock in faith will receive, find, and have the way opened to them, and those who meet its conditions may claim its blessings, including salvation. The requests are not for selfish advantage or merely to improve one's own condition, but benefits are to be sought so they can be shared with people in need, for God gives grace to those who impart to the needy. Prayer should persist when an answer does not come immediately, continuing earnestly to plead for what is needed.
The instruction to keep asking, seeking, and knocking in prayer, trusting that God will answer, is given force by the parables set beside it. The friend asked for bread at midnight and the neighbor who finally gives because of persistent asking illustrate persistent approach to God in direct, faith-filled, effective prayer. Unlike the reluctant neighbor in the illustration, who offers excuses, and unlike the selfish friend, the heavenly Father is compassionate and delights to answer requests made in faith, not because He is reluctant and must be pressed. The importunate widow and the unjust judge give the same force to the instruction, for asking, seeking, and knocking will not be in vain with God, unlike pleading without relief before the hard-hearted judge, and remembering this strengthens wavering faith.
The verses that follow explain the promise through a father's willingness to give good gifts to his child. An earthly father gives bread and fish and egg, not a stone and serpent and scorpion, and does not give his child something harmful in place of needed food. Even evil and sinful human parents know how to give good gifts to their children, so how much more the heavenly Father gives good gifts, and especially the Holy Spirit, to those who ask Him. Humble, contrite prayers are precious to God and none is lost.
Seeking means desiring God himself, not merely His blessing. Those who seek Him will find Him, for the desire to come to God is the drawing of His Spirit, and they should yield to it. God seeks them, and Christ pleads for the tempted, erring, and faithless, seeking to bring them into companionship with Himself.
Certainty of the Promise
Everyone who asks receives, everyone who seeks finds, and to everyone who knocks it will be opened and welcomed without exception. The invitation reaches even the weakest and least gifted who call on God for help, drawing near to Him as the unfailing source of strength and counsel in trouble rather than depending on human beings or distant human aid. Sincere seekers may ask, seek, and knock with simple trusting faith, assured that He will answer, be found, and open the way, for He does not refuse or fail the one who comes recognizing need. This certainty extends to sinners coming confessing unworthiness and sin, and to conference leaders needing wisdom for decisions instead of relying on what only human counsel can give.
The assurance is doubly and trebly sure because it was spoken by Jesus the Redeemer, whose word is true. He has pledged His word and staked the honor of His throne on fulfilling it, being true with no variableness or shadow of turning. It is therefore to be taken at face value and not doubted, but claimed by those who meet its conditions, including salvation. He never makes the excuse of being troubled or having the door closed and unwilling to open, and He never says He cannot help. He knows each person's circumstances and the workings of the heart, hears those who seek Him with the whole heart and yield the will to be drawn to Him, and will do on their behalf what He promised, giving peace instead of casting them out and giving more than is asked or thought.
No sincere, humble, earnest, fervent prayer is lost or disregarded. Humble contrite prayer is precious to God and sweet music to Him, even from the lowliest saint with a broken heart and clean hands and pure heart. He hears the humble suppliant who seeks Him with the whole heart and blesses such seekers, answering those who ask and seek. The heavenly Father gives good gifts to those who ask, especially the Holy Spirit, as even sinful human parents know how to give good food rather than something harmful.
The pledged promise is to be laid open before the Lord, meditated on, and claimed by faith. Believing the word with whole heart and mind and soul lays hold of the divine nature, which is the believer's privilege, so that all things shall be done for him that believes. Holding to what is promised through discouragement and seasons of spiritual darkness helps believers overcome, trusting that God hears praise and answers petitions. Those who thus seek Jesus wholeheartedly and yield to Him may trust that He hears prayer, keeps His word, opens the way, and gives the promised peace and welcome.
Perseverance When Answer Delays
To ask is to ask continually and without weariness, not to ask only once and stop. When the answer does not come at once, the one who needs is to keep asking, seeking, and knocking, continuing earnestly to plead for what is needed. The promise stands that the one who asks receives, the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks the door is opened, so those who press their petitions may trust not to be disappointed. Having asked according to the word, the asker is to show firm, undeviating trust and press with a determination that will not be denied.
God often delays the answer in order to try faith and test the genuineness of desire. Such persistent prayer does not change God, but it brings the one who prays into harmony with Him and into closer union with Christ. Pressing the petition brings the petitioner into a more earnest attitude and increases desire and faith for the thing requested, with increased spiritual blessings given. The delay and the humbling test may lead to examining the heart and to repentance, exposing what hinders the working of the Spirit.
Petitions that are prompted and shaped by the Lord will be answered. Prayer therefore needs grace and divine enlightenment through the Spirit, so that the one who prays knows what to ask for. Asking God for instruction and guidance requires continued attention to what was asked, not asking and then forgetting it. That watching can continue even while a person works, in faith asking for the power of the Spirit and for light and knowledge.
Holy Spirit as Central Gift
Christ applies the promise especially to the Father giving the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him. As an earthly father gives bread and fish and not a stone and serpent, and will not give a scorpion for an egg, so the heavenly Father gives good gifts to His children, and even evil human parents know how to give good things to their children. God is more willing to give this good gift of His Spirit than earthly parents are to give good things to their children. Those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, wanting thoughts, words and actions to be like Christ's and in harmony with God's law, will be filled, and the promise encourages faith in receiving the Spirit with earnest desire and heartfelt prayer. People are to approach as repentant sinners through Jesus their divine Advocate, asking, seeking and knocking with firm assurance and trusting God's willingness to hear and answer.
Receiving is a law of God's government joining human asking with divine action. The measure received corresponds to desire, faith, capacity to receive, and willingness to use and share the light given, and light and truth are given according to the soul's desire so that the genuine seeker will not be disappointed. God knows each person's circumstances and the workings of the heart, and because the promise is spoken by Jesus the Redeemer whose word is true, it is trustworthy and sure. He gives far more than people can conceive because of His love and goodness, more than can be asked or thought. His love to fallen man is measureless, and when He sees that people will receive blessing with humble and grateful hearts and not be lifted up by it, He abundantly grants requests and waits to bestow the fullness of His blessing with supplies beyond human estimate.
Receiving the Spirit brings the gifts of God and purifies the heart, joining it to Christ and shaping it to the Spirit's pure nature. The Holy Spirit quickens, purifies, guides and rules the heart where Jesus abides. Its work is seen in the heart, life and character, and Christ does not disappoint the true seeker of the Spirit's guidance. People are to trust Christ's promise, seek His grace, and hold fast to Him until His transforming power is evident in them in clean, converted hearts and strengthened faith. The human agent must make strenuous efforts to bring character into harmony with God, avoid everything contrary to His revealed will and mind, plead with God, ask the Lord to reveal self to self, place life under His searching eye, give up idols and come to the light, see grievous mistakes and things thought of little importance that were offensive to Heaven, realize decided need of thorough transformation of character, put away the evil of doings, and cooperate with God.
The vitalizing power of the Spirit must be sought by wrestling with God for its impartation through earnest, importunate, fervent prayer. Such prayer has efficiency with God, who in answer turns the thoughts and hearts of men as He turns the waters of the sea.
The promise supplies what is needed to give to others. Like the person who begs at midnight for loaves to feed hungry people, disciples who hunger for the bread of life and seek to share it with neighbors will succeed and receive. Christ continually received from the Father so that He could communicate heaven's light and speak words of help to the weary and oppressed, and as His representatives His disciples must first receive spiritual food from God before they can impart the bread of life to hungry people. When their faith is tested and they feel helpless, they are to keep seeking God's supply, confident that He will provide what is needed for the work He has given them. What is given includes grace and an intelligent knowledge of truth when needed to serve others, wisdom in prayer while working for others, help to understand His Word and perceive its truth. Receiving brings the duty to impart to others, and the Spirit is received by those who are consecrated, deny self, take up the cross, and follow Christ.
Conditions for Receiving
Asking must be with full, living faith, not half-heartedly and not only once, but with the whole heart and mind and soul, working and praying and believing while praying, doing one's best and then waiting patiently, hopefully and rejoicingly because the pledged word cannot fail. Acceptance is not proved by joyful feeling, but by trusting the sure promise, presenting the promises before God, receiving the light of the Holy Spirit by faith, and laying hold of Christ as strength, which lays hold of the divine nature and brings salvation and all things to him that believes. Such living faith in Christ and confidence in His word expresses the soul's real needs and leads to receiving Christ's transforming grace and reflecting the divine character.
Those who come must come humbly as repentant sinners through Jesus the divine Advocate, welcomed into God's presence in Jesus' name, seeking Him with the whole heart and yielding the will to be drawn to Christ. Then He hears and does what He promised, giving peace in Jesus instead of casting them out, with faith in Christ, justification, forgiveness, and comfort through His love. Those who through faith in the merits of His blood have clean hands and a pure heart, coming with humble and grateful hearts and with prayer ascending from a broken and contrite heart, abundantly receive beyond human estimate, even the white robe, the crown of righteousness, and life parallel with God's life.
Requests are not for selfish advantage or merely to improve one's own condition, for God gives grace to those who impart to the needy and delights to answer requests made in faith so His people can serve others and become like Him, in contrast to the reluctant, selfish neighbor in the parable. As Christ continually received from the Father to communicate heaven's light and speak words of help to the weary and oppressed, so benefits are to be sought in order to be shared with people in need. Those who ask in faith and receive Christ by faith, including the Holy Spirit and even the humble worker fitted for God's work without human ordination, become channels carrying living truth to the world, denying self, taking up the cross, and following Him in service to others.
Prayer lays hold of abundant gifts and power when it is continual and earnest, grounded in faith in God's promises, presented in Christ's name and through Christ's merit, in communion with God and reliance on His mercy and promise. This includes pleading for the Holy Spirit to equip believers for work amid opposition and persistent prayer for the Holy Spirit and for the salvation of souls as an expression of faith. Those who pray are also to pray and work in faith, committing themselves and the people they pray for to Jesus, sure of receiving heaven's best gifts when they come to God in need.
God's Willing Generous Heart
The promise shows a Father wholly unlike the selfish friend in the parable, the reluctant neighbor, and the hard-hearted judge, for He is not indifferent, reluctant, or troubled, offers no excuses, never says the door is closed or that He cannot help, and does not weary of persistent pleading. He invites continual asking, seeking, and knocking in faith, watching over His people, hearing the humble who seek Him wholeheartedly, and freely blessing them, especially in giving the Holy Spirit as the good gift to those who ask. He is compassionate and delights to answer requests made in faith, not because He is reluctant and must be pressed, but in contrast to the selfish neighbor, giving so that His people can serve others and become like Him. When sinners come confessing unworthiness and sin, He has pledged Himself to give heed to their cry, staking the honor of His throne on fulfilling His word because He is true with no variableness, so those who beg at midnight for loaves to feed hungry souls will succeed, with Christ as High Priest bearing the names of all His people on His heart. Every need may be brought to Him, even the smallest cares and ordinary concerns, and continuing in prayer turns the soul toward Jesus and changes it into His likeness as a flower turns toward the light.
He knows each person's trials, circumstances, and the workings of the heart, loves them, and will do what He has promised for those who come to Jesus with the whole heart and trust His word. The assurance is trustworthy because it was spoken by Jesus the world's Redeemer, whose word is true, and who is able to give more than people ask or think. There is no limit to the blessings He will give in answer to sincere, fervent prayer from a broken and contrite heart, for His love to fallen man is measureless. Those who through faith in the merits of the blood of Christ have clean hands and a pure heart will receive the white robe, the crown of righteousness, and life that runs parallel with the life of God. When He sees that people will not be lifted up by blessing but will receive it with humble and grateful hearts, He abundantly grants their requests and waits to bestow the fullness of His blessing with supplies beyond human estimate.
Prayer ascending even from the lowliest saint is never disregarded but is sweet music to Him, who is ready and willing to hear the humblest child and to give more than can be asked or thought. The church has only begun to taste the richness of the divine promises, yet great power would attend it if it called frequently and in faith for the abundant treasure of His storehouse and drank largely from the fountain of boundless love, making it a wonder that prayer is offered so little. Holy, loving angels hovering round are commissioned to minister to all who seek and knock, so that those who seek find and to those who knock it is opened. Each person must still work intelligently for the immortal inheritance and set the heart in order before God, not depending on others to pick him up and place him on vantage ground, because he can do more than anyone else to free his own soul from its burdens, and the hovering angels will assist if given opportunity.
Practice in Daily Life
When two or three unite in counsel and prayer the promise belongs to them, for they may confidently ask for help, seek what they need, and persist trusting to be answered. In such gatherings Jesus is present, love for souls deepens, and God gives the Holy Spirit to strengthen and equip devoted workers for conflict and service in saving the lost.
Workers who lack facilities and means when building up the work in new territory are to take the whole matter to the Lord, lay every care at the Redeemer's feet, and trust Him to hear and send means for the advancement of the work. This means working and praying and believing with the whole heart, learning to believe while praying, practicing self-denial as Christ's whole earthly life was self-denial, and not waiting until money is in hand before planting the standard of truth in many places. It means doing one's best and then waiting patiently, hopefully, rejoicingly because the promises cannot fail, while withholding means for lack of faith shows failing faith and hinders the work.
Trials bring people to God and lead them to put the command into practice by earnest, heartfelt asking, seeking, and knocking, trusting that God will answer and give what is good, especially the Holy Spirit. Those in trouble and sadness may bring sorrow to God with the whole heart and receive what is asked, find what is sought, and have the way opened when they knock, for He knows their trials and loves them and will do what He promised. Every need may be brought to Him, even the smallest cares and ordinary concerns, and persistent pleading does not weary Him. Continuing in prayer turns the soul toward Jesus and changes it into His likeness as a flower turns toward the light, and prayer expressing the soul's real needs leads to receiving transforming grace and reflecting the divine character.
The promise applies to everyone who calls for help, for those who ask receive, those who seek find, and those who knock are admitted, and the comparison with a father giving good gifts explains that God gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask. Parents may ask for grace to overcome, seek God in troubles, and find help when they knock in faith, by living faith in Christ. Even the weakest and least gifted may draw near to God as the unfailing source of strength and receive what is needed, without depending on distant human aid. Conference leaders are to seek God directly for wisdom and decisions instead of relying on people to provide what only He can give, and all are to seek His strength and counsel in trouble rather than depend on human beings, with the promise made doubly and trebly sure that He does not fail those who sincerely seek Him.
Persistent, earnest prayer receives an answer, so people may plead importunately for assurance that sins are pardoned and for the conversion of relatives, neighbors, and souls, and continued pleading at the mercy seat brings a richer experience of grace. Earnest, fervent secret prayer asks for purity of soul and salvation and remains in prayer until there is deep longing for salvation and sweet assurance of pardoned sin. Prayer for healing of cold and hoarseness in order to present the message is answered with enablement to speak with clearness, power, and special freedom by the aid of the Holy Spirit, including voice to pray and to call souls to give themselves fully to the Lord. The promise belongs to soul-saving, where praying with souls gives a most blessed experience and helps them break loose from bondage to sin and Satan and come back to Christ, as believers plead confidently, commit themselves and those they pray for to Jesus, and learn with softened and subdued hearts how to receive the Holy Spirit as the Father's gift and melt their way into hearts, more easily into out-and-out sinners than into those who know the truth but do not bring it into daily life to be sanctified through it.
A minister who has prayed earnestly in private for faith and grace can grasp the promise by faith and pray briefly and directly in public, asking for grace for himself and his hearers. The promise offers the help provided to give God the whole heart with no reserve, dethrone every rival holding the affections, wear the yoke with Christ, walk daily with God, and serve as co-laborers with Him as His purchased heritage, laid hold on by asking, seeking, and knocking. It invites asking for His peace, His rich blessing, and heaven's best gifts, with assurance that what is asked will be received.
Everyone who asks receives, everyone who seeks finds, and to everyone who knocks the door will be opened. The promise is without exception, reaching even the weakest and least gifted who seek with the whole heart. It is doubly sure because Jesus Himself spoke it and staked the honor of His throne upon His word. Asking means asking continually without weariness, holding on in faith when the answer delays until desire is tested and deepened. Above all the promise means the Father gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask, more willingly than earthly parents give good gifts to their children, and unlike the reluctant neighbor or the unjust judge He never turns the persistent seeker away.
Words and Immediate Context
The promise is threefold: asking brings receiving, seeking brings finding, and knocking brings opening. Everyone who asks receives, everyone who seeks finds, and to everyone who knocks it will be opened and admitted. Those who ask, seek, and knock in faith will receive, find, and have the way opened to them, and those who meet its conditions may claim its blessings, including salvation. The requests are not for selfish advantage or merely to improve one's own condition, but benefits are to be sought so they can be shared with people in need, for God gives grace to those who impart to the needy. Prayer should persist when an answer does not come immediately, continuing earnestly to plead for what is needed.
The instruction to keep asking, seeking, and knocking in prayer, trusting that God will answer, is given force by the parables set beside it. The friend asked for bread at midnight and the neighbor who finally gives because of persistent asking illustrate persistent approach to God in direct, faith-filled, effective prayer. Unlike the reluctant neighbor in the illustration, who offers excuses, and unlike the selfish friend, the heavenly Father is compassionate and delights to answer requests made in faith, not because He is reluctant and must be pressed. The importunate widow and the unjust judge give the same force to the instruction, for asking, seeking, and knocking will not be in vain with God, unlike pleading without relief before the hard-hearted judge, and remembering this strengthens wavering faith.
The verses that follow explain the promise through a father's willingness to give good gifts to his child. An earthly father gives bread and fish and egg, not a stone and serpent and scorpion, and does not give his child something harmful in place of needed food. Even evil and sinful human parents know how to give good gifts to their children, so how much more the heavenly Father gives good gifts, and especially the Holy Spirit, to those who ask Him. Humble, contrite prayers are precious to God and none is lost.
Seeking means desiring God himself, not merely His blessing. Those who seek Him will find Him, for the desire to come to God is the drawing of His Spirit, and they should yield to it. God seeks them, and Christ pleads for the tempted, erring, and faithless, seeking to bring them into companionship with Himself.
Certainty of the Promise
Everyone who asks receives, everyone who seeks finds, and to everyone who knocks it will be opened and welcomed without exception. The invitation reaches even the weakest and least gifted who call on God for help, drawing near to Him as the unfailing source of strength and counsel in trouble rather than depending on human beings or distant human aid. Sincere seekers may ask, seek, and knock with simple trusting faith, assured that He will answer, be found, and open the way, for He does not refuse or fail the one who comes recognizing need. This certainty extends to sinners coming confessing unworthiness and sin, and to conference leaders needing wisdom for decisions instead of relying on what only human counsel can give.
The assurance is doubly and trebly sure because it was spoken by Jesus the Redeemer, whose word is true. He has pledged His word and staked the honor of His throne on fulfilling it, being true with no variableness or shadow of turning. It is therefore to be taken at face value and not doubted, but claimed by those who meet its conditions, including salvation. He never makes the excuse of being troubled or having the door closed and unwilling to open, and He never says He cannot help. He knows each person's circumstances and the workings of the heart, hears those who seek Him with the whole heart and yield the will to be drawn to Him, and will do on their behalf what He promised, giving peace instead of casting them out and giving more than is asked or thought.
No sincere, humble, earnest, fervent prayer is lost or disregarded. Humble contrite prayer is precious to God and sweet music to Him, even from the lowliest saint with a broken heart and clean hands and pure heart. He hears the humble suppliant who seeks Him with the whole heart and blesses such seekers, answering those who ask and seek. The heavenly Father gives good gifts to those who ask, especially the Holy Spirit, as even sinful human parents know how to give good food rather than something harmful.
The pledged promise is to be laid open before the Lord, meditated on, and claimed by faith. Believing the word with whole heart and mind and soul lays hold of the divine nature, which is the believer's privilege, so that all things shall be done for him that believes. Holding to what is promised through discouragement and seasons of spiritual darkness helps believers overcome, trusting that God hears praise and answers petitions. Those who thus seek Jesus wholeheartedly and yield to Him may trust that He hears prayer, keeps His word, opens the way, and gives the promised peace and welcome.
Perseverance When Answer Delays
To ask is to ask continually and without weariness, not to ask only once and stop. When the answer does not come at once, the one who needs is to keep asking, seeking, and knocking, continuing earnestly to plead for what is needed. The promise stands that the one who asks receives, the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks the door is opened, so those who press their petitions may trust not to be disappointed. Having asked according to the word, the asker is to show firm, undeviating trust and press with a determination that will not be denied.
God often delays the answer in order to try faith and test the genuineness of desire. Such persistent prayer does not change God, but it brings the one who prays into harmony with Him and into closer union with Christ. Pressing the petition brings the petitioner into a more earnest attitude and increases desire and faith for the thing requested, with increased spiritual blessings given. The delay and the humbling test may lead to examining the heart and to repentance, exposing what hinders the working of the Spirit.
Petitions that are prompted and shaped by the Lord will be answered. Prayer therefore needs grace and divine enlightenment through the Spirit, so that the one who prays knows what to ask for. Asking God for instruction and guidance requires continued attention to what was asked, not asking and then forgetting it. That watching can continue even while a person works, in faith asking for the power of the Spirit and for light and knowledge.
Holy Spirit as Central Gift
Christ applies the promise especially to the Father giving the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him. As an earthly father gives bread and fish and not a stone and serpent, and will not give a scorpion for an egg, so the heavenly Father gives good gifts to His children, and even evil human parents know how to give good things to their children. God is more willing to give this good gift of His Spirit than earthly parents are to give good things to their children. Those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, wanting thoughts, words and actions to be like Christ's and in harmony with God's law, will be filled, and the promise encourages faith in receiving the Spirit with earnest desire and heartfelt prayer. People are to approach as repentant sinners through Jesus their divine Advocate, asking, seeking and knocking with firm assurance and trusting God's willingness to hear and answer.
Receiving is a law of God's government joining human asking with divine action. The measure received corresponds to desire, faith, capacity to receive, and willingness to use and share the light given, and light and truth are given according to the soul's desire so that the genuine seeker will not be disappointed. God knows each person's circumstances and the workings of the heart, and because the promise is spoken by Jesus the Redeemer whose word is true, it is trustworthy and sure. He gives far more than people can conceive because of His love and goodness, more than can be asked or thought. His love to fallen man is measureless, and when He sees that people will receive blessing with humble and grateful hearts and not be lifted up by it, He abundantly grants requests and waits to bestow the fullness of His blessing with supplies beyond human estimate.
Receiving the Spirit brings the gifts of God and purifies the heart, joining it to Christ and shaping it to the Spirit's pure nature. The Holy Spirit quickens, purifies, guides and rules the heart where Jesus abides. Its work is seen in the heart, life and character, and Christ does not disappoint the true seeker of the Spirit's guidance. People are to trust Christ's promise, seek His grace, and hold fast to Him until His transforming power is evident in them in clean, converted hearts and strengthened faith. The human agent must make strenuous efforts to bring character into harmony with God, avoid everything contrary to His revealed will and mind, plead with God, ask the Lord to reveal self to self, place life under His searching eye, give up idols and come to the light, see grievous mistakes and things thought of little importance that were offensive to Heaven, realize decided need of thorough transformation of character, put away the evil of doings, and cooperate with God.
The vitalizing power of the Spirit must be sought by wrestling with God for its impartation through earnest, importunate, fervent prayer. Such prayer has efficiency with God, who in answer turns the thoughts and hearts of men as He turns the waters of the sea.
The promise supplies what is needed to give to others. Like the person who begs at midnight for loaves to feed hungry people, disciples who hunger for the bread of life and seek to share it with neighbors will succeed and receive. Christ continually received from the Father so that He could communicate heaven's light and speak words of help to the weary and oppressed, and as His representatives His disciples must first receive spiritual food from God before they can impart the bread of life to hungry people. When their faith is tested and they feel helpless, they are to keep seeking God's supply, confident that He will provide what is needed for the work He has given them. What is given includes grace and an intelligent knowledge of truth when needed to serve others, wisdom in prayer while working for others, help to understand His Word and perceive its truth. Receiving brings the duty to impart to others, and the Spirit is received by those who are consecrated, deny self, take up the cross, and follow Christ.
Conditions for Receiving
Asking must be with full, living faith, not half-heartedly and not only once, but with the whole heart and mind and soul, working and praying and believing while praying, doing one's best and then waiting patiently, hopefully and rejoicingly because the pledged word cannot fail. Acceptance is not proved by joyful feeling, but by trusting the sure promise, presenting the promises before God, receiving the light of the Holy Spirit by faith, and laying hold of Christ as strength, which lays hold of the divine nature and brings salvation and all things to him that believes. Such living faith in Christ and confidence in His word expresses the soul's real needs and leads to receiving Christ's transforming grace and reflecting the divine character.
Those who come must come humbly as repentant sinners through Jesus the divine Advocate, welcomed into God's presence in Jesus' name, seeking Him with the whole heart and yielding the will to be drawn to Christ. Then He hears and does what He promised, giving peace in Jesus instead of casting them out, with faith in Christ, justification, forgiveness, and comfort through His love. Those who through faith in the merits of His blood have clean hands and a pure heart, coming with humble and grateful hearts and with prayer ascending from a broken and contrite heart, abundantly receive beyond human estimate, even the white robe, the crown of righteousness, and life parallel with God's life.
Requests are not for selfish advantage or merely to improve one's own condition, for God gives grace to those who impart to the needy and delights to answer requests made in faith so His people can serve others and become like Him, in contrast to the reluctant, selfish neighbor in the parable. As Christ continually received from the Father to communicate heaven's light and speak words of help to the weary and oppressed, so benefits are to be sought in order to be shared with people in need. Those who ask in faith and receive Christ by faith, including the Holy Spirit and even the humble worker fitted for God's work without human ordination, become channels carrying living truth to the world, denying self, taking up the cross, and following Him in service to others.
Prayer lays hold of abundant gifts and power when it is continual and earnest, grounded in faith in God's promises, presented in Christ's name and through Christ's merit, in communion with God and reliance on His mercy and promise. This includes pleading for the Holy Spirit to equip believers for work amid opposition and persistent prayer for the Holy Spirit and for the salvation of souls as an expression of faith. Those who pray are also to pray and work in faith, committing themselves and the people they pray for to Jesus, sure of receiving heaven's best gifts when they come to God in need.
God's Willing Generous Heart
The promise shows a Father wholly unlike the selfish friend in the parable, the reluctant neighbor, and the hard-hearted judge, for He is not indifferent, reluctant, or troubled, offers no excuses, never says the door is closed or that He cannot help, and does not weary of persistent pleading. He invites continual asking, seeking, and knocking in faith, watching over His people, hearing the humble who seek Him wholeheartedly, and freely blessing them, especially in giving the Holy Spirit as the good gift to those who ask. He is compassionate and delights to answer requests made in faith, not because He is reluctant and must be pressed, but in contrast to the selfish neighbor, giving so that His people can serve others and become like Him. When sinners come confessing unworthiness and sin, He has pledged Himself to give heed to their cry, staking the honor of His throne on fulfilling His word because He is true with no variableness, so those who beg at midnight for loaves to feed hungry souls will succeed, with Christ as High Priest bearing the names of all His people on His heart. Every need may be brought to Him, even the smallest cares and ordinary concerns, and continuing in prayer turns the soul toward Jesus and changes it into His likeness as a flower turns toward the light.
He knows each person's trials, circumstances, and the workings of the heart, loves them, and will do what He has promised for those who come to Jesus with the whole heart and trust His word. The assurance is trustworthy because it was spoken by Jesus the world's Redeemer, whose word is true, and who is able to give more than people ask or think. There is no limit to the blessings He will give in answer to sincere, fervent prayer from a broken and contrite heart, for His love to fallen man is measureless. Those who through faith in the merits of the blood of Christ have clean hands and a pure heart will receive the white robe, the crown of righteousness, and life that runs parallel with the life of God. When He sees that people will not be lifted up by blessing but will receive it with humble and grateful hearts, He abundantly grants their requests and waits to bestow the fullness of His blessing with supplies beyond human estimate.
Prayer ascending even from the lowliest saint is never disregarded but is sweet music to Him, who is ready and willing to hear the humblest child and to give more than can be asked or thought. The church has only begun to taste the richness of the divine promises, yet great power would attend it if it called frequently and in faith for the abundant treasure of His storehouse and drank largely from the fountain of boundless love, making it a wonder that prayer is offered so little. Holy, loving angels hovering round are commissioned to minister to all who seek and knock, so that those who seek find and to those who knock it is opened. Each person must still work intelligently for the immortal inheritance and set the heart in order before God, not depending on others to pick him up and place him on vantage ground, because he can do more than anyone else to free his own soul from its burdens, and the hovering angels will assist if given opportunity.
Practice in Daily Life
When two or three unite in counsel and prayer the promise belongs to them, for they may confidently ask for help, seek what they need, and persist trusting to be answered. In such gatherings Jesus is present, love for souls deepens, and God gives the Holy Spirit to strengthen and equip devoted workers for conflict and service in saving the lost.
Workers who lack facilities and means when building up the work in new territory are to take the whole matter to the Lord, lay every care at the Redeemer's feet, and trust Him to hear and send means for the advancement of the work. This means working and praying and believing with the whole heart, learning to believe while praying, practicing self-denial as Christ's whole earthly life was self-denial, and not waiting until money is in hand before planting the standard of truth in many places. It means doing one's best and then waiting patiently, hopefully, rejoicingly because the promises cannot fail, while withholding means for lack of faith shows failing faith and hinders the work.
Trials bring people to God and lead them to put the command into practice by earnest, heartfelt asking, seeking, and knocking, trusting that God will answer and give what is good, especially the Holy Spirit. Those in trouble and sadness may bring sorrow to God with the whole heart and receive what is asked, find what is sought, and have the way opened when they knock, for He knows their trials and loves them and will do what He promised. Every need may be brought to Him, even the smallest cares and ordinary concerns, and persistent pleading does not weary Him. Continuing in prayer turns the soul toward Jesus and changes it into His likeness as a flower turns toward the light, and prayer expressing the soul's real needs leads to receiving transforming grace and reflecting the divine character.
The promise applies to everyone who calls for help, for those who ask receive, those who seek find, and those who knock are admitted, and the comparison with a father giving good gifts explains that God gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask. Parents may ask for grace to overcome, seek God in troubles, and find help when they knock in faith, by living faith in Christ. Even the weakest and least gifted may draw near to God as the unfailing source of strength and receive what is needed, without depending on distant human aid. Conference leaders are to seek God directly for wisdom and decisions instead of relying on people to provide what only He can give, and all are to seek His strength and counsel in trouble rather than depend on human beings, with the promise made doubly and trebly sure that He does not fail those who sincerely seek Him.
Persistent, earnest prayer receives an answer, so people may plead importunately for assurance that sins are pardoned and for the conversion of relatives, neighbors, and souls, and continued pleading at the mercy seat brings a richer experience of grace. Earnest, fervent secret prayer asks for purity of soul and salvation and remains in prayer until there is deep longing for salvation and sweet assurance of pardoned sin. Prayer for healing of cold and hoarseness in order to present the message is answered with enablement to speak with clearness, power, and special freedom by the aid of the Holy Spirit, including voice to pray and to call souls to give themselves fully to the Lord. The promise belongs to soul-saving, where praying with souls gives a most blessed experience and helps them break loose from bondage to sin and Satan and come back to Christ, as believers plead confidently, commit themselves and those they pray for to Jesus, and learn with softened and subdued hearts how to receive the Holy Spirit as the Father's gift and melt their way into hearts, more easily into out-and-out sinners than into those who know the truth but do not bring it into daily life to be sanctified through it.
A minister who has prayed earnestly in private for faith and grace can grasp the promise by faith and pray briefly and directly in public, asking for grace for himself and his hearers. The promise offers the help provided to give God the whole heart with no reserve, dethrone every rival holding the affections, wear the yoke with Christ, walk daily with God, and serve as co-laborers with Him as His purchased heritage, laid hold on by asking, seeking, and knocking. It invites asking for His peace, His rich blessing, and heaven's best gifts, with assurance that what is asked will be received.