Luke 11:5

Jesus was teaching about prayer and the Bible says in Luke 11:5-10, “And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him? And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needs. And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asks receives; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”

Jesus told us about this man who got up in the middle of the night somewhat reluctantly to help his friend in order to emphasize to us by contrast that we can always expect God to help us when we ask. If a human being who is asleep and tired will get up perhaps with some complaint and still help a friend, how much more God will help us. God is more than our friend, and He never sleeps or slumbers. God is always ready and willing to help us when we ask. That’s why Jesus said, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”

This is a promise, and God always keeps His promises. Do you need something, then ask God for it. Is something troubling you, then ask God to take care of it. Is there a mountain in front of you, then ask God to remove the mountain. Is there an enemy who is attacking you or criticizing you, then ask God to defend you. Jesus has promised that you can ask anything, and God will answer. This teaching of Jesus about prayer is a promise, but it’s more than a promise. It’s an encouragement to positive thinking, and it’s also an emphasis on perseverance. When Jesus said, “Seek and you shall find,” it means literally “keep on seeking and you shall find.” If you did your seeking for a short time and then gave up, then you did not do what Jesus said to do. No wonder you did not find! Those who give up are the ones who do not find. Those who never give up and who keep searching for an answer from God are the ones who do find.

In regards to the promise that God will answer us when we ask Him, Jesus gave another illustration in Luke 11:11-13, “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? If you 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?” Jesus told us to pray, “Our Father who art in heaven.” Jesus encourages us to believe that our prayers will be answered because Jesus reminds us about a normal human father and how that father would respond to a request from his child. If a child asks for a good thing, the human father is not going to give something bad or negative in response. With all of our limitations and shortcomings we still know how to give good things to our children. How much more God, who has no limitations, is going to give good things to us when we ask him!

In the last phrase in this passage of scripture Jesus said, “How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him!” Jesus had already told us several times that we could ask the Father for anything. That means that we can ask for both material and spiritual things. But in this last statement made by Jesus instead of using an example of asking for some material thing, He emphasized asking God for that which is spiritual. In order to be spiritual, you must have the Holy Spirit within you. Until a human being has a spiritual birth, that human is incapable of spirituality and incapable of a spiritual relationship with God. There is nothing more important than being born again, and a person can only obtain the spiritual birth by going to God in prayer.

Once we are saved, we have the Holy Spirit within us. From that point forward we rely upon and depend upon the power and leading of the Holy Spirit in order to serve God in this world. Our greatest needs are not the physical and material things. Our greatest needs involve the Holy Spirit, both before we are saved and afterwards. That which is spiritual is more important than that which is physical. You cannot be saved without the Holy Spirit coming into you. When you receive Jesus, you also receive the Holy Spirit. Once you are saved, you must be filled and led by the Holy Spirit on a daily basis in order to do what is right and in order to fulfill the responsibilities that God has given to you. If you are going to believe the promise of Jesus about prayer, make sure you ask God for the most important things above all else: those things that are spiritual.

Jesus told us the importance of asking for the Holy Spirit, obviously because of how much we need the Holy Spirit to do God’s will in this world. In the battle of evil spirits against the good Spirit, we are shown another one of Jesus’ victories in the next incident recorded in Luke. The Bible says in Luke 11:14-20, “And he was casting out a devil, and it was dumb. And it came to pass, when the devil was gone out, the dumb spake, and the people wondered. But some of them said, He casts out devils through Beelzebub, the chief of the devils. And others, tempting him, sought of him a sign from heaven. But he, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house divided against a house fails. If Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? Because you say that I cast out devils through Beelzebub. And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore shall they be your judges. But if I through the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you.”

In this world sometimes bad things happen to good people. One of the reasons for this are the evil spirits, called demons, who make attempts to control and thereby harm human beings. Human beings were made in the image of God. God’s will is that good things happen to humans. The evil spirits want to cause harm. The best way to be safe from the evil spirits is to be safe in the arms of Jesus. The evil spirits have no power in the presence of Christ. They always run away in fear. If you have Christ within you and walk in fellowship with Christ, then they will run away from you also. In Luke chapter 11 Jesus came into the presence of this person who could not speak because of the control of a demon. As a result not only was the demon cast away, but this person also had his limitations taken away. Things that he could not do before, he could now do because of Christ. His entire life would now be different. Because of meeting Christ, this person now had greater capabilities with which to face the challenges of life.

Of course, Jesus did a good thing for this man. In so doing, Jesus was immediately condemned by His opponents. If people opposed Jesus, then they certainly will oppose you and me. They could not deny the miracle that He did, so they attempted to say that Jesus was able to have power over the demons because Jesus was somehow in league with the chief of the demons. Jesus used basic logic to refute what these negative people accused. Jesus said, “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation.” Jesus knew that the devil and his demons have a well-organized program for opposing the work of God. If they were divided against each other, they not only would not be effective, they would not continue to exist. If you study the history of the human race, you find that the kingdoms set up by humans do not usually last very long. Why don’t these kingdoms stand? Why don’t they last longer than they do? One of the more common reasons for failure is a failure from within. If only more people understood the importance of the principle that Jesus pronounced here in Luke chapter 11. If only more Christians understood its importance. Jesus said, “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house divided against a house fails.”

Jesus was accused by these people who opposed Him and what He stood for. They were not truthfully against what He did. They were familiar with the casting out of demons, and some of their own sons had cast them out. The casting out of demons is no big thing. Those who believe in Christ and walk in fellowship with Him have great power over the forces of evil because of Christ and His name. The demons run away in fear from God the Father, God the Son, and the children of God. “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”

Jesus said that these people who accused Him would be judged by their own sons. The judgment is coming. When we think of the final judgment, we often think of standing before God, the final judge. But Jesus spoke here of these people also being judged eventually by their own peers. Believers will be judges who will pronounce judgment on the people of the world one day. This concept is found in other places of scripture. Paul said in First Corinthians 6:2, “Do you not know that the saints shall judge the world?” Of course, this is something for believers to look forward to, and it is also one of the reasons to not take vengeance on someone. God does not want us to take revenge on people because He designed life in part to be a time of testing and challenge for all people, believers and unbelievers. The day of judgment will come, but that day is not yet. Now is the day of trial and testing.

Concerning the casting out of demons Jesus had more to say in Luke 11:21-26. The Bible says, “When a strong man armed keeps his palace, his goods are in peace. But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he takes from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divides his spoils. He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathers not with me scatters. When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walks through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, I will return unto my house from where I came. And when he comes, he finds it swept and garnished. Then goes he, and takes to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.”

Jesus is explaining to us what can happen to people who have a demon within them and who do not have the demon cast out through the power of Christ. It all has to do with power and control. The power of evil wants to control every person that it can. The evil spirits are evidently highly motivated to enter into living beings for the purpose of controlling and destroying God’s creation. Remember when the demons were cast out of the maniac of Gadara, and the demons immediately sought to enter into a herd of swine? Demons will enter people and they will also enter animals. That is perhaps one reason that some animals will turn into rogue killers.

In this teaching Jesus gives more than one warning. Jesus warns that the power of evil is stronger than the power of human nature. Jesus warns that you are either being used by God for good because of your relationship to Christ, or you are being used by the forces of evil. These same forces that enter into some people to control them, are strong enough to also use other people to cause trouble in the world. Maybe a demon is not inside of you, but how do you know if you are being used by the forces of evil or not? Simply use the criteria that Jesus gave. Jesus said, “He that gathers not with me scatters.” Make sure that you are working with Jesus for the things that He is gathering: souls.

Another warning that Jesus gave concerning being possessed of a demon is the fact that there is no other solution to the problem other than having the demon cast out by the power of Christ. Any human method to improve the life of someone so afflicted will ultimately have very negative consequences. Without Christ the door will always be open for the demon to return and cause even greater damage to the person so afflicted. That’s why Jesus said, “The last state of that man is worse than the first.” Man-centered, human self-improvement is not the solution to the behavior problems caused by the influence of evil spirits. The only lasting solution is the freedom and protection offered by Christ to those who know Him and walk with Him. Jesus said to Nicodemus, “You must be born again.” Those who allow the Holy Spirit into their life will be safe from the power of evil spirits. Those who resist the Holy Spirit leave themselves vulnerable to all the evil spirits who do the bidding of the devil. Why do some people do the horrible things that they do? One reason is because spiritually they are controlled and used by the evil forces. It is exactly like Jesus said it would be. “He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathers not with me scatters.”

If you have not had the spiritual birth through faith in Christ, you can come to know Him today if you bow down to Him with the purpose of following Him. To be in Christ is the safest of all places to be. You will be safe in this life and in the next.

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