I remember when I was young being shocked the day my mother called friends and invited our family over to their house.
“Can you do that?” I asked.
“Of course,” my mother said. “They are our friends.”
As time has passed I have seen the truth in that statement. You can be completely honest with friends. You can ask help from friends without inconveniencing them, and you will be welcomed even when you are the one inviting yourself.
In this passage Jesus has begun a lesson on prayer, presenting an outline to prayer that we now know as The Lord’s Prayer. What is the example Jesus gives here? How does the friend at home react to his neighbor? What is the lesson?
We have all experienced the person who nags and pesters and persists in a matter. And most of us have been like the friend who was already in bed – you may not want to do it out of goodness, but you will respond just to get some peace.
This little parable is an example to us on how we should approach God with our prayers. The emphasis from Jesus (in verse 8) is that if we are persistent and bold we will likely get a response from God. Christ’s teaching is that we are supposed to be bold in our approach. This is something I have urged in the past – don’t be afraid to go to God with big requests.
When we pray for other people be willing to ask for a great deal – peace of mind, a new attitude, a change of heart. If someone is sick don’t be afraid to ask for the miracles – ask for complete healing, total restoration. Jesus himself encourages us to be bold.
But what strikes me as well is that the neighbor in need did not go to a stranger. He went to a friend to get his help. It may have been his boldness or his persistence that got the friend to respond, but it was the friendship which paved the way for the request to begin with.
So it is with God. We are urged to be bold in our prayers to God, but I think we also need to remember that when we are approaching the Lord in prayer we are approaching a friend. We give God lofty titles – Mighty God, Lord, Almighty, Jehovah, King. These words might intimidate us and make us shrink away from asking too much.
God is indeed all of those things that we ascribe to Him, but He is also a friend who waits for us to be bold enough to ask.
DAILY CHALLENGE: What is your attitude in prayer?
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