Day 10—Ask, Knock, Seek

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. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. (Luke 11:9–10, NIV84)

Yesterday we talked about how much we need the Holy Spirit to revive us and get us unstuck from the doldrums. I can’t emphasize this enough— we absolutely need a fresh infilling of the Holy Spirit to experience the “Revive All” that we are seeking.

The Holy Spirit is symbolized throughout scripture in four ways—wind, fire, water, and oil. Whatever struggle you’re experiencing, the work of the Holy Spirit symbolized by one of these elements is what you need.

If you are stuck, you need the winds of God’s Spirit to fit your sails and get you going again. If you’re finding yourself apathetic and lukewarm toward God, you need the fire of the God’s Spirit to make you hot again. If you feel contaminated and unclean you need the water of the Spirit of God to cleanse you. And if you’ve been overwhelmed by any oppressive work of the devil, you need the anointing of the Holy Spirit that oil represents to empower your freedom.

The verse above is familiar to most Christians and used to ask and believe for many things, but many don’t realize that Jesus used it in Luke 11 specifically about receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit. Then He continues:

“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 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 11:11–13, NIV84)

The verbs Jesus uses indicate that it may take some intensity and persistence to break through the barriers of receiving. Don’t merely ask the Lord for the power of the Holy Spirit to come, seek for it to happen. To seek is to intensify your focus, like a person does when they’ve lost something of value. And to knock is to add physical action and even more intensity. It takes courage sometimes to knock on a door, and to keep on knocking stronger and stronger until someone opens the door.

Also, the Greek verbs here are in the “present active imperative” tense. Imperative means it’s a command, not a suggestion. Present means to make it a habit, not a one-time action. In other words, Jesus is literally saying, “Ask and keep on asking, seek and keep on seeking, knock and keep on knocking!”

If you’re stuck, it’s time to get unstuck! Ask the Lord today to breathe the wind of his Spirit into you.