The Parables of Jesus
My BFF @ Midnight
Luke 11:1-13
August 2, 2009
This parable is clearly a parable about prayer. Luke has positioned it after Jesus teaches “The Lord’s Prayer,” and has included the saying about prayer that uses the “ask, seek, and knock,” which Matthew has as part of the Sermon on the Mount. The question though is, “What exactly is the parable teaching us about prayer?” A common belief is that this parable is Jesus teaching us about the need to persist in prayer. Don’t give up knocking on the door but keeping pounding on it (in prayer) until “it” is answered.
But as we will see although this is a very important concept spiritually, this parable is not really about persistence but about God’s character and nature towards those who pray as verses 11-13 indicate. Turn to Lk. 11:1.
An old man was lying on his deathbed. He had only hours to live when he suddenly smelled chocolate chip cookies. He loved chocolate chip cookies more than anything in the world.
With his last bit of energy he pulled himself out of bed, struggled across the floor to the stairs, and headed down the stairs into the kitchen. There his wife was baking those aromatic cookies.
As he reached for one—SMACK! He felt a slap across the back of his hand. His wife scolded, "Leave those alone; they’re for the funeral!"
One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he 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.
Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation.’ "
Then he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, ’Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.’
"Then the one inside answers, ’Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man’s boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs.
"So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
"Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"
The parable is found in verse 6-8. The difficulty that lies in this parable is something that is already taken care of us by the translators who must make an interpretation in order to translate. The NIV says in verse 8 because of the man’s “boldness,” he will get up and give him as much as he needs. Some translations have gone a slightly different direction and translated the word as “persistence” further interpreting the word.
The big problem is that this word, anaideia, is not found anywhere else in the NT. Literally the word should be translated as “Shamelessness.” Now the problem is whether “being shameless” is a negative idea here or positive as the “persistence” translators have concluded. If it is negative then the person has no proper since of shame as a guide to conduct. If it is positive then the person has a proper sense and seeks to act in ways that will not bring shame.
For example, a thief who steals from his mother might be shameless. But also a son might be treat his mother shamelessly because he takes care of his mother’s every need indicating that his actions are without shame or shameless. So which is shameless here? Obviously most of us would normally reserve shamelessness as a negative but would 1st century hearers done so?
There is a thesaurus of Greek words that includes 258 occurrences of anaideia all of which are… can anyone guess? These are occurrences of this word in literature from the time period that is not biblical. Negative or positive? Well, as it turns out all of them a negative. Most NT scholars believe this to be a negative word except when used here. Many have stuck with a positive translation because it becomes difficult to understand what it is about prayer that Jesus is teaching. And they already believe what this parable is about.
Nevertheless, we must view this a negative in terms of the man that comes knocking on your door in the middle of the night as being shameless, which is not hard to imagine, is it? This man has no sense of being embarrassed because he is not prepared to be a hospitable host. He is disregarding what most would consider to be a sense of proper behavior. Who in their right mind wakes up his neighbor at three in the morning to ask for bread? For one, who would have the audacity to disrespectfully wake up your neighbor? And who would do it in the middle of the night and ask for bread that you should already have and if not should just wait until morning?
Shamelessness—positive or negative?
Simply put the person asking for bread in the middle of the night is not admirable but is rude. He does not know or does not care about shame.
By the way does everyone know what BFF is? It is part of the new lingo of texting, which is kind of like shorthand. BFF is “Best Friends Forever.” And now that you know this should be a negative quality, then you know that the sermon title is somewhat sarcastic.
Therefore this parable is not about persistence of prayer. Say it with me, “This parable is not about persistence of prayer.” Most of the time when people talk about persistent prayer, it translates into keep asking over and over until God changes His mind. As if… Often this parable is cited as support but I hope that we have seen that this not the point of the parable.
What is the parable about? What aspect of prayer is Jesus teaching his disciples as well as us?
What IS this parable about?
The Character of God
And specifically it is teaching three main ideas about prayer and God.
• God answers prayer
• God can always be trusted
• God always has our best interests in mind
As the neighbor acts without shame rudely awakens his friend in the middle of the night, how much more so should you seek and expect the help of God. Jesus is not lifting up the bad behavior of the neighbor encourage us to emulate him. Jesus is telling us that if you were awakened in the middle of the night by a shameless neighbor and because of social customs to be a good, loving, and hospitable neighbor you would get up and give this man some break, then how much more so will God do the same for you?
It corresponds with saying at the end of the chapter. If your child asks for a fish, would you give him a snake? Of course not! If your kid asks for an egg, would you give her a scorpion? Of course not! You wouldn’t do that. Nor will God.
Even though we are shameless compared to God, God always has our best interests in mind. God gives us just what we need. God provides. The Lord Provides is God’s name—Jehovah Jireh. If you would help out a shameless neighbor, how much more so will God answer your prayers and requests? God has not just our good interests in mind but has what is best for us. Even when we can’t see that something is in our best interest. Even when we can’t see it, God can. God is all-knowing. Therefore God can always be trusted.
God is good. God is always good and is always trustworthy. God can always be trusted. Ask, Jesus says. God will answer. Maybe not in the way that we want but always in the way that is best. Seek, Jesus says. God will never lead us astray. God will always answer your prayer. With God you will find that God never leaves us nor forsakes us. You will find someone who is always faithful even when everyone else is not.
This parable teaches us that God always, always, always answers prayer. God can always be trusted to hear our prayer and to answer our prayers in a manner that is best for us. He has more in mind than just a fish or bread even when those are all that we ask for.
Indirectly, we can conclude that since God is trustworthy and God always answers prayer in the best way, then we should persist in prayer. But that is different than praying a persistent prayer. In the first, we should never give up on God. We should never give up communing with God in prayer. We never quit praying no matter what life throws at us and no matter how badly we are persecuted. This is being persistent in prayer and we. Since this parable is about unfailing and uncompromising character of God, we can conclude that we should not lose faith and give up on prayer.
But this passage is not about praying a persistent prayer. This type is praying the same prayer over and over until we get the answer that we want. No, that type of praying arrogantly places our will on God’s throne. That type of prayer dictates to God challenging God to serve us rather placing ourselves at God’s disposal. This type of persistent prayer is quite the opposite of the teachings of Jesus.
If among humans a request is granted even when it is rude, then how much more will your heavenly Father respond to your requests. Likewise, Jesus continues that if you grant your own children their simple requests for basic necessities such as food, then how much more so will your heavenly Father respond to your simple requests. This parable is not about the praying person at all. It is about the certainty of a God who hears prayer and responds with what is best for us. This God certainly can be trusted.
Many people hold the belief either consciously or unconsciously that God will not answer prayer. We may say otherwise but our actions confirm that is what we believe. We pray very little or not at all ourselves. We rely on the prayers of others. We believe that God certainly won’t hear our prayers. We see ourselves so negatively that we believe God couldn’t possibly stand to listen to us. We might even believe as the people in Jesus were taught that God only listens to the righteous, who are those that follow all the rules.
Jesus confronts all those misconceptions and says you can pray, this is how you do it (“Our Father”), and God does hear you. God is not out to punish you or play tricks on you by giving you poison when you need and ask for food. You don’t have to jump through all these man-made hoops. Ask, seek, and knock.
As a young man Chris received a lot of speeding tickets before he turned eighteen and then after. One day he received a notice from the DMV that stated if he received one more speeding ticket, his license would be suspended a year. The notice also suggested that he go to the DMV and meet with one of their psychologists.
At the meeting, Chris responded to a comment about the large number of tickets, “Everyone gets speeding tickets.”
“That’s not true,” the psychologist said. “The average person gets only one ticket every four years.”
Christ was amazed. He actually thought that everyone was just like him and got speeding tickets all the time. His misconception was challenged and he changed. So it was as he believed. If you believe God won’t answer prayer, your actions will show it. If you believe God is not trustworthy and is an angry, vengeful, or petty god, then your actions show will it. If you believe that God only answers prayers of certain people, your actions will show it. If you believe God is not concerned about what is in your best interests, then your actions will show it.
Not sure how to pray? Just start talking to God and then try to listen. Listening whether to others or to God is a skill that must be practiced, honed, and refined. It takes time. The point is to just start.
You can always use the tool that Jesus gave us often referred to as “The Lord’s Prayer.” God’s people are a people of prayer. Not a people of one kind of prayer or one way of praying but a people who pray. Jesus invites you to become a person of prayer. He invites you to be one of God’s people. There is only one kind of God’s people: a people of prayer. Pray with me the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray:
