Thursday
Read: Luke 11:1–13
SOAP: Luke 11:9–10
“So I tell you: Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”
Devotion
Jesus’ disciples asked Him how to pray. He gave them a simple prayer to follow, and He encouraged them to continually come to Him in prayer. He showed them how to praise God, ask for what they needed, repent, and ask for protection. We can and should always include praise and repentance in our prayers. However, as we see in the remainder of Jesus’ instructions on prayer, prayer is, simply, asking God for what we need and want.
Jesus described a man whose friend was in need. The man did not want to get up and give his friend what he asked for, but he did because of his friend’s persistence. Unlike the man in the parable, God is not reluctant to hear our cries for help; He is totally loving and incredibly gracious. We never need to convince Him that we are good enough, faithful enough, committed enough, or strong enough for Him to answer. Instead, we are to be persistent and not give up. Keep asking, no matter how difficult, no matter how heartbreaking, because our good Father will answer us and give us good things.
The reality is, we often ask God for things in prayer that don’t come to pass. When this happens, we are left wondering why God didn’t give us what we prayed for. There may be many reasons for this, but sometimes it is because of our lack of faith. Luke has shown the importance of faith throughout his Gospel. Many people were healed because of their faith. Conversely, the disciples were occasionally unable to perform miracles because of their lack of faith. When we pray, we must have faith that He will answer, for an unanswered request can sometimes be the result of a lack of faith.
If our requests align with God’s commandments and we are faithfully walking with Him in humility, we can believe He will answer because He says He will. He withholds nothing good from you; He is even willing to give you Himself, the Holy Spirit. Believe He will answer and trust Him with your requests today. Keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking. Let’s see just what good gifts He is willing to give us!