Luke 11:13

Jesus drew His climactic conclusion (cf. Matthew 7:11). Since God is perfect He will do much more than a sinful earthly father would do. When Jesus gave this teaching the Holy Spirit did not yet indwell every believer (Acts 2:33; cf. Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4). The greatest blessing God could give a believer then was the possession of His Spirit. Thus the gift of the Holy Spirit was God’s greatest possible gift for the disciples who first heard this teaching. In effect Jesus was saying that the heavenly Father would give the very best gifts to those who ask Him. Believers today do not need to ask God to give them the Holy Spirit because He does this when we trust in His Son (Romans 8:9).

The fact that God gives only good gifts to His children explains why He does not give us everything we request, even things that look good to us. Thus we need to understand Jesus’ promise that God will give us what we ask (Luke 11:9-10) as referring only to things that are good for us. God will without fail give only what is best to His children who request of Him in prayer.

In this important teaching on prayer Jesus gave His disciples a distinctive prayer to pray that expressed appropriate concerns for them because of their unique relationship to God. Then He showed how eager and ready God was to answer their prayers. Finally He promised that God would definitely respond to their prayers but only by giving them truly good gifts. Throughout He stressed the character of God and the disciple’s privileged relationship to Him. [Note: For a biblical theology of prayer, see Thomas L. Constable, Talking to God: What the Bible Teaches about Prayer.]