So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”If 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?”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?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?
18 sermons cite this verse
… pray for that. Well, how do I receive it? Let's pray, ask. Jesus said, if you being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father give the Holy Spirit to those that ask him? So why don't we pray together now? Now, Father, as we prepare our hearts to receive what you have for us, as we prepare our hearts to receive the power of your Spirit into our life, we ask that you will give it to us and give us all the power and all of the gifts that we need to honor and glorify you. So we commit this time to you now. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Hey everybody, thanks for listening to this podcast. To learn more about Harvest Ministries, follow this show and consider supporting it. Just go to harvest.org. And to find out how to know God personally,
… a stone instead? If they ask for a fish, would you give them a snake? Of course not. If you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly father give good gifts to those who ask him? So if your little kid comes up, mommy, I'm so hungry. Can I You have a little piece of bread? No, but you can have a rock instead. Mommy, can I have some fresh fish? No, but I have a live snake. Here you go, kid. Who would do that? We take care of our children. God takes care of us as well. Give us this day our daily bread. Notice it doesn't say give us this month or this year our yearly bread. This keeps us dependent on God on a regular basis. By the way, bread was a staple in the Jewish diet at this time. They had bread with every meal. Nobody was on the keto diet back then. So they would take their bread, they would dip it in various sauces and have a meal together. …
… Please. If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts. I saw that God is so good that not only will he not give you a stone when you ask for bread, he'll give you bread when you ask for a stone. There's bread by your head. You're praying that make-it-stop prayer. I know there are some things you're not proud of, and I know there are some mistakes you can't move past. I know you might have been praying not that I would die, but, God, I give up. God says, just about the time you're giving up, you find out I'm the God of getting up. So, I declare this day a getting up day.
… Jesus himself says, 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? Scripture is plain. God thinks differently. He works differently than we do. We operate under the principle, you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours. We believe in order to get something, you've got to give something. Bosses tell their employees, if you want a paycheck, you need to give a day's worth of work. Parents tell their children, if you expect an allowance, you've got to do your chores. Spouses inform their mates, we can go to visit your family for Thanksgiving, but only if we go to my family for Christmas. We humans believe in barter, bribery, and bargaining, swapping, trading, compromising, and negotiating. God believes in giving. When Adam and Eve sinned, God gave them his promise of a redeemer who would carry their sins. When Abraham was childless in his old age, God gave the patriarch a son. …
Here's what the Bible says. if you as parents give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in Heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him? That's all you have to do, just ask Him. Lord, would you give this to me? And the Lord's response is, oh yes. Do you like to give gifts to people? You know, when I buy a gift for someone, I can't wait to give it to them. It's hard for me to wait till Christmas Day or their birthday or whatever it is. I want him to have it now. The Father in heaven is anxious and eager to give you this power in your life. He wants to do it. Do you want the gift? You know, when you're a kid and Christmas is approaching and your birthday is approaching, you're anxious to open your gifts, right? So you want the gift. The Father wants to give you the gift. This sounds to me like a good combination. …
… do you give them a stone instead? Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not. So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him? Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets. Have you thought recently about the power of words? I find it rather encouraging in a day of missiles and rockets and bombs to remind myself that there is probably nothing more powerful than a well-spoken and well-timed word. Someone has said, colors fade, temples crumble, empires fall, but wise words endure. It was Solomon 29 centuries ago who said, Words fitly spoken are like apples of gold in settings of silver. As an earring of gold and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear. …
… When you think about it, Luke chapter 11 verse 13, we don't have time to go there either, but that's where Jesus, He kind of reiterates parallel what we saw in Matthew chapter 7, verse 7 through 11. If your son asks for bread, we give him a stone. And what Jesus does is he changes it up a little bit in verse 13 in Luke chapter 11. He says, if you then, though you're evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven? Now, Matthew chapter 7, verse 11 said, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him? In Luke 11, 13, Jesus says, how much more will your Father give? instead of good gifts, Jesus says, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him? I remember reading that and thinking, well, what if I didn't ask for the Holy Spirit? What if I was asking for good gifts? …
… Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then are evil and you know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give you the Holy Spirit to those who ask him? I'm going to give you four things to write down today. Write down number one, prayer works. I'm just convinced of it that I believe in the power of prayer. In fact, there's an old saying that goes like this, prayer changes things, mainly me. When I pray, it's not that I always get what I want, but it's that I'm at peace and I'm at rest because God is a good God. Come on, is there anybody here today that believes in the power of prayer and you believe that prayer works? Oh, come on, everybody, clap South Bay. Clap if you believe in the power of prayer. And he's trying to teach us. Now imagine this. When the disciples were with Jesus, they did not ask him, Jesus, teach us how to preach. …
… that just simply means lost human beings know how to give good gifts to your children how much more will your father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him are you guys awake? can you see Jesus going like this? ask me, come on just ask I wonder how many times I go through the day and he wanted me to ask but I never stopped to ask Okay. and he says to search to search for hidden treasure whenever I read in the Bible about God's hidden treasure things like this I always see God bearing the treasure with the handle sticking out that's how he is we dig it deeper and hide it and camouflage it God takes the treasure and leaves part of it sticking out so we can get the hint. In Jeremiah 29, verse 12, God says, Then you will call upon me and go and pray to me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. …
… Verse 11. If you being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father in heaven give good things to those who ask him? Chapter six is needs. Chapter 7 is dreams. chapter six is your basic needs chapter seven is the good gifts that a father awards his children with what's the difference the one-time prayer of chapter six daily prayer for provision is because of who he is as a father the repeated prayer changes me it's not a prayer that persuades God it's a prayer that transforms me as one who continually stays before him with the same issue in my heart day after day after day it transforms me so that I become a person who could properly steward the answer that I'm contending for the dreams that fill this room right here were birthed in your heart by God But many of us lack the confidence to stay before him in prayer because we feel sometimes like, well, he didn't answer the first time we prayed, so it must not be his will. …
… pause and say it again. 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 that's the Luke version how many times have I prayed that I need you Holy Spirit the Bible says if I ask you're as likely to give me the Holy Spirit as a father is likely to give a fish instead of a snake. so give it to me please and then through your hours of study over and over again send this prayer up open my eyes open my eyes open my eyes I'm stuck on this verse I'm stuck on this problem I'm stuck on this application I need help right now open my eyes that I may see wonderful things out of your law now the last section overcoming natural weaknesses of reading and thinking This is what we usually think of when we think of study, right? Reading and thinking. …
… asks him for bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven, give good things to those who ask him. Do you hear what Jesus is saying here? God is our Father who delights in giving good things to all of his children who take the time to ask him! Exclamation point. And here's the problem. Because we think God is reluctant, we are reluctant to pray because we don't really know whether it's going to matter or if God's going to answer and give us what we want. And Jesus is saying, no, God is the perfect father, your heavenly father who delights in giving good things to those who ask him. But we immediately think and almost object, saying, okay, but God hasn't given me everything I've asked for, which is true for all of us and is good for all of us. Like, what parent among us has given your child everything they've asked for? If my children got everything they'd asked for, they'd be eating Sour Patch Kids all day watching a screen. Like, no. And that's the whole point of what Jesus is saying here. Because he's saying, you're not even the best parents. Like, you have sin and evil in your heart. And you know this. God is the perfect parent. And he is not. He is never …
… I ask that God would fill us with the Holy Spirit. 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 that's christians it's not the unbeliever asking to get the holy spirit that's christians asking for a greater measure of the holy spirit just like here in ephesians i pray this is paul praying that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his spirit in your inner being so that Christ may dwell in your heart through faith. So this greater indwelling, this greater empowering, this greater control, this greater experience of the Holy Spirit comes through faith. Just like it says here in Galatians, does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, no. Or by hearing with faith, yes. Hearing with faith. Hearing what? And that's the last step. …
… For if He asks for a fish, He will not give him a snake, will He? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father, who is in heaven, give what is good to those who ask Him?" This is the overarching reality. He will give you what is good for you, right? He will give you what is good for you. And in that sense, He is your loving Father. He is identified as a Father in chapter 6, verse 4, again a couple of times in verse 6, again in verse 8, again in verse 9. A handful of times God is identified as a Father, and what a Father does and how a Father acts is described in that same sermon in the seventh chapter, as I just read. He will give you what is good for you. You know that. But you have to understand this, while being good for you, it has to design glory for Him. …
Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him? The reason why this passage stuck out to me so much today was our focus on prayer coming up this next month. But in particular, it was those last couple of verses. Versus which of your which of you fathers, if your son asked for some bread, you're going to give him a stone. Or chew on this. Like you just you don't do that. And he talks about, okay, if you guys as fathers being evil, you can pull that off. What do you think about your heavenly father when you ask him? Okay, if your son asks for a fish, you're going to give him a serpent? You're going to give him something bad? Here's why it was so big on you. I'm perfectly honest with you right now. …
… Matthew 7 verse 11 if you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him if you being evil know how to give good gifts to your children how much more will your heavenly father give good things to those who ask He's better than you think. if you're in a season where you're not hearing well from him it may be that he's silent only because he's already told you what he wanted you to hear and if you quiet your heart you can rediscover what you already know he's not a punisher. He's a father. See, it took a son to introduce the father. A lot of people in this room, your backgrounds, whatever, some of you never had a dad, some of you never had a mom, some of you did, but they were distant or abusive or whatever. And the father sent a son, because all of us can relate to a son. …
… Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him? So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you. For this sums up the law and the prophets. Enter through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate, and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. but small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. This is God's word. We're going to do a brief series by Jesus, sayings by Jesus on finding. And you see, though it's actually acceptable nowadays to say I'm spiritually searching, it's not acceptable to say I found. It's okay to say I'm searching for God, but to say I found God is not. Why not? because it's narrow. We see we want to search, but we're afraid to say we found it because it's narrow. …
… will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father, who is in heaven, give good things to them that ask him? Dr. C. Roy Angel used to be a noted pastor in Miami, Florida when I was a boy. ONE OF THE THINGS THAT DR. ANGEL WOULD DO IN HIS PREACHING WAS TO TELL STORIES. HE WAS A GREAT ILLUSTRATOR OF MESSAGES WITH STORIES, AND HE TOLD A STORY ONE TIME OF A SHEPHERD BOY WHO WAS OUT TENDING HIS SHEEP, AND HE HAPPENED TO LOOK DOWN, AND THE SHEPHERD BOY SAW THE MOST BEAUTIFUL FLOWER HE BELIEVED HE'D EVER SEEN. HE GOT DOWN ON HIS HANDS AND KNEES TO LOOK AT THAT FLOWER, HA, HA, AND IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL THAT HE DUCK IT OUT OF THE EARTH, ROOT, ROOT AND ALL, AND CUPPED IT IN HIS HANDS AND BROUGHT IT UP CLOSER TO HIS FACE TO LOOK AT IT. WHEN HE DID THAT, THERE WAS A MOUNTAIN NEARBY, AND IT SEEMED AS THE ENTIRE MOUNTAIN WOULD OPEN UP, AS IF THERE WERE DOORS IN THE MOUNTAIN ON GREAT OILED HINGES, AND THE DOORS SWUNG OPEN. AND THE SUNLIGHT WENT INTO THE SIDE OF THAT MOUNTAIN, INTO THAT GREAT VAULT IN THE MOUNTAIN, AND THE BOY LOOKED IN THERE, AND HE SAW ALL KINDS OF TREASURES, GOLD AND SILVER AND DIAMONDS AND RUBIES AND SAPHIRE. HE'D NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THAT. HE WENT IN THERE AND SET THE FLOWER DOWN, AND HE BEGAN TO GATHER THE …