Then he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.’
“Then the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man’s boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs.
“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Luke 11:5-13
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’
“For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!’ ”
And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
Luke 18:1-8
Think about this: On a dark night, you’re stranded at a lonely diner by the road not far from the town where you live. It’s Saturday at 3:00 in the morning. You know you have to call someone to pick you up, but you can’t think of the right person. Your mind runs quickly through your database searching for a friend close enough for you to wake them up in the middle of the night and not be really annoyed.
Question: Do you have a friend like that?
The two parables of Jesus in Luke 11 and 18 teach us some things about God that we need to know:
1) God is our friend in the middle of the night. He’s the only one in the universe who’s on duty 24/7 and who is tuned into your voice. It’s he who listens with the care of your closest friend.
2) Jesus teaches us to ask things of God with our whole heart, concern, and energy. We are to ask boldly, to keep on asking, and never give up.
3) Prayer is the serious vocation of the Christian, and when we find it hard to pray, God helps us by putting us in situations where there’s no way out except his faithfulness and deliverance.
4) Our relationship with God is much like a child’s relationship with their parent. If the loving parent enjoys giving good things to the child, so much more does God enjoy giving us the things we really need.
5) God answers prayer according to a purpose — his! And when we find our will more and more in line with his purpose and will, we’ll discover that more and more of our prayers are being answered.
So where’s the good news and what are we supposed to do? First, start asking God for the things you want and need. He’s listening — any hour of the day or night. And find your purpose and fulfillment in life by doing the will of God as he reveals it to you. He doesn’t guarantee everything you want, but he can guarantee that in the discipline of daily prayer you’ll learn submission, faith, and in the end God’s great, out-of-proportion generosity.
