Living With ExpectationSample

We’re experts at making following Jesus feel complicated. We convince ourselves that there’s some secret formula to experiencing more of God. But Jesus made it simple: Just ask.

In Luke 11, Jesus tells a story about someone who wouldn’t stop knocking on a friend’s door in the middle of the night. Why? Because they needed something—and they were bold enough to keep asking. Then he turned to his disciples and said, “If you ask, you’ll receive. If you seek, you’ll find. If you knock, the door will be opened.”

You don’t have to beg or prove yourself to receive the Holy Spirit. You just have to ask.

But here’s the deeper question: What are you really asking for?

When you pray to God, are you mostly asking him for stuff—for answers, for material blessings, for solutions to your problems? Or, are you asking for more of his presence with you?

God wants us to talk to him about everything—including what we want and need. But sometimes we get so caught up in the gifts we are requesting that we take the Giver for granted.

When Jesus taught his disciples to pray in Luke 11, he said that everyone who asks will receive. And then he specified: our Father in heaven will give the Holy Spirit to everyone who asks. The Holy Spirit is the gift.

Take time today to ask—not for more stuff, but for more of him. Ask boldly. Ask consistently. Ask with open hands and an open heart.

Pray: “Father, I want more of you. Fill me with your Spirit. I don’t just want answers or blessings—I want to know you. I trust that when I ask, you will give.”