persistenced & our Abba

(Lynn's mom's funeral is Wednesday, 11am, in Waycross)

Luke 11: 5 Then, teaching them more about prayer, he used this story: "Suppose you went to a friend's house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread. You say to him, 6 'A friend of mine has just arrived for a visit, and I have nothing for him to eat.' 7 And suppose he calls out from his bedroom, 'Don't bother me. The door is locked for the night, and my family and I are all in bed. I can't help you.' 8 But I tell you this—though he won't do it for friendship's sake, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence.
9 "And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. (dan note: this doesn't make God a vending machine - you put in the request, you get the desired answer. What it does mean is to ask, seek, knocking, seaching, looking, until what you're after you've found. We so often think God can answer us in just one way. That's the beauty of our God - He's very creative.)
11 "You fathers—if your children ask for a fish, do you give them a snake instead? 12 Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not! 13 So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him. (dan note: we can't judge our concept of God from our concept of our own fathers or other people's fathers. They're all imperfect. Our Abba Father is perfect in every way. He's everything we've ever wanted in a Father - & infinitely more)