Luke 11:9-12, "And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?"

He is telling us of the necessity of asking, but he is also teaching the tender, Fatherly love of the God who cares for us. He says that if a natural father can give good things to his children, our heavenly Father will do more. If we come with prayer and thanksgiving, will He not supply?

As we learn to depend upon God for our daily life, it leads us to faith in prayer for spiritual things. Now consider the very next verse. "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?" LUK 11:13.

The Lord wants us to see our dependency upon Him, not only for temporal things, but for eternal things. He wants these things to teach us the essential element of seeking the kingdom of heaven. He uses this to teach us that if we ask for temporal things and He grants them, will He not also grant His Holy Spirit to those who cry after Him? Those who ask and desire the things of eternity, and ask for His Holy Spirit, will He not also grant that.

That is the lesson He is teaching us. He provides all these things. If we truly learn to see the Lord's hand in the provision of the temporal things, will it not lead us to seek Him for eternal things; for the things that are necessary for our souls for eternity?

The Lord teaches this to us in the precious promises in EZE 36:24-28, "For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God."

Look at the precious promises for eternal things, but we must also see how He follows up on it. After God has promised all these precious blessings, the Lord will wait to be gracious until we ask with a repenting heart. EZE 36:37 tells us how all those promises which He promised in V:24-28 will be withheld until they are sought in humble prayer. "Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them; I will increase them with men like a flock."