Luke 11:5-10 Then, teaching them more about prayer, he used this story: “Suppose you went to a friend’s house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread. You say to him, ‘A friend of mine has just arrived for a visit, and I have nothing for him to eat.’ And suppose he calls out from his bedroom, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is locked for the night, and my family and I are all in bed. I can’t help you.’ But I tell you this—though he won’t do it for friendship’s sake, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence.
“And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.”
In Bible days there was a culture of hospitality. Each person, rich or poor worked hard to provide for their guests. Inability to provide for a guest brought great embarrassment to the host.
In this parable we have a man who has had a friend drop in expectantly. Being unexpected he is unprepared to provide for his guest’s needs. He goes to the neighbor’s house and finds it dark and the door shut. In those days the doors were kept open during the day. Then when the family wanted privacy and when they went to bed they shut and locked their door.
Another important note is that the houses were typically one room. The family all lived and slept in that one room. In the parable when the man knocked his neighbor called out, “Don’t bother me. The door is locked for the night, and my family and I are all in bed. I can’t help you.” He had already locked the door for the night. His children were asleep and if he got up to look for bread, he ran the risk of waking the entire family. It was a risk he was not willing to take. The Scripture tells us that He would not get out of bed for friendships’ sake, but if the neighbor kept knocking long enough he would get up and give him whatever he needed for his shameless persistence.
Jesus goes on to give the interpretation for this parable. If we ask we will receive, is we seek we will find, and if we knock the door will be open for us. The NLT translates this passage well. In the Greek, the verbs ask, seek, knock are active verbs, they literally mean, ask and keep on asking, seek and keep on seeking, knock and keep on knocking.
God wants us to be shameless in our persistence in prayer. He wants us to pray until we hear from him; to seek his face and stay before him daily. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 “Never stop praying.”
God doesn't answer our prayers because we nag him or manipulate him by them, but he told us to ask, seek, and knock and he promised us that he would answer our prayers. Of course he reserves the right to answer us as he sees fit and to answer in his timing.
He is not likely to answer us in the way we think he should, however, the answer will often blow our minds because his ways are higher than our ways. Isaiah 55:8-9 “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.”
God also sees the big picture and knows his plans for us. Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”
ASK, SEEK, KNOCK!!!!
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