Luke 11 begins with a truly shocking statement. It’s not shocking to you and I, but to the people of Jesus’ day, it was mund-blowing.
One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples."
He said to them, "When you pray, say: "'Father,”
“Father.” No one called God Father. No one would dare call Him Father. In the Old Testament, God is sometimes referred to as being like a Father. He is called the Father of us all, in the sense he created us. But the only one who addresses God as “Father” in a personal sense is the Messiah. Yet Jesus began his instruction on prayer with the statement “Our Father.”
How different this Christian view of God as father is from the views of the religious leaders of Jesus time, and for that matter the view of the religions of our time. To them God was all powerful and eternal, but he was distant, cold, and for the most part uncaring what happened to ordinary people.
Worshipping God as they knew him was a formal act. God was like a parade passing by—majestic, grand, but utterly oblivious to us and our petty feelings towards Him. It was like standing in the crowds outside Buckingham Palace and watching William and Kate’s bridal procession. It may be a thrilling sight, but you do not expect them to invite you to the reception. We do not think a great person, like a King or President is not going to know us personally. That would be insanity. The thought of God as our personal Father might be equal insanity.
Consider how big God is. The universe is light centuries across, comprised of millions and billions of galaxies. Yet God created us all. To think that God has some special relationship with us is truly inconceivable.
Yet Jesus called Him Father, and taught us to call Him Father, too. Jesus said that God has a special, personal relationship with Him, and with us.
The Lucan version of the Lord’s prayer is part of a longer passage on prayer, only thirteen verses long. The last passage closes with another passage about God as Father.
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!"
Because God is our Father, He wants to give us good things. It is his delight to reward us.
How does a parent love the child? On Christmas, we spend money on Christmas presents so we can see the look of delight on our child’s face. Our only regret is that we cannot delight them by giving them even more. A loving husband delights in giving gifts to his wife. Or Mother’s Day, we give gifts to our mothers just because we love them. Their happiness is our happiness. That’s what it means to love—to delight in giving gifts If God is our Father, why would He be any different? He is not. He enjoys giving us presents.
So why are we so timid about asking for things if our Father wants to give?
The love of the Father is what Jesus explores in this parable, which is told between these two bookends of thought about God being Father.
5 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, 6 because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.'
Once there was a man on a journey. At midnight, he showed up at the door of a friendd and asked to be housed and fed.
Now, this is as highly unusual thing for a man to do. In 5how days if a person were on a journey, and could not find accommodations, he either had to sleep under the stars or in a home. If a traveler were to come to your home, they would come by nightfall. The did not come in the middle of the night, unless necessity forced him.
So this traveler was not late out of disrespect for his host. Maybe he was camping and a storm started. Maybe he was delayed. Only because circumstances forced him did he arrive so late..
We don’t want to impose on others. We don’t want to ask for help. It is only when we can do nothing else that we ask for help.
Self sufficiency is a commendable trait, but it does not apply when deal with God. Other people have limited resources. Any request for help takes something away from their lives. God owns everything, has everything, gives everything. Dusk and midnight are the same to Him. God is not diminished by our asking, an nither are we.
Timidity before God is not a virtue. We do Him no favors by not asking. Even if we constantly impose on God we do not diminish Him or exhaust Him. The only thing that exhausts God is our not asking. When we do not ask, we insinuate that God is limited or stingy.
Don’t just ask God for big things. Ask Him for small things. Don’t just ask for small things. Ask Him for big things. He wants to give us all things, if only we will ask all things from Him.
But the friend whom the traveler visited in the middle of the night, was not God.
The friend reluctantly comes to the door. The homeowner looks at his friend. At once, he knows something is wrong. The homeowner lets him in.
The traveler is tired and hungry. His friend’s heart goes out to him. But when he goes to the kitchen, he discovers that he has no food left.
We are like that homeowner. We may have received from God for all we need, but then when the time comes to help others, we become uncertain again.
We believe that Jesus can meet our needs, but it isn’t enough. He brings the needs of others to us. He doesn’t not just give us what we need. He also gives us to give to others allowing us to share in the generosity of giving.
Giving time, talents, and money to God’s work is not a burden. It is a privilege. He allows us the honor of giving. He gives us what others need, so we can give it to them. If we don’t have what we need, God will make sure that someone else will give to us.
The homeowner is not willing to let the traveler go hungry. He goes to his r neighbor.
It would make more sense for him to have a good night’s sleep and go find some bread in the morning. But he does not. He goes to his neighbor at midnight and asks on his friend’s behalf.g
He knocks on the door. His neighbor growls back “What is it?”
“This is your neighbor. I need to borrow three loaves of bread.”
7 "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.'
8 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.
He doesn’t just ask for one loaf. The asks for three.
His neighbor gives all kinds of excuses. It’s late, his kids are asleep. His kids will need to be fed in the morning. He can’t spare it.
But the neighbor does not want to be embarrassed. If he doesn’t help him, he will tell the rest of the street. Then he will not be able to show his face in the town without people judging him. So to keep from being embarrassed for purely selfish reasons, he give thim what he asks.
9 "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. 10 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
Let’s recap. God is our Father, and our Father wants to give us all things, because He is good. But He does not give until we ask. When we ask, He provides.
How long does He want us to ask? Until we receie. Then, when He has provided us with all we can need, He wants us to keep asking for more, not for ourselves, but for others. He wants ust o be as generous to others as He is to us.
But how can we be generous when we have nothing? No problem. God will give us what it takes to feed the poor around us. He will provide though our own strength and efforts. He will also provide through other people, IN this way, we are part of a great chain of giving. From God, to our neighbors to us to others who need what God gives us. Even if others do not want to give us us, God will make sure that they give anyway, so we an be generous before God.
But to key to all this—the trigger that starts it all—is asking. If we do not ask we do not receive. If we ask, then the receiving never ends.
God wants to bless you, and to make you a blessing. All we have to do is to ask.
One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples."
He said to them, "When you pray, say: "'Father,”
“Father.” No one called God Father. No one would dare call Him Father. In the Old Testament, God is sometimes referred to as being like a Father. He is called the Father of us all, in the sense he created us. But the only one who addresses God as “Father” in a personal sense is the Messiah. Yet Jesus began his instruction on prayer with the statement “Our Father.”
How different this Christian view of God as father is from the views of the religious leaders of Jesus time, and for that matter the view of the religions of our time. To them God was all powerful and eternal, but he was distant, cold, and for the most part uncaring what happened to ordinary people.
Worshipping God as they knew him was a formal act. God was like a parade passing by—majestic, grand, but utterly oblivious to us and our petty feelings towards Him. It was like standing in the crowds outside Buckingham Palace and watching William and Kate’s bridal procession. It may be a thrilling sight, but you do not expect them to invite you to the reception. We do not think a great person, like a King or President is not going to know us personally. That would be insanity. The thought of God as our personal Father might be equal insanity.
Consider how big God is. The universe is light centuries across, comprised of millions and billions of galaxies. Yet God created us all. To think that God has some special relationship with us is truly inconceivable.
Yet Jesus called Him Father, and taught us to call Him Father, too. Jesus said that God has a special, personal relationship with Him, and with us.
The Lucan version of the Lord’s prayer is part of a longer passage on prayer, only thirteen verses long. The last passage closes with another passage about God as Father.
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!"
Because God is our Father, He wants to give us good things. It is his delight to reward us.
How does a parent love the child? On Christmas, we spend money on Christmas presents so we can see the look of delight on our child’s face. Our only regret is that we cannot delight them by giving them even more. A loving husband delights in giving gifts to his wife. Or Mother’s Day, we give gifts to our mothers just because we love them. Their happiness is our happiness. That’s what it means to love—to delight in giving gifts If God is our Father, why would He be any different? He is not. He enjoys giving us presents.
So why are we so timid about asking for things if our Father wants to give?
The love of the Father is what Jesus explores in this parable, which is told between these two bookends of thought about God being Father.
5 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, 6 because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.'
Once there was a man on a journey. At midnight, he showed up at the door of a friendd and asked to be housed and fed.
Now, this is as highly unusual thing for a man to do. In 5how days if a person were on a journey, and could not find accommodations, he either had to sleep under the stars or in a home. If a traveler were to come to your home, they would come by nightfall. The did not come in the middle of the night, unless necessity forced him.
So this traveler was not late out of disrespect for his host. Maybe he was camping and a storm started. Maybe he was delayed. Only because circumstances forced him did he arrive so late..
We don’t want to impose on others. We don’t want to ask for help. It is only when we can do nothing else that we ask for help.
Self sufficiency is a commendable trait, but it does not apply when deal with God. Other people have limited resources. Any request for help takes something away from their lives. God owns everything, has everything, gives everything. Dusk and midnight are the same to Him. God is not diminished by our asking, an nither are we.
Timidity before God is not a virtue. We do Him no favors by not asking. Even if we constantly impose on God we do not diminish Him or exhaust Him. The only thing that exhausts God is our not asking. When we do not ask, we insinuate that God is limited or stingy.
Don’t just ask God for big things. Ask Him for small things. Don’t just ask for small things. Ask Him for big things. He wants to give us all things, if only we will ask all things from Him.
But the friend whom the traveler visited in the middle of the night, was not God.
The friend reluctantly comes to the door. The homeowner looks at his friend. At once, he knows something is wrong. The homeowner lets him in.
The traveler is tired and hungry. His friend’s heart goes out to him. But when he goes to the kitchen, he discovers that he has no food left.
We are like that homeowner. We may have received from God for all we need, but then when the time comes to help others, we become uncertain again.
We believe that Jesus can meet our needs, but it isn’t enough. He brings the needs of others to us. He doesn’t not just give us what we need. He also gives us to give to others allowing us to share in the generosity of giving.
Giving time, talents, and money to God’s work is not a burden. It is a privilege. He allows us the honor of giving. He gives us what others need, so we can give it to them. If we don’t have what we need, God will make sure that someone else will give to us.
The homeowner is not willing to let the traveler go hungry. He goes to his r neighbor.
It would make more sense for him to have a good night’s sleep and go find some bread in the morning. But he does not. He goes to his neighbor at midnight and asks on his friend’s behalf.g
He knocks on the door. His neighbor growls back “What is it?”
“This is your neighbor. I need to borrow three loaves of bread.”
7 "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.'
8 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.
He doesn’t just ask for one loaf. The asks for three.
His neighbor gives all kinds of excuses. It’s late, his kids are asleep. His kids will need to be fed in the morning. He can’t spare it.
But the neighbor does not want to be embarrassed. If he doesn’t help him, he will tell the rest of the street. Then he will not be able to show his face in the town without people judging him. So to keep from being embarrassed for purely selfish reasons, he give thim what he asks.
9 "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. 10 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
Let’s recap. God is our Father, and our Father wants to give us all things, because He is good. But He does not give until we ask. When we ask, He provides.
How long does He want us to ask? Until we receie. Then, when He has provided us with all we can need, He wants us to keep asking for more, not for ourselves, but for others. He wants ust o be as generous to others as He is to us.
But how can we be generous when we have nothing? No problem. God will give us what it takes to feed the poor around us. He will provide though our own strength and efforts. He will also provide through other people, IN this way, we are part of a great chain of giving. From God, to our neighbors to us to others who need what God gives us. Even if others do not want to give us us, God will make sure that they give anyway, so we an be generous before God.
But to key to all this—the trigger that starts it all—is asking. If we do not ask we do not receive. If we ask, then the receiving never ends.
God wants to bless you, and to make you a blessing. All we have to do is to ask.
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