Luke 11:4b-13
He said to them, 4“…And lead us not into temptation.” 5 Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; 6 a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ 7 And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity [yet to preserve his good name] he will surely get up and give you as much as you need. 9 “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. 10 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead?12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 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!” NIV
There’s an interesting combination of ideas in this chapter that begins with the disciples request of Jesus in verse 1; “Lord, teach us to pray.” And He does — right through verse 4: “And lead us not into temptation. ” The “threes” caught my attention because of this request being at “midnight” — the scary dark time, the “shameless audacity” of the request in question [that the NIV footnotes is “yet to preserve his good name”] and those “three loaves.” There was only the one man asking and one guest so why “three loaves?” There’s three other familiar words in this parable that echo Matthew 7: ask, seek and knock! Those three words are the sensible basis of most prayers. They’re the parameters of [1] relationship with God that is based on His Holiness not ours, [2] trusting His desire to meet our needs and [3] His willingness to grant us direct access to Himself. Here’s a BIG idea to ponder about prayer that may explain that request for a third loaf. Jesus wants us to approach Him free from this flawed reasoning. “Perhaps we shouldn’t bother Him with our petty needs. Or perhaps we should come apologetically and timidly, afraid to let Him know what is really on our minds. Maybe once we’ve let our needs be known, we should back off and not bother God again.”[a]
Jesus is teaching us how to pray the [3] Loaf Prayer
[Loaf 1] Ask because of our relationship to the “Friend”
[Loaf 2] Seek the courage to persist in trusting He will respond
[Loaf 3] Knock because “how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him…And lead us not into temptation.”
[a] Approaching God
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