Today's Passage - Luke 11:9-13

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Luke 11:9-13   "'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.  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!'" When we pray, we must be persistent, to pray till the end.  Sometimes you may feel that God is hiding Himself, but praying is actually to experience the cross, where you will go through physical death in order for your spirit to be resurrected.  The physical death of our body is to put down oneself to submit to God.  It's like how Jacob wrestled with God at Jabbok's ford, and the meaning of wrestling is to struggle, because we need to struggle with our will and voice of our body against the will of God.  We need to lay down our will, not to force God with our own strength, and not to ask God to do things according to our understanding.  We must nail our old self on the cross, and let the resurrected life of God to be manifested in my life.   Through continuous prayer, we will see God's promise come true; ask, seek, and knock - every step will take our prayer deeper.  We need to ask humbly like a beggar, seek loyally like a servant, and knock by faith like a friend; we ought to keep on praying until God makes a way.  Lord said that He is going to give us the best, and He's talking about Holy Spirit.  We must value the work of the Holy Spirit, because only when the Holy Spirit comes will we convict our own guilt in regard to sin, righteousness and judgment.  We need to come before God often so that we will lament and repent for our own sin before Him.  The Bible says that if it wasn't by the prompting of the Holy Spirit, no one can call Jesus Lord.  We can only know Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit, and we can only come before Father God through Jesus Christ.  When the Holy Spirit comes, we will have all kinds of spiritual gifts to serve God, and to testify the power and greatness of God in our generation.  Through the mightiness of the Holy Spirit and our testimony, we will demonstrate that Jesus is our true resurrected Savior.     Pray with Pastor Tong           Dear Lord, I thank you because you are willing to give us the best.  We want to ask you boldly and we want the Holy Spirit to fill us.  Let us continue to pray before you until your promise is fulfilled.  Let us rise up and depend on the mightiness of Holy Spirit to live victoriously everyday.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!