5And He said to them, which of you
shall have a friend and shall go to him at midnight and say to him, Friend, lend
me three loaves,
6for a friend of mine has come from a journey, and I have
nothing to set before him?
7And he answering from inside may say, Do not trouble me.
The door is now shut and my children are in bed with me. 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 importunity he will arise and give
him as many as he needs.
9And I say to you, Ask and it shall be
given you. Seek and you shall find. Knock and it shall be opened to you.
10For everyone who asks receives. And he who seeks finds.
And to him who knocks it shall be opened.
11For what father of you, if the son asks for bread, will
he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a snake for a fish?
12Or if he shall ask for an egg, will he give him a scorpion?
13If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to
your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to
those who ask Him?.
MKJV |
- Before Jesus spoke this parable, He spoke what we know as the Lord's prayer,
as recorded in Luke's gospel. After the parable of the persistent friend,
Jesus instructs us to, “ask, seek and knock,” this is also in Matthew 7:7-11.
So likewise the subject of this parable is dealing with these same subjects.
- importunity can be defined as, "shameless insisting or a troublesome request or
demand", there are several examples of a "shameless persistence" in scripture
healing the Syro-Phoenician woman's daughter,
healing the blind men, etc.
- Likewise, we need to be persistent in prayer, not because we need to convince or
plead with the Father. Please understand that God is a good God and wishes to meet
our requests more then we wish to get to the place where we can receive His blessings.
Jesus gave us the example of asking, seeking and knocking
- Ask and it will be given you, (make your request known to God whatever you ask
believing you shall receive).
- Seek and yea shall find, (seek the Lord, the truth of His Word, and the kingdom of God).
- Knock and it shall be opened unto you, (seize the opportunity and walk through the
open door).
- Likewise, He also spoke a parable to them to teach it is always right to pray,
and not to faint.
Luke 18:1.
- This parable address humility, how badly do we want something?
Are we willing, able, humble enough to do whatever it takes?
- praying always with all prayer and supplication in the
Spirit, and watching to this very thing with all perseverance and supplication
for all saints, Ephesians 3:18.
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