Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give the bread because of friendship, yet. Because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.
“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. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” – Luke 11:5-10
In Luke 18, Jesus told his disciples a story about a persistent woman. This woman was a widow. She sought justice from an evil judge who would not accede to her request.
Notwithstanding the judge’s refusal, the woman persisted. Eventually, the judge decided to give her justice because he concluded that she would wear him out with her persistence.
Jesus was teaching his disciples that persistence eventually pays off. Therefore, in making petitions to God, we should be persistent.
Be a “squeaky wheel”. You will get God’s attention. The “squeaky wheel” always gets the oil.
I have learned over the years, if you want to get something, you must keep asking to the point of annoyance. Like the evil judge, the person from whom you are seeking the favor will eventually give in to your request. He wants peace – and to get peace, he will acquiesce.
Even though men will become annoyed with you, God will not. He wants you to come before Him and make your request for His blessings, for His gifts.
In this text, when Jesus talks about asking, he is talking about prayer. We seek gifts from God through our prayers. God answers prayers. All we need to do is ask.
Even though we cannot wear God down, He will hear our prayers and respond to our requests. That response may not always be what we expect, but He responds.
The man in the text had a friend. The man knew that he could wear his friend down, therefore, he went seeking his assistance. The text says he eventually got what he sought from his friend.
Many of us have such a person in our life. My daughter was somewhat of a “squeaky wheel”. When she wanted something, she would not give up. She kept coming at me until I gave in.
God is merciful and gracious to us – His creation. He wants to give us good gifts. Therefore, our Lord implores us to go before the Lord God in prayer.
We humans, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to our children, sometimes even when they do not ask. God will do even better for us when we make our petitions to Him in prayer. Continue to make petitions to God.
Some of you are praying for your families in hopes of seeing some change for the better in their lives. It may seem like your prayers are going unanswered. However, don’t give up. God is still in control. God still answers prayers.
My former pastor, who has since gone home to glory, constantly prayed for two things to happen in my life. He prayed that I would get married and that I would go to seminary.
He lived to perform the marriage ceremony, but, unfortunately, he did not live to see me go to seminary. Yes, God did answer his prayers. Even though many years later, I did go to seminary.
God will hear your prayers. He will come to your rescue. Sometimes it may seem to be inordinately long, but God hears your prayers.
Many of the prophets of old prayed for years before getting a response. Some did not even live to see their prayers come to fruition. Notwithstanding that, they did not give up. Even in death, their prayers were answered.
Our Lord says, “And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”
Yes, God will answer your prayer. Amen.
• Reverend Samuel M. Boodle, pastor at the Lutheran Church of Nassau, 119 John F. Kennedy Dr can be reached at P.O. Box N 4794, Nassau, Bahamas; or telephone 426-9084; website: www.nassaulutheranchurch.org.
