Tuesday, June 5, 2018

LUKE 11:5-10 PERSISTENCE IN PRAYER


PERSISTENCE IN PRAYER
Luke 11:5-10
(See also Matthew 7:7-8)

Luke 11:5-6 And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him?

Susie: Jesus continues teaching about prayer with an illustration of persistent prayer. In the Jewish culture, hospitality was expected rather than rare as it is these days. When a friend dropped by completely out of the blue in the middle of the night, tired and hungry from traveling, one was expected to serve him a meal.

Susan: In this illustration, the man has nothing to feed his friend who stopped by on his journey. Therefore, he runs next door and wakes up the neighbor. How rude! However, in that culture, the neighbor would also be expected to help him out of this jam.

Susie: Hmm, that makes me want jam on the bread he’s borrowing!

Luke 11:7 And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.

Susie: Another thing that may seem odd to us is that his children were in bed with him. This is not literally lying next to him in bed. The houses typically had one sleeping room with each person on his own mat. If the man got up and lit a lamp to go get the bread, he would wake up the entire family. We can see why he would be reluctant to disturb everyone at midnight to loan bread to his neighbor.

Susan: In our day and time it would be like someone ringing the doorbell and startling everyone out of sleep mode. However, they could not just run down to the 24/7 grocery store and pick up sandwich supplies.

Luke 11:8 I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.

Susan: He would not get out of his cozy bed because of their friendship relationship but because the man was annoying him to the nth degree. I like how the Complete Jewish Bible calls this persistence “hutzpah.”  The connotation is tenacious, relentless, brazen boldness.

Luke 11:8 (CJB) But I tell you, even if he won’t get up because the man is his friend, yet because of the man’s hutzpah he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

Luke 11:8 (VOICE) You know this as well as I do: even if you didn’t care that this fellow was your friend, if he keeps knocking long enough, you’ll get up and give him whatever he needs simply because of his brash persistence!

Susie: Now the shocking zinger to end this illustration of pretentious persistence is that Jesus tells us to be persistent when we pray to God! If this sleepy man would give in reluctantly to provide for his neighbor, then how much more will God answer our persistent prayer? Later, we will see another illustration of this in Luke chapter 18 with a widow before an unjust judge who eventually gives in to her constant pleading. God answers our prayers richly.

Romans 10:12b . . . for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.

Luke 11:9 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

Susie: In the original language the tense suggests to “keep on asking, keep on seeking, and keep on knocking.” This is not a one-time request, but a continuing pursuit.

Susan: We are to entreat God with our concerns—our physical needs, our quest for understanding, and our desire to enter into His presence.

Luke 11:10 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

Susie: This verse also has the sense of persistently asking, seeking, and knocking rather than a one-time occurrence.

Susan: The connotation is “Do not quit.” We are to be relentless in our pursuit of God and relationship, intimacy with Him.

Susie: Will God always immediately answer in the way we imagine? Of course not. Sometimes we must wait until the time is right.

Susan: God is rarely on our timetable, but God is always perfectly on time!

Galatians 4:4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

2 Peter 3:8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

Susie: Sometimes God changes our desires to be in keeping with His will. But those who continue in prayer with a correct attitude toward the sovereignty of God, will ultimately receive an answer.

James 4:3 (CJB) Or you pray and don’t receive, because you pray with the wrong motive, that of wanting to indulge your own desires.

Susie: For some examples of persistence in prayer see:

·     Genesis 32:26 – Jacob wresting with the angel of God
·     Matthew 15:22-28 – Canaanite woman asks Jesus to deliver her daughter
·     2 Corinthians 12:8 – Paul entreating the Lord to remove his “thorn in the flesh”
·     Colossians 4:12 – Epaphras laboring fervently in prayer

Ponder this and Apply it: Persistent prayer is not the same as “vain repetitions” (Matthew 6:7). Being persistent in prayer is seeking the Lord until you are convinced He has answered. Is there something you are praying for persistently while seeking the Lord wholeheartedly in His word? Keep on praying because He will answer. Do not lose heart!

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