Luke 11:5-10 - Asking

11:5-8

Having given the “formal” teaching on prayer, Jesus now gives two parables which correct wrong attitudes. These two attitudes are (i) God won’t answer; and (ii) God doesn’t like me or will give me something nasty. Most of us are prone to these at least some of the time and to some degree. The first parable involves seeking food from a friend because you have an unexpected visitor in the middle of the night. There are two cultural aspects that we need to be aware of. The first is that food was not as readily available as it is in our society, so not having food to provide for an unexpected visitor is not surprising. Secondly is the importance of hospitality in their culture. It is perhaps also worth mentioning that a house would often have only one room, hence everyone sleeping in the same room.

So the situation isn’t promising, yet the man will give his friend the bread for the sake of peace and quiet, or to preserve his good name (ie not refusing to help a friend). The important thing is that he will provide the bread, but not for particularly honourable reasons.

11:9,10

So if we expect to receive when someone is not well-disposed towards us, how much more should we expect God to give to us. Note also that in v8 Jesus refers to the “shameless audacity” of the man who asked. Prayers do not always have to be polite! Jesus is correcting a wrong view of God, perhaps even an overly religious approach to prayer. And He encourages us to ask, seek and knock. We should be bold, not timid, in prayer.