Luke 11:5-8 -- On Praying with Persistence and Faith

"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?
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.
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."
Luke 11:5-8


I think this is a little bit funny, because Christ here is talking about prayer, and encouraging us, it seems, to keep asking persistently, to the point where a mortal human might get annoyed. The verse after this has the familiar phrase "Ask, and it shall be given you" (verse 9). This advice is given in Luke 18 as well, in the parable of the unjust judge, telling us that the unjust judge wouldn't help the woman because it was right, but because she kept bugging him. I don't think that it means that God needs constant reminders, or that he finds us annoying... I think it is more the idea of being persistent and dedicated. Also, the idea that is repeated later in this chapter (Luke 11) where Christ compares us to God... if we, "being evil" according to verse 13, are willing to feed our children when they ask, how much more willing will God be to grant us good things that we ask for, since he is good?

Today, let's keep asking for things that are good. God loves us more than the friend does in the parable, and he is interested in righteous judgement more than the unjust judge, but persistence is key. Perhaps the lesson is for us more than God even, because it shows that we are all in, that we're committed to something, that we know what we want, and that we have faith that God can and will grant it to us. As long as we are careful to be sure that what we want is a good thing, then God will hear us, and give us according to our desires... although of course, the timing is the Lord's. We still have to keep reading (and working on sticking to the plot) before we get to the happy ending, but it is certainly there, waiting for us. :)