Gifted!

Gifted!

If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? Luke 11:13 KJV

The disciples had seen the evidence of the practice, pressure and pleasures of prayer in the life of Jesus. They had seen him spend whole nights in prayer, and seen the proof of his relationship with God over the time they had been with him, and so they came, asking Jesus to also teach them how to pray. John the Baptist had done the same, and I am sure results were evident. That is the first important lesson of today: a relationship with God must be based on a daily life of speaking with God. It cannot thrive on a weekly or biweekly or bimonthly appointment; it has to be regular, focused and faithful. How's my relationship with God at the moment? 

Jesus taught his disciples how to pray, but he also added some other life lessons that would do us good. God is a Father who is interested in hearing his children speak with him every day. He is not like earthy fathers who are easily distracted with other 'legal' cares, but we have a Father who can take on requests by all of us down here and still be able to provide a personal answer to every request. He is never too busy to care, and he is not too distant not to know where the shoe pinches. That is the God we are called to serve and follow on a daily basis. 

I am yet to meet a proper earthly father who does not want good for their children. Unless there is demonic oppression, every father wants his child to be the best version of themselves and even be better than them. So when a child asks for something that a father believes is appropriate for the time, he is quick to provide it. There may be a delay if the need is not urgent, but the father will definitely seek to provide it when the time is right. If this is the standard operating procedure for earthly and flawed men, imagine what the standard is for an amazing, perfect and flawless father, whose love transcends generations and faults. He does not hold on to grudges, and his mercy is available to all, even the wicked. If He were to mark iniquity, there is no one that would be standing and alive today. 

The natural man is flawed, but the heavenly father is perfect. The natural man knows how to gift his children what he thinks they need, even  sometimes stealing in order to provide. Our heavenly Father owns all things and definitely wants to make his children the spectacle of the whole world. His greatest gift is his presence and power represented by his Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the indwelling presence of God in a man, and the seal of God for eternal life. It is God's good gift to men, and he is available to all who ask. That is the key to unlocking all that God wants to give me: I simply ask in faith. I don't have to bribe, pretend to like or be hypocritical, as I would to the natural man; all I have to do is ask. I don't have to complain, moan or grumble about my lot in life; I simply ask, and God promises he will give me that which is himself, who is the Holy Spirit. I need him, if my life will be all that God has created me to be. His time of favour is here.