Luke xi. 9-13. 7. Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8. For every one that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened. 9. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? 10. Or, if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11. If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? 12. Therefore, all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets. What earnest attention would these words command, if they related to this present world? "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find." Nothing more clearly betrays the weakness of our faith, than the indifference with which we receive this promise, because it concerns spiritual blessings. " We see, however, the encouragement which the words were intended to convey, from the connexion in which they are found. The disciples had been listening to many difficult injunctions. And they might naturally ask, or at least think within themselves, "Who is sufficient for these things?" Our Lord meets this inquiry by the assurance, repeated by his apostles afterwards: "If of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally." (James i. 5.) And as men often doubt the performance of promises, fearing lest they are too good to be true, any 1 That spiritual blessings are chiefly intended in this passage, appears from the parallel verse in St. Luke: "How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask he even vouchsafes to argue with them in this way. Do not you, notwithstanding all the evil there is about you, give such good gifts as are in your power to your children? children? How much more shall your heavenly Father, who is altogether holy and righteous, give good things to those who are made his "children by adoption and grace," when they sincerely and earnestly desire them? The repetition here, ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you :-is not without meaning. It reminds us of the sincerity, the perseverance, the faith, which must accompany prayer, in order that it may prove successful. A man does not ask, ask with earnestness, unless he is sensible of a want. We must feel our need of pardon and of grace, that we may ask them to any purpose. A man who seeks, anxiously seeks, a benefit, will persevere and we are to pray always and not to faint:" we are to "ask in faith," believing; as a man who knocks at a gate, wishes to enter it, or expects that good is to be obtained there. A gracious encouragement to prayer is given in these words. But how lightly it is valued! How commonly is prayer considered as a burthensome duty, rather than a delightful privilege! The way to judge of this, is to reflect, how it would be with those whose day of trial is over, and who are now "shut up in everlasting darkness unto the great day." If they who, while on earth, had refused to "hear Moses and the prophets," could rise once more from the dead, and Luke xi. 9-13. 7. Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8. For every one that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened. 9. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? 10. Or, if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11. If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? 12. Therefore, all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets. What earnest attention would these words command, if they related to this present world? "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find." Nothing more clearly betrays the weakness of our faith, than the indifference with which we receive this promise, because it concerns spiritual blessings. We see, however, the encouragement which the words were intended to convey, from the connexion in which they are found. The disciples had been listening to many difficult injunctions. And they might naturally ask, or at least think within themselves, "Who is sufficient for these things?" Our Lord meets this inquiry by the assurance, repeated by his apostles afterwards: "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally." (James i. 5.) And as men often doubt the performance of promises, fearing lest they are too good to be true, 1 That spiritual blessings are chiefly intended in this passage, appears from the parallel verse in St. Luke: "How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask he even vouchsafes to argue with them in this way. Do not you, notwithstanding all the evil there is about you, give such good gifts as are in your power to your children? How much more shall your heavenly Father, who is altogether holy and righteous, give good things to those who are made his "children by adoption and grace," when they sincerely and earnestly desire them? The repetition here, ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you :-is not without meaning. It reminds us of the sincerity, the perseverance, the faith, which must accompany prayer, in order that it may prove successful. A man does not ask, ask with earnestness, unless he is sensible of a want. We must feel our need of pardon and of grace, that we may ask them to any purpose. A man who seeks, anxiously seeks, a benefit, will persevere and we are to pray always and not to faint:" we are to "ask in faith," believing; as a man who knocks at a gate, wishes to enter it, or expects that good is to be obtained there. A gracious encouragement to prayer is given in these words. But how lightly it is valued! How commonly is prayer considered as a burthensome duty, rather than a delightful privilege! The way to judge of this, is to reflect, how it would be with those whose day of trial is over, and who are now "shut up in everlasting darkness unto the great day." If they who, while on earth, had refused to "hear Moses and the prophets," could rise once more from the dead, and were invited to ask for pardon, that they might receive it, to seek for grace that they might find it, to knock at the gate of heaven in time, and it should be opened for them through eternity; how gladly would they welcome the invitation, and at the offered blessing! grasp may be Let us, then, "seek the Lord whilst he found, and call upon him while he is near." Bitter indeed will be the reflection in the eternal world, that the pardon purchased by Christ, and all the unspeakable blessings attending it, might have been ours, had we thought them worth diligently seeking, in humble, fervent prayer. Some, perhaps, may feel dispirited, and think that the promise of our Lord in this passage is hardly accomplished. They may lament that the supplies of grace, which they had looked for, are less speedily, or less abundantly ministered than they hoped and expected. But let not this discourage them. The Spirit is not ever really absent, where its presence is anxiously desired. They may have grown in grace, yet their growth may have been imperceptible to themselves. One thing is sure, that whoever perseveres in prayer, has not prayed in vain. God has given to them a "spirit of prayer and supplication," and this is a pledge and earnest of all other blessings. |