In Luke chapter 11 Jesus gives instructions to His disciples on how to pray by teaching them
what we call, the Lord’s Prayer. Immediately following that prayer, which illustrates a variety of
requests one can and should make to God, Jesus shares the parable of a Friend at Midnight.
Then He said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says to
him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I
have nothing to set before him’; and from inside he answers and says, ‘Do not bother me; the
door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give
you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his
friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs. (Luke
11:5-8)
The purpose of this parable is to teach us to be persistent in prayer, or to have shameless
boldness. Just as we can go to a good friends house and unashamedly ask for a favor or help in a
matter, we can go boldly to God for that which is needed also.
Jesus wants us to pursue Him. He wants us to be constant in our praying – praying with passion
and persistence. We, being a “now” generation, have a difficult time with this command. We ask,
we might ask again, we might ask one more time – and when we receive no answer - we give up,
move on and find prayer pointless.
Prayer is a spiritual discipline, a muscle we must all learn to exercise and develop. It not only
yields the benefits of receiving divine intervention and assistance on a matter, but it also draws
us deeply into the heart of the Father. It cannot be a one and done task for us. When we learn
how to persist in prayer we benefit in ways that go much deeper than the original request we
brought before Him. There’s a progression that happens to our faith at the same time.
Jesus reveals this progression after the parable, by encouraging the disciples to keep asking,
seeking and knocking (Luke 11:9-13). We aren’t to just persist but implore for a response. If you
ask, expect to receive. If you seek you will find. And, if you knock expect it be opened to you. If
we ask for a fish God isn’t going to give us a serpent, and if we ask for bread He isn’t going to
give us a stone. He is a good Father who desires to give good gifts to His children.
God promises an answer to the one who diligently seeks Him. It doesn’t mean we receive
whatever we want in prayer, it means we receive what is spiritually beneficial. Persistence in
prayer matures us in our faith and in relationship with our Lord. We reach a point where, rather
than seeking the answer we want, we learn to seek His will. When we do this we begin the
beautiful transformation into submission.
God Bless You Today.
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