Luke 11:5-8
5 And 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,
6 because a friend of mine has come to me from a journey and I have nothing to serve him’;
7 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.’
8 I tell you, even if he will not get up and give him anything just because he is his friend, yet because of his shamelessness he will get up and give him as much as he needs.
Visitor at Midnight
An interesting parable
After teaching His disciples the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus next used a parable to emphasize the importance of continuing in prayer. The parable was as follows: A man went to his friend and persistently asked him to lend three loaves of bread. Why did he press so persistently? Three reasons can be considered. (1) Because a friend visited him at midnight, and he had nothing to set before him. At that time, poor people baked only enough bread each morning for that day’s meals. The visiting traveler likely began his journey in the evening to avoid the daytime heat. Since hospitality was regarded as a sacred duty, he could not simply neglect his guest. (2) Because he knew that his friend had bread. Three small loaves would be sufficient for one person to eat. So, he knocked on his friend’s door. However, the friend was not quick to get up. Most likely, that friend lived in what we would now call a one-room house. The whole family would have been sleeping on an elevated wooden platform, and perhaps the livestock were resting on the earthen floor. If one person got up, the entire household would be disturbed from sleep. Even if it meant failing to respond to friendship, it was easier just to remain lying there. (3) Because there was no other way. He knew he had no other option but to ask his friend, so he kept on knocking at the door. As a result, his friend finally got up and gave him the bread. His persistence prevailed.
The lesson of this parable
This parable is not saying that God is reluctant to answer prayer. On the contrary, God is always waiting, ready to answer prayer. What we need is to believe this and to keep on praying, to keep on asking. If we stop praying just because the answer does not come immediately, it only proves how shallow our desire really is. We carry great needs. We know that only God holds the answer. Therefore, we pray earnestly. Do you have matters of prayer that you have already given up on? Or perhaps issues you gave up on even before you began to pray? Let us begin persistent prayer anew, starting today.
Today's prayer
Gracious God, please forgive me for having prayed only in a sporadic way. I feel as though today the Lord Jesus Himself has directly taught me the importance of persistent prayer. Please help me also to become a warrior of prayer. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.