Let’s think
about Luke 11:5-8
5And He said to them, “Which
of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend,
lend me three loaves; 6for a friend of mine has
come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7and he will answer from within and say, ‘Do not trouble
me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and
give to you’? 8I say to you, though he will not rise
and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and
give him as many as he needs.
This
scripture is referred to as a ‘prim-er (for teaching) or ‘Pri-mer (to ignite an
explosive charge) in prayer. Jesus was
teaching his disciples the very basics and power of prayer.
The
Scripture just prior to this Luke 11:1, one of His Disciples said: teach us to pray. Jesus gave them what we call today the Lord’s
Prayer. This was not given to us as a
prayer, but as a lesson in prayer.
The
important thing to understand the Lord’s Prayer was written in the imperative
tense. Why the imperative? It is not that we order God around. We must first understand our roll in
prayer. Nothing is going to happen on
this planet unless we ask first. Through
God’s Son, birth, life, death and resurrection, we become redeemed people to
lift our voices in prayer and change. The
summons in the Lord’s Prayer is that we walk into prayer with authority. When we realize the awesome trust God puts in
us, we will begin to pray the way God wants us to pray~~~In His Will!
Do
you say “just” in your prayers, i.e., I just praise you; just call on your
name, just bring the people, just thank you for today…? “Just” implies we feel we are a problem to
God. We are not a problem to God!! God has given us great dignity and privilege
to come before Him to ASK! He tells us
repeatedly, ASK. The power He has given
us is in the Power of Prayer . . . the same power that raised Jesus Christ from
the dead. When we ask, God’s moves His
hand from Heaven. His promises are
manifested in and through our prayers.
In
verse 8, Jesus says, 8I say to
you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend,
yet because of his persistence (importunity) he will rise and give him
as many as he needs.
Actually
the word persistence is importunity which means Troublesome urgency; excessive
persistence. In Luke
11:8 importunity results in a favorable response to a midnight request for bread (KJV, RSV).
Many modern translations read persistence (NASB ,
NIV, NRSV, REB). The literal meaning
of the term is shamelessness (NEB ;
compare TEV: “not ashamed to keep on asking”). Jesus is telling us to pray to the point,
exactly, specifically, and pray with boldness and authority; shamelessly.
Then
Jesus says: Luke 11:9-10, 9“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given
to you; seek, and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you. 10For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks
finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
Nothing
will happen unless we pray. God gives us
responsibility, privilege and accountability.
Let us go before the Throne of Grace reverently, worshiping, asking
with authority.
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