Friday, February 22, 2019:  Luke 11:13

“If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Our own parents are the biggest obstacle many of us have in believing God is a good Father. Even the greatest parents are imperfect. They do the best they can, but they’re sinful just like us, and so they fail on occasion and this impacts our view of God’s Fatherhood.

In identifying humans as “evil,” Jesus acknowledged that struggle. His point wasn’t that we should consider how great our fathers were so that we can know how great God is. Instead, Jesus said that even earthly fathers, as sinful and imperfect as they are, want to give us good things. They get it right sometimes, and sometimes they get it wrong. But God only gets it right, every time. So how much greater are the good things He, who is holy and perfect, will give to His children?

One of those good gifts your perfect and holy Father wants to give you is His indwelling Spirit. He doesn’t want your prayer life to feel empty. He doesn’t want your questions of Him to be misguided. He doesn’t want your focus to be on what is ultimately meaningless. So He gives us His Spirit. Asking by His Spirit, we often receive better than we even hope for, because God is the source of supreme goodness (Eph. 3:20).

• Think about the requests you’ve been making of God lately. Do they reflect a belief that God’s love for you and power on your behalf is somehow limited and stingy? Or do they reflect a belief that God’s love for you and power on your behalf is unlimited and extravagant?

• Pray: Thank God for being your perfect and holy Father. Ask His Spirit to help you pray bigger prayers to reflect the good gifts God longs to give you.