His Whisperings – Page 69 – Inspired by His Word

Luke 11:13; Acts 2:1-4 Holy Spirit

Posted on January 20, 2008 by Janice D. GreenJanuary 20, 2008

¹³ 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 the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:13 NIV)

This verse follows Jesus teachings on how much God wants to give to us generously what is best for us. It seems apparent to me that he is telling us that the Holy Spirit is the very best gift of all. When we are truly led by the Holy Spirit, we are fully within the will of God and fully blessed.

¹ When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. ² Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³ They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. ⁴ All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. (Acts 2:1-4 NIV)

God’s Holy Spirit came down the most dramatically on the day of Pentecost. This was the day the Disciples were told to wait for when Jesus last spoke to them before descending into heaven. This was the Spirit of encouragement and empowerment that changed a group of frightened men into men of courage, strength, and power—men who went out to the world and faced their opposition head on.

The first gift the Spirit gave to the Disciples was the spirit of tongues. They were quickly surrounded by people from all walks of life and from all parts of the known world, people who would not have understood the Hebrew language. God put his Spirit into the Disciples to enable to speak to every person in the crowd that had gathered around them so that they could boldly speak and be understood by all.

When we pray we should ask for the best gift God has to offer—his Holy Spirit. This is the Spirit that will lead us to do the will of our Father in heaven. This Spirit will give us courage when we are afraid, Boldness when we need to take a stand, and discernment to know when to take action and when to let God take the lead in our behalf.

Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Luke 18:1-8 Persistent prayer

Posted on January 18, 2008 by Janice D. GreenJanuary 18, 2008

¹ Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. ² He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. ³ And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’

⁴ “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care about men, ⁵ yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!'”

⁶ And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. ⁷ And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? ⁸ I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:1-8 NIV)

Our God is faithful. The judge in this parable acted on behalf of the widow because she was wearing him down, not because he was a good judge. But God wants to bless us.

Jesus does encourage us to be persistent in praying for our needs to be met. I believe this is because our constant prayers are our lifeline to God. If God’s answer is wait, we can have confidence that the waiting is for a good reason. By being persistent, we are keeping in touch and growing in stature as one of his blessed children. We will be blessed in God’s time, if not in ours; and the blessing will be glorious.

It is when we attempt to take matters into our own hands and run ahead of God that we fall flat on our faces–like Sarah helping God to give them a child by offering her maidservant to Abraham. We are still suffering from that disaster. I have had a few such disasters of my own where I tried to run ahead of God–with many regrets. Verse 8 seems to catch me by surprise as if it doesn’t fit the parable. But then I realize that it may very well be referring to those who through their lack of faith resort to taking matters into their own hands. Then I see that it fits the parable perfectly.

I have been planning a children’s book and project that I want to get published. I think it is good. I believe God gave me the inspiration for this project, though it has been a loooooooong time getting it to where it is now and I face the very real possibility that it may end up in one slush pile after another. It is very tempting to take drastic measures that could hurt me in the long run–especially if these measures are of my own logic and not of God’s directing.

Have you been tempted to run ahead of God in some way because you became weary of waiting on Him? Lord God, help us to be patient when you seem to keep telling us to wait. Help us to trust that our times are truly in your hands and that you will bring to pass your perfect will for our lives.

Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Luke 11:9-12 Ask and you will receive

Posted on January 17, 2008 by Janice D. GreenJanuary 17, 2008

⁹ “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ¹⁰ For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

¹¹ “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? ¹² Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? ¹³ 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 the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:9-12 NIV)

God wants us to bring our petitions to him. He promises to answer our prayers. But does he promise to give us everything as if it were an itemized list? The examples we have in verses 11 and 12 assure us that God will give us only good gifts. Therefore, it follows that if we ask for something that is not good for us, he might give us an answer that is not what we thought we wanted, but something better or more appropriate.

The important thing to take away from these verses is that God wants to give us what we ask, and he wants us to ask. We can ask with confidence knowing that whatever God gives us is what is best for us.

Verse 12 ends with the words “how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” I believe Jesus is reminding us that the Holy Spirit is the best gift of all, and he will give us eyes to recognize how he is answering our prayers when the answer seems unexpected at first.

(Ask and you will receive – kid’s version: http://honeycombkids.wordpress.com/2009/11/02/ask-and-you-will-receive/ )

Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Luke 11:5-8 Pray with boldness

Posted on January 16, 2008 by Janice D. GreenJanuary 16, 2008

⁵ Then he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, ⁶ because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.’

⁷ ”Then the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ ⁸ I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man’s boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs. (Luke 11:5-8 NIV)

As I read this passage I think of a co-workers who seem to always get what they wants when they wants it, yet others of us seem to be overlooked. Perhaps it is because they have learned the art of petitioning with boldness. This is what Jesus is encouraging us to do when we ask our petitions of him. Sometimes we have to wait for our answers to come, but God still wants us to continue to ask for what we want.

James tells us that when we ask, we must believe and not doubt, “because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.” (James 1:6-8) If we truly believe God will answer our prayers, we will continue to ask and not give up when God says wait.

It never hurts to stop and analyze our requests to be sure we are in line with his will, but as long as we believe we are led by his Spirit we should continue to be persistent in prayer.

Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Luke 11:1-4 Lord’s Prayer

Posted on January 15, 2008 by Janice D. GreenJanuary 15, 2008

¹ One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

² He said to them, “When you pray, say:
“‘Father,
     hallowed be your name,
     your kingdom come.
     ³ Give us each day our daily bread.
     ⁴ Forgive us our sins,
     for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation. ‘”

As the Disciples observed Jesus praying, they wanted him to teach them to pray. The Disciples must have recognized the benefits of prayer, even in the life of Jesus. So Jesus taught them the things that make prayer effective. First, Jesus taught them to acknowledge God as our Father, and to praise his name. We must know who it is we are speaking to, not only for the sake of praising God, but also for giving us the confidence that he is powerful enough to do what we ask.

The Disciples were then instructed to pray for God’s kingdom to come. We must always pray for God’s will to take place above our own. If we are to serve him, we must align our will with his.

They were told to pray for daily needs, not for great wealth and riches. I am reminded of the Israelites as they crossed the desert with Moses. They were given daily manna. If they tried to hoard it up it would spoil.

They were told to pray for God to forgive them of their sins and in the same sentence reminded to forgive others who sin against them. Forgiveness is not a one-way street. If we are unwilling to follow Christ’s example to forgive others, then we should not expect God to forgive us.

They were also instructed to pray that God would keep them from temptation. This too is a daily need as there are temptations all around us demanding our attention and our time. It is our relationship with God that enables us to overcome temptations of every kind.

Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.