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John 4:10 (KJV):
“Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.”
These words spoken by Jesus to the Samaritan woman carry eternal significance. Jesus unveils a twofold revelation: the Gift of God, and the identity of the One who is asking. He implies that our lives and prayers would take a completely different dimension if only we knew.
Jesus’ statement reveals a spiritual blindness that limits divine exchange. Ignorance of the gift and the giver robs people of access to the very life and power they seek. But once a man or woman knows, asking becomes natural, and receiving becomes inevitable.
1. The Gift of God: The Holy Spirit
The “gift of God” in this context is none other than the Holy Spirit—God’s ultimate gift to His children. Not just the gifts of the Spirit, but the Person of the Spirit Himself. Jesus wasn’t merely speaking of water, nor only eternal life in abstract form. He was pointing toward the Living Water—the Spirit of the Living God.
Luke 11:13 (KJV) confirms this:
“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?”
In John 7:38-39 (KJV), Jesus makes it plain:
“He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive...).”
The Holy Spirit is the wellspring of divine life, the internal fountain that overflows into every area of a believer’s being. He empowers, transforms, teaches, comforts, and reveals Christ. When Jesus spoke of living water, He spoke of the Spirit who would indwell believers after His ascension.
The woman at the well thought she was drawing water—but Jesus was drawing her into the realm of the Spirit.
2. The Giver: Jesus, the Son of God
The second revelation Jesus mentioned is the identity of the One who asks: “Who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink.” To know Jesus truly is to know the Giver of all things. He is not just a prophet or teacher—He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and the dispenser of the Holy Spirit.
John 3:34 (KJV):
“For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.”
Jesus is the One in whom the fullness of the Spirit dwells without limit. When He speaks, it is the Spirit who flows. When He asks, it is not because He lacks—it is because He seeks to draw us into deeper revelation and communion.
To recognize Jesus is to know the fountain from which all spiritual blessings flow. To ignore His identity is to miss the point of His invitation.
3. Revelation Shapes Our Request
Jesus said, “Thou wouldest have asked of him...” This is critical. What we know determines what we ask. Many believers pray from a place of ignorance, not recognizing what has been made available in Christ. But knowledge births boldness.
James 4:2 (KJV):
“...ye have not, because ye ask not.”
The woman did not ask for living water because she didn’t know it was available. The church today often suffers the same fate—praying small, shallow prayers when the deep things of the Spirit are freely offered.
1 Corinthians 2:12 (KJV):
“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.”
When we know, we ask. And when we ask in alignment with what the Father has already given—chiefly the Holy Spirit—we receive.
4. God’s Request Often Hides His Offer
Jesus asked the woman for a drink—not because He lacked water, but because He wanted to open her eyes. In the same way, God often asks us for things—not because He needs them, but because He wants to give us something better in return.
Sometimes He asks for our time, our obedience, our resources, or our comfort zone. And we resist, not knowing He’s trying to give us living water in exchange.
Proverbs 3:9-10 (KJV):
“Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty...”
What we give up is never as valuable as what He gives in return. When He asks, it is always to position us to receive.
5. Knowing Releases Access
We often ask God for power, wisdom, direction, and help. But the greatest thing we could ask for is more of the Holy Spirit—the Source of all those things. And the more we know of Him, the more we experience of Him.
2 Peter 1:3 (KJV):
“According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue...”
The key to “all things” is knowledge. And the two most powerful things to know are what Jesus revealed: the Gift of God—the Holy Spirit, and the Giver—Jesus Himself.
Final Charge: Do You Know?
Many live in spiritual thirst, not because the water isn’t available, but because they haven’t recognized who is offering it. Jesus is still at the well, still asking, “Give me to drink,” still pointing to a deeper well within.
Will you respond with understanding?
Will you ask?
Will you receive?
For if thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is...
Then you would ask.
And He would give.
Living water.
Forever.
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