In order to further impress upon the now large company of followers the readiness of the Father to answer their prayers and give them such things as they needed, Jesus told them a story.
At midnight, He said, a man opened the door of his house to receive a friend who had arrived unexpectedly from a distant city. The lateness of his arrival may have been the result of delay on the road or because the visitor had chosen to travel after dark to avoid the smoldering heat of the day.A host in first-century society would be expected to provide a welcome to a guest regardless of when he arrived.
The friend’s unexpected arrival was quite an embarrassment to the lady of the house, for she had just run out of bread and would not have a fresh supply until she baked the next day in the communal oven. So she asked her husband to call on a neighbour, whom she knew had a good supply, and borrow a few loaves.
The manwent to his neighbour at midnight and standing at the door 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.”
The annoyed neighbour replied, “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.”
His refusal was not without justification. The scene is that of a Palestinian home in which the family are all asleep in one room–perhaps the only room in the house. In those days it was customary for the whole family to huddle together for warmth on mattresses laid upon the earth floor. Therefore getting up and opening the door was much more of a business than it would be for us today. For one person to rise would meant disturbing the rest of the sleepers. The father could not get over to the door and slide back the heavy bolt that bars it without waking up his family.In such a situation no one would be happy to respond, especially in the middle of the night. Moreover, the door would be secured not by a single lock or bolt, but by several wooden beams which would need to be lifted out of their sockets.
But the caller was insistent about the urgency of his need, and so at last, with much grumbling the man of the house rose and gave him the required loaves of bread.
Jesus commented, “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.”He also added, “For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”
By contrast with the neighbour who had to be importuned to help someone in need, this parable presents the way God answers prayer. If in human circumstances one will respond to a request, even though reluctantly when pressed hard enough, surely God will answer and do so far more graciously. God needs no persuading to grant our requests if they are according to His will.
But we must also remember that some prayers will not be answered. James 4:3 explains why, “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” God will not listen to those who use prayer to gratify themselves rather than help others and please God.
There maybe times like that of the importunate caller when God let us ask repeatedly before answering. God is as ready to hear a prayer at midnight as at midday. There is no reluctance on the part of God to give us blessings. He is even more willing to give when we cry to Him in our need. He may delay because He sees that an immediate answer would not be best for us. His seemingly lack of response and necessity of perseverance in prayer on our part are, therefore, according to the wise providence of God.
God allowed Paul three times to ask for the removal of his “thorn in the flesh”. At first the apostle was not prepared to accept a negative answer to his petition. But he finally understood that the sustaining grace of God is a greater blessing than the removal of his affliction. Sometimes God may allow us to persist in prayer, not to persuade Him to change His mind, but to persuade us to change ours.
Let us never upbraid God for the answers He gives to our prayers. When we receive an answer very different from what we have asked, let us realize that God has some purpose in it, and in His good time, we will understand that what seemed to be a stone was really bread to our souls.
-Selie Visa
At midnight, He said, a man opened the door of his house to receive a friend who had arrived unexpectedly from a distant city. The lateness of his arrival may have been the result of delay on the road or because the visitor had chosen to travel after dark to avoid the smoldering heat of the day.A host in first-century society would be expected to provide a welcome to a guest regardless of when he arrived.
The friend’s unexpected arrival was quite an embarrassment to the lady of the house, for she had just run out of bread and would not have a fresh supply until she baked the next day in the communal oven. So she asked her husband to call on a neighbour, whom she knew had a good supply, and borrow a few loaves.
The manwent to his neighbour at midnight and standing at the door 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.”
The annoyed neighbour replied, “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.”
His refusal was not without justification. The scene is that of a Palestinian home in which the family are all asleep in one room–perhaps the only room in the house. In those days it was customary for the whole family to huddle together for warmth on mattresses laid upon the earth floor. Therefore getting up and opening the door was much more of a business than it would be for us today. For one person to rise would meant disturbing the rest of the sleepers. The father could not get over to the door and slide back the heavy bolt that bars it without waking up his family.In such a situation no one would be happy to respond, especially in the middle of the night. Moreover, the door would be secured not by a single lock or bolt, but by several wooden beams which would need to be lifted out of their sockets.
But the caller was insistent about the urgency of his need, and so at last, with much grumbling the man of the house rose and gave him the required loaves of bread.
Jesus commented, “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.”He also added, “For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”
By contrast with the neighbour who had to be importuned to help someone in need, this parable presents the way God answers prayer. If in human circumstances one will respond to a request, even though reluctantly when pressed hard enough, surely God will answer and do so far more graciously. God needs no persuading to grant our requests if they are according to His will.
But we must also remember that some prayers will not be answered. James 4:3 explains why, “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” God will not listen to those who use prayer to gratify themselves rather than help others and please God.
There maybe times like that of the importunate caller when God let us ask repeatedly before answering. God is as ready to hear a prayer at midnight as at midday. There is no reluctance on the part of God to give us blessings. He is even more willing to give when we cry to Him in our need. He may delay because He sees that an immediate answer would not be best for us. His seemingly lack of response and necessity of perseverance in prayer on our part are, therefore, according to the wise providence of God.
God allowed Paul three times to ask for the removal of his “thorn in the flesh”. At first the apostle was not prepared to accept a negative answer to his petition. But he finally understood that the sustaining grace of God is a greater blessing than the removal of his affliction. Sometimes God may allow us to persist in prayer, not to persuade Him to change His mind, but to persuade us to change ours.
Let us never upbraid God for the answers He gives to our prayers. When we receive an answer very different from what we have asked, let us realize that God has some purpose in it, and in His good time, we will understand that what seemed to be a stone was really bread to our souls.
-Selie Visa
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