You Don't Have to Beg God

And He said to them, “Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; 6for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7and he will answer from within and say, ‘Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you’? 8I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs.  9“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.  11If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? 12Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” Luke 11:5-10 NKJV


I grew up hearing this passage of scripture taught on often, but the teaching I heard was basically that if I would stay after God, begging and pleading, eventually He would answer me.  Really?  As a kid, I thought, well if I have to beg and plead, God must be too busy for me anyway.  It wasn't until I read this scripture as a spirit-filled believer that the truth was revealed to me.  Look at the first line in the first sentence out of Jesus' mouth, "Which of you shall have a friend"...... This part of the sentence is what reveals what Jesus is really saying here, but it's often overlooked.  Jesus is saying this, "Who has a friend that would act like this".... he is being sarcastic.  He is saying, nobody has a real friend that would act this way, but even if the person you were asking was not a real friend they would still give you what you asked for if you persisted.  This revelation finally made the rest of the parable make more sense, because later in the story Jesus says ask, seek, and knock and you will receive, find, and it will be opened.  I always wondered how Jesus could portray such a dis-intereseted God in the first part of this story, but then turn around and talk about how generous and loving God is.  It just didn't make sense.  Jesus is saying, "You dont have to beg God."  Your heavenly Father is loving, generous, and He wants to give you the Holy Spirit.  All you have to do is ask.  No begging required.