Read:

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?"

Exhortation:

In today's passage, the Lord is telling us of the need of asking. Here He also teaches the tender, Fatherly love of our God. He says that if a natural father can give good things to his children, our heavenly Father will do more. 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?" (Luke 11:13).

The Lord wants us to see our dependency upon Him, not only for temporal things, but for eternal things. He wants to teach us what is the essential element of seeking the kingdom of heaven. If we ask for temporal things and He grants them, will He not also grant His Holy Spirit to those who cry after Him? Yes, He will. He provides all things pertain unto physical life and godliness.

In Ezekiel 36:24-28, the Lord promised Israel, "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." Aren't thy precious promises for eternal things?

In Ezekiel 36:37, He tells us how all those promises which He promised in verses 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." The Lord is teaching us that after He has told us the promises are there, He wants to see that we exercise our faith by asking Him in prayer. By faith we must come pleading those promises which He has given. Pleading for the fulfilment of His promises in His Word is the most effective aspect of prayer. But if we pray not, He will withdraw Himself from blessing us until we seek Him in prayer. Hosea 5:15 also tells about this, "I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early."