Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had 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, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us, and do not subject us to the final test.”
And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend to whom he goes at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey and I have nothing to offer him,’ and he says in reply from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked and my children and I are already in bed. I cannot get up to give you anything.’ I tell you, if he does not get up to give the visitor the loaves because of their friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence.
“And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”
Gospel Trivia:
This parable is found only in the gospel of Luke and talks about Jesus’ teaching on prayer. It tells of a friend who, by his sheer persistence, was able to obtain a piece of bread from his neighbor for an unexpected guest, but only after the neighbor had initially refused to give him any. The word ‘persistence’ in verse 8 comes from the Greek words ‘an’ and ‘aidos,’ which is the old word for “shame.”
Note the following gospel trivia:
- Typically, a house of the poor consists only of the ground floor with the living room doubling as the bedroom. Thus, being in bed and not being able to open the door is a ridiculous excuse since the door is only a few steps away.
- Also, a village would usually just have one oven for the entire community, and people would know who last used it. The friend therefore knew who in the village certainly had bread.
- Most importantly, hospitality was a sacred duty during biblical times. It was the obligation of the whole village, not just the man who actually received the guest, for the guest to be given a suitable welcome. If the neighbor refuses the friend’s request, he will appear stingy and lose face before the entire community, while the friend will lose face in front of his guest.
It was therefore INCONCEIVABLE for the neighbor NOT to give bread to the friend. The parable therefore is NOT about persistence in prayer, but how inconceivable it is for God not to answer our prayers. The neighbor’s reluctance does not represent God’s reluctance, but actually His willingness to answer our prayers.
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