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What Does Luke 11:13 Teach About Praying "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?" It should be obvious even to the casual reader that someone could pray to God the Father for the Holy Spirit with expectation of receiving what God promised. Whose privilege was it to so pray? What did God promise? Joel 2:28-32 is the Old Testament background to New Testament teaching concerning the Holy Spirit. Joel wrote in verses 28 and 29, "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit." Peter referred to this prophecy in Acts 2:16 when he explained the events of Acts 2:1-13, "But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel..." then quoted the entire statement (Joel 2:28-32). With the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, Joel's prophecy began to be fulfilled (Acts 2:1-4). In the gospels and Acts 1:1-26, there are several references to the Holy Spirit, which point directly to Pentecost and are concerned with the fulfillment of Joel's prophecy. An early reference to the Holy Spirit which looked to Pentecost (Acts 2) is Mt. 3:11 where John the Baptist said concerning Jesus Christ, "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost...." John chapters fourteen, fifteen, and sixteen were spoken by Jesus to His apostles. In John 14:26; 15:26; and 16:13 Jesus made specific promises concerning the Holy Spirit's work with the apostles, which began to be fulfilled on Pentecost (Acts 2). The promise of the baptism of the Holy Spirit to the apostles (Acts 1:5) was fulfilled on Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4). Did not Acts 1:8 begin to be fullfilled at the same time? Now let's return to our consideration of Luke 11:13. "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?" To whom was Jesus speaking? Please read Luke 11:1-13 and the parallel statements in Matthew 6:9-15; Mt. 7:7-12. Jesus was talking with His followers: those who had confidence in Him. Surely, He was not speaking to those who rejected Him. If He was speaking to those who had confidence in Him, for what did He instruct them to pray? Did He not desire that they pray for the fulfillment of Joel's prophecy? Had Jesus not taught them to pray, "Thy kingdom come" (Lk. 11:3)? And since Jesus later taught that the kingdom was coming with power (Mk. 9:1) and the power was coming with the Spirit (Acts 1:8), when they prayed for the Spirit (Lk. 11:13) as instructed by Jesus, were they not praying for the coming of the Holy Spirit which occurred on Pentecost (Acts 2)? Luke 11:13 stands between Joel 2 and Acts 2: it looks back to Joel 2 and forward to Acts 2. In arriving at the meaning of Luke 11:13, this position must be taken into consideration. Any rejection of that context is going to be misleading. That leads us to the conclusion that Jesus was not instructing men today to pray for the Holy Spirit in any way or for any purpose? This was another way of teaching His followers to pray for the coming of His kingdom. - Glenn Melton |