Since publication of last week's blog the suggestion has arisen that maybe Jesus' words were symbolism wrapped in hyperbole. Maybe, the argument goes, He didn't really mean God would answer our prayers as Jesus stated; it was all a pep talk for the benefit of the disciples. Oh, gag. That reasoning is really limp. Such reasoning may satisfy those who regard miracles as myths and may relieve them of exercising their self-limited faith or abandoning their intellectual doubts.

Followers of Christ know they are in the natural world but not of it. The natural man regards reality as that which he can experience with his five senses. If he is faced with something that defies those senses then, to him, that 'something' is not real. God, for example. God is in the realm of the supernatural and the gateway to that reality is faith.

"But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is , and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." Hebrews 11:6

That is why the person who tries to find God through intellectual reasoning and human efforts will ultimately fail. As Jesus said to Nicodemus, "That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of spirit is spirit. do not marvel that I said to you 'You must be born again.'"

The Holy Spirit is witnessing to the spirit of every person on earth that God is real and that Jesus is His Son and our Redeemer. We receive that in our spirit when we accept it with child-like faith.

When I was a small child and my father told me a certain tree was an apple tree, I had no reason whatever to doubt him even if I could see there were no apples on the tree. I had absolute faith in my father to tell me the truth. But, as time moved on, that kind of simple faith was overcome by the pressures and battering of everyday living and it did not surface again until I had entered middle age. It was then I opened my heart in desperation and the Holy spirit revealed to me that Jesus is real; that he knows me by name and where I live. He knows all His brothers and sisters by name.

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I have been blessed on two occasions to relieve Believers of the mistaken idea that they had committed the unpardonable sin. In both cases they had carried the burden for many years.

"Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven men." Matt. 12:31

This passage was Jesus' response to the Pharisee's claim that Jesus was casting out demons in cooperation with Satan when actually it was by the power of the Holy Spirit. In other words, the Pharisees were saying the Holy Spirit is evil. The Pharisee's ignorance of the true meaning of the scriptures and their hatred of Jesus so blinded them that they could not see the Holy Spirit at work.
Today, blasphemy against the Spirit occurs when someone totally rejects the Spirit's witness that Jesus is the Christ. This is the same as saying the Spirit is a liar.
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For study purposes I suggest for your library: Strong's Concordance, The Bible Knowledge Commentary (available separately for Old and New Testaments) and of course the Bible in the version of your choice. I use the New King James but also refer to other versions in modern language.