Think Bigger (Friday Devotional)

“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; the one who seeks finds; and to the one 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!”

- Luke 11:9-13

When making vacation plans, Lindsey and I have a running joke that I find hilarious and she finds…less hilarious. She’ll excitedly start talking about different places she’d like to visit across the United States, already envisioning a dozen exciting destinations we could see. After a few minutes, she’ll turn to me and ask where I might want to go, and my answer is always the same: “We could go to El Paso!” For all its charms, a Texas border town is not exactly the input she’s looking for. The joke is always good for an eye roll that sends a clear message: I’m thinking way too small.

Similarly, Christians have a tendency to think too small when it comes to the gifts God offers us. Our selfish, sinful natures get excited by promises like those Jesus makes in Luke 11:9: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” We hear those words and start making a wish list of things that we assume are now suddenly within reach through the power of prayer—a bigger house, a better job, maybe a new car. If I just pray long enough and hard enough, the thought goes, God will reward my faith with my heart’s desire!

But not only does personal experience doom that interpretation—I still haven’t received the Lego set I prayed for on Christmas Eve of 1996—so does the passage from which that promise verse is derived. Jesus, after establishing the generous nature of the Father, makes it clear what gift it is that God gives so willingly—not material possessions, but the Holy Spirit. When you claim the promise of God’s generosity for your own gain and wind up disappointed, the issue is not God’s faithfulness, it’s that you’re not thinking too small.

We have a bad habit of reading Scripture, especially God’s promises, through selfish lenses, ultimately determining that God’s desire and purpose is to make us happy. However, the truth that is found in every one of these assurances, whether in Luke 11 or the Psalms or the words of the prophets, is that God does not seek to make us rich, but righteous. Even when we mistakenly start to believe our purpose on earth is to accumulate happiness, God’s purpose for us never changes, and that purpose is that we would find our joy in Him.

When you go to God seeking His good gifts, ask yourself what it is you really want—to bring glory to the kingdom of God or a boost to your own ambitions? God is incredibly generous when your eyes are fixed on Christ, and you will be amazed by the ways the Holy Spirit will empower you to carry out God’s mission. So if you find yourself frustrated by what feels like stinginess on God’s part, reexamine who you are wanting to benefit from your prayer—chances are, you’re thinking too small.