LUKE 11:5-10 GOD IS BETTER THAN A FRIEND2012 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Luke 11:5-10 God Is Better Than A Friend

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You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2012.

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Well, as we look at this portion of scripture this morning, the question I would begin with for you is, what is the biggest favor that you have asked of a friend? If you could think back to maybe recent history or distant history, what are those big requests that you've had, those big favors or needs that you've had that you've presented to the people around you?

00:39
I threw out this question on Facebook yesterday just to get a variety of responses and it varied from, you know, asking to borrow some money, you know, that could be a big request, right? Hey, can I borrow, you know, $100 or $20? Can you buy me lunch? You know, that's kind of big request sometimes too, depending on how much you eat.

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One person said, you know, one of the biggest favors was to be a godparent for my children and the responsibility for that. It's a big responsibility, a big favor.

01:09
Joanna shared that, you know, hey, one of the biggest favors that we ask is we have to ask for rides every time we come into town, you know, to get picked up at the airport, to borrow someone's car. And then she went on to share about, you know, asking people to house her kids, Zach and Hannah, you know, living with Pastor Cisco. And those are big favors to ask, you know, to take care of my kids while we're in another country.

01:32
Other suggestions or other thoughts were, you know, house sitting or puppy sitting. Susan's was kind of personal, like helping Eric to get ready for chemo when he was unable to prepare himself. And you can understand how that would be a big favor, a big request. And there's those requests that we have because you and I, well, we have needs and

01:53
And we are unable in our lives to meet all of our needs. We're unable to do everything on our own. And so there's those situations that we come to where we need help. And so often we turn to people around us, friends and family, and we say, can you please help me in this situation that I'm in? And you probably kind of work through, maybe you don't do it on purpose, but you kind of work through an evaluation of, well,

02:23
How close is this friend? You know, how much can this friendship stand? Or how much stress can I put on this friendship? Is this request too great for this friendship I have? Maybe I need to ask somebody else to help me with this favor. Because, you know, there's a difference based on our friendships of what can be asked of one another and how much we can put upon one another.

02:48
Well, that idea of asking favors and asking for help with our needs of the people around us, we're looking at today not about our friendships, but really connecting that and relating that to our relationship with God. And we're continuing the subject we began last week at the beginning of chapter 11, where we saw Jesus give us the pattern and the model for prayer.

03:13
And so we're talking about prayer today and asking things of God, presenting our needs and requests before God. And to help us understand this idea, Jesus gives us an illustration in today's passage. Now,

03:30
You need to understand, it's really important to know that this is an illustration by contrast. And so he gives an illustration of a friend, but what we'll see is that God is better than a friend. And that's what I've titled the message for this morning. God is better than a friend. And so as Jesus gives this illustration, we have the contrast of this friend in the story here.

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Our God, who is far greater than a friend. And so there's four points I'd like to highlight for you from this illustration that Jesus gives. The first thing that we find is in verse 5 and 6, and that is, it is never too late to ask. Looking at the contrast, in dealing with God in prayer and presenting our request to God, you need to know that it is never too late to

04:27
Look with me once again at verse 5. It says, Jesus here introduces this account for us with two friends, neighbors really,

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One neighbor, one friend, he has someone come to him on a journey, but he doesn't have any food to provide for him. It's late at night, it's midnight, and so he goes next door, and he knocks on the door, and he says, hey, can you loan me some bread? Help me out. I have a friend who's traveling, and I don't have any bread to give him.

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But Jesus is pointing out that this is happening at midnight. And we'll see here in this account, the friend, the neighbor says, hey, it's too late. It's too late at night for me to help you with this request, with this need. And in contrast to the friend in this account, this illustration that Jesus is giving, as we look at God, we need to know it's never too late.

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But I'm sure you can relate to what's happening in this account, right? Because there are times in your life when you feel it is inappropriate to knock on the door or maybe call someone or send them a text message. How late is too late for you? How late is too late for people to show up at your house and knock on your door? Well, I think as you're considering that, we would kind of

06:19
consider, well, it depends on the need, right? I mean, if it's an emergency, people's lives are on the line. Well, of course, you can come, ring the doorbell, knock on the door. You know, in an emergency, that's an understandable circumstance. But if you're coming to borrow some butter, perhaps midnight is not the best time. Might not be the best opportunity to come and knock on the door. It also depends on who it is.

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If it's someone you know really well, well, the time might be different than someone you never met before or just met. On Friday, we were passing out flyers around my neighborhood and Alfred was with me as we were going door to door. And we went to one door. It was about 8.15 p.m.

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And I noted the time carefully because when I knocked on the door, nobody was responding and we were thinking, like many of the homes, that nobody was there. Until finally we saw out the window, we saw a pair of fingers and they pulled down the blinds and you just, we just saw an eye, you know, looking at us. I was like, hi, you know, we just want to invite you out to church on Sunday. We have in the Harvest America event, you know, I'm trying to, you know, encourage them to come and at least open the door so we can give them a flyer and

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And she says, we're all in bed already. Go away. And I'm looking at my clock like 8.15. Wow, you guys go to bed early. I don't know if they really were. They were just trying to get rid of us. But it depends on who it is, right? Some stranger comes to your door. Yeah, you're less inclined to say, oh, come on in. But someone you know really well, well, that time changes. When's too late or when it's appropriate is flexible based on who it is. And then also,

08:05
what it's for, right? I don't know about you, but sometimes we get at our house, salespeople come to the house, of course, all the time, but sometimes they come as late as like nine o'clock at night. And it just is like, I don't know. I don't know why. It just bothers me. It irritates me. It's like, it's nine o'clock at night. Why are you trying to, you know, sell me something? I know it's the end of your day. You're trying to get that final sale. And so foolishly, you go knock on my door. You know, that's not a smart move.

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How late is too late for people to come knock at your door? Well, midnight is really late in Jesus' day as well as today. And that's what's happening here. The friend comes at midnight. There are times when you feel that it's inappropriate or rude.

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To knock on the door or to call up the friend. You know, you have different friends who you know you can call them at midnight and that's okay. That'd be fine. They wouldn't be bothered by it at all. Others, you know, oh man, it's after eight o'clock. You can't call Pastor George. He's in bed already. Just kidding. You know, you know those times, right? You have those thresholds that you work with.

09:12
And again, that was the same in Jesus' day. But sometimes the need outweighs that threshold. And so, hey, it's midnight, but I'm sorry, there's an emergency or this is an urgent need and we need you to pray. We need this kind of help, whatever it might be. Now, to understand this illustration that Jesus is giving,

09:34
The culture in Jesus's day and even to today that the Middle Eastern culture really have a strong emphasis on hospitality. And so it was a real obligation that whenever a guest showed up, it didn't matter what time they showed up, but when you had a guest arrive and you were hosting them, then you were responsible to provide them with food.

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That it would be expected. The first thing you do is say, come on in, I'll set the table and feed you. That was the expectation. So whenever they showed up, if it was unexpected or not, that was the obligation. That was what was expected. And so in this illustration that Jesus is describing here, you can understand that. It was more rude to not have food than to knock on your neighbor's door at midnight.

10:29
It was more rude to not be able to provide something. And so he says, I got to get some food. I'll try my neighbor. Now, it's a whole different context for us, right? We live in a different environment. You show up at my door at midnight. I might not have food for you, but I'll say, hey, let's go to Denny's. You know, they're open 24 hours. Or I'd say, hey, let's go to Walmart. We can pick up some food and come back and make it. They're open 24 hours. And I would do those things

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Hours before, you know, a long time before I would ever go knock on my neighbor's door at midnight. It just, I just can't even imagine that today. Maybe that's just me. But in Jesus's culture, it was expected. They didn't have the Walmart. They didn't have Denny's. And so in desperation, he goes next door. He knocks on the door, but the neighbor says, it's too late.

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Now again, this is an illustration by contrast. So the friend says, midnight is too late. You can't come knock on my door at that time. It's too late to ask me for something. But as we relate this to prayer and understand the point that Jesus is making, we understand that what he is saying is that God would say, it's never too late. The hour is never too late to call out to God and to ask God for help.

11:49
You could look at that as the time of day. So God's up at midnight. You're not going to disturb him or wake him. It's not going to be, you know, surprising to him if you knock on the door and ask from him at midnight or at three o'clock in the morning or at four o'clock in the morning. Whatever time of day, of course, God is available. But I would extend that also to your time of life. And so it perhaps could be late in your life.

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And I would suggest to you that God says, it's not too late for you to ask. It's not too late. You're not too old. It's not too late. Yeah, maybe you've been running from God for many years, but it's not too late. And maybe you've been ignoring God for a long time, but it's not too late that God still invites you to come and ask. Or maybe it's late in a situation.

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You know, you have a certain set of circumstances, a certain need is presented before you, and you've tried everything else that you can think of. And so often we do that. We try all the things that we can think of, and then our last resort is prayer. And we know better. We kind of scold ourselves about it. But at the same time, I would say, even when you've forgotten to pray early, when you're there at the last resort,

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You've tried everything else. It's still not too late to ask God for help. It's still not too late to present your requests to God. We studied the book of Jeremiah on Wednesday evenings. It's about two years ago now, I think. And it always amazed me because the prophet Jeremiah was prophesying in Jerusalem up to the destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon.

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And God was using Babylon to destroy Jerusalem because, well, Israel had turned against God and had been in full-on rebellion against God. And so the prophet Jeremiah was calling the people to repentance. And it's amazing because right into the very end, into the final days before Jerusalem was destroyed, God, through Jeremiah, was saying, I'll deliver you.

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I'll save you from Babylon. I'll do an incredible work and redeem you if you turn from your sin and call out to me. It's amazing. It was very late in the situation and they'd been rebelling against God for a long time, but God said, it's not too late. Call out to me. And so as we see this illustration that Jesus is giving, it's highlighting for us that it's never too late to ask God. The psalmist in Psalm 121 says,

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He said, I will lift up my eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. And I like verse 3. It says, He will not allow your foot to be moved. He who keeps you will not slumber. It's not too late. God's not sleeping. You're not waking him up.

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It's time to call out to Him because it's never too late. And the point that Jesus is bringing us to down into verse 9, He says, so I say to you, ask. And so that's the point this morning. That's where all this is going. It's never too late to ask God. So ask. Call out to Him and present your needs to Him.

15:27
Well, as we consider this illustration further in verse 7, we find the second point. And that is that it's never too much trouble to ask. It's never too much trouble to ask. Verse 7, now the neighbor responds. Here's the guy knocking at the door. Hey, I need some bread. Can you help me? And the neighbor responds in verse 7. It says, and he will answer from within and say, do not trouble me. Do not trouble me.

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is the response. In essence, the neighbor says, no, I can't help you. Don't bother me. This word trouble, it could be translated to beat. And it's the idea of beating the chest with sorrow or grief. It could also be translated as labor or trouble. But the idea of beating the chest with grief kind of stood out to me and kind of thought it was interesting.

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It reminded me of those times, and maybe you're familiar with that. It's those times where somebody's asking for something, or there's something that you have to do, and you know you have to do it, but you really don't want to do it. I don't know about you, but for me, you know, once I lay down in bed, I don't want to get up again. It's like I'm settled, I'm down, you know, it's going to take something major to get me up again. And I think, oh man, I forgot to take the trash out to the street today. Oh man.

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And I say, oh well, and I roll over. But then Kim goes, hey, did you take the trash out to the street today? Oh, fine. You know, I'll do it if I have to. You know, I'm not really excited about it. I'm quite frustrated by it. I know it needs to be done. Okay, fine, I'll do it. I'm beating the chest with grief. Like, oh, it's like torture. It's terrible. That's kind of the idea here. He says, do not trouble me.

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Don't cause me to beat my chest with grief. I'm already settled here. I mean, things are already set. It's also the idea of causing more work for someone. Don't cause more work for me. I've already got enough on my plate, the neighbor is saying. I don't need more work to do. This is going to be a pain to answer your request. To do what you want me to do, it's going to be too much work, too much trouble.

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Recently we had trouble with our water heater at home and I'm not much of a handyman but I took a look at it anyways and banged on it with a hammer a couple times and said yeah it's not working. So I called out a plumber and the plumber came out and I was all excited. Kim was still asleep. I got up early. I called out the plumber. The plumber is there like in 15 minutes. I was like this is great.

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Then later on, she checks with her parents. And I don't know if you know, but my stepdad's a contractor. So he was like, I could have done that for free. Not only that, but this guy ripped you off. He charged you way too much. I was like, oh man. But I didn't want inconvenience. I didn't want to cause trouble. Make more work for you. I know you're busy. And so we have those times where you feel like, oh, this is too much to ask.

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I don't want to trouble someone with this request. I don't want to add work to them. Or you don't want to ask because you know, well, they'll do it, but they're going to be beating their chest with grief and saying, oh man, I hate to do this, but fine, I'll do it for you. The guy answered from within the house and said, do not trouble me. Now, in illustrating prayer, again, this is in contrast to God.

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So when you come to God with a request, this is not how God responds. Thank goodness, right? I mean, God's so gracious towards us. He doesn't respond like you or I. He doesn't respond like our neighbors. It's not too much trouble. In fact, God says, cast your cares upon me. He invites you. Bring on the trouble. Bring it on. 1 Peter chapter 5 verse 7 says,

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Peter says, cast all your care upon him because he cares for you. So you never need to feel like you cannot ask God because it's too much trouble. Sometimes we think that about God though, don't we? But it's like, you know, God has so much more important things to do than, you know, help me with this flat tire. He's got so much more important things to do than help me with this bill. He's got so, I mean, bigger fish to fry, right?

20:27
More important things to pay attention to. I mean, someone's got to hold those stars in place. It's too much trouble to ask. But that's not true. God invites us. He says, cast your care upon me. Now the friend in this illustration that Jesus is giving, he will eventually do it. But it will be kind of out of frustration. Just to stop the irritation. But God is not like that. He invites you to ask.

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And so the point, again, coming down to verse 9, Jesus says, So I say to you, ask. Because it's not too much trouble. You're not frustrating God. You're not causing Him to beat His chest with grief. You're not making more work for Him. He invites you to ask. So ask. Well, continuing on here in verse 7, we have the third point today that we learn about God. And the third point is, the door to ask is never shut.

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The door to ask God, to present your request to God, it's not closed. It's never closed. Again, looking at verse 7, he says, do not trouble me. The door is now shut. The neighbor says, hey, the door is closed. Don't bother me. Go away. Now, again, looking at the culture and understanding how they would have perceived and understood this account, in their day, they would keep the door open all day long.

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And so it would be an indication, hey, the door is open, you know, come on in, you're welcome, we'd love to talk with you, we'd love to hang out with you. It was an open invitation. When they closed the door, that meant, hey, the door is closed, don't bother me. It's like, you know, when you and I put a do not disturb sign on the door.

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You and I, we don't, I don't think anyways, you know, we don't normally have our doors just kind of wide open, right, all day long. If we do, we also have a screen door, but that's closed. But they had their doors open saying, yeah, come on in, let's talk, let's hang out. But when the door was closed, that meant, don't bother, we're settled in here. And you know, with you and I, there are times when we feel that the door is shut and

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In regard to those favors that we would ask of people around us. Where we would feel it's not even appropriate for us to ask. You know, sometimes you figure, well, I mean, all I can do is ask. It doesn't hurt to ask. And they might say no, but at least I've asked. But sometimes we have those situations where we feel like it's not even appropriate to ask. We can't even do that. Maybe for a couple reasons, you know. Maybe because you've already asked so much.

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You went to your neighbor and said, hey, excuse me, can I borrow some butter? Oh, sure, here's some butter. Okay, thank you. And you come back five minutes later, hey, can I borrow some sugar? Okay, sure, here's some sugar. And then you come back five minutes later, can I borrow some brown sugar? And then at that time, it's like, okay, what else do you need? Just tell me everything you want, and then we can try to give it to you. But stop coming back here every five minutes.

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And so you might feel like, hey, you've already asked so much. You know, the friend already loaned you money and gave you a ride. Now to ask them, you know, to do something else. It's too much to ask. The door is shut. Or maybe you feel like the door is shut because, well, you've recently hurt them. You've had some type of disagreement or some tension between you. There's some issue hanging over your heads. And so you feel like, man, the door is shut. I can't ask for help in this area because...

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We've got this outstanding issue going on. I've already hurt them so badly. The friend in this illustration tells the guy in need, he says, hey, the door is shut. But again, this is in contrast to God. With God, as you have needs, as you have requests, God says, look, my door is always open. It's not shut.

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The door is open. It's an open invitation to come and bring your requests, bring your needs. Well, what if I've been ignoring God? God would still say, the door is open. He doesn't respond to us like we respond to each other. You know, we have friendships with one another and hey, if you've been ignoring me, well, don't come asking me for help. Or if you ignore my advice, hey, don't come crawling back to me. But God's not like that. Hey, if you've ignored his advice, the door is still open.

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He still invites you to come back, to ask, to meet with Him. If you've been running from God, if you've been rebelling against God, if you've fallen into sin, sometimes we get the kind of the religion mentality like, okay, now if I build up enough good works, then I'll earn the right to come back to God. But that's completely unbiblical. You have access to God. The door is open. And you know why?

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It's because Jesus says in John chapter 10 verse 9, I am the door. The reason why the door is open is because Jesus is the door. He is the way, the truth, and the life. He is our access to God. There's an incredible portion of scripture. If you're not familiar with it, make sure you write it down and get familiar with it. Hebrews chapter 10 verses 19 through 23.

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Here's a couple thoughts from that passage. The author of Hebrews says, Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus. Now what he's talking about here, the holiest was that place within the tabernacle or within the temple where the Ark of the Covenant was and where the presence of God would dwell. And remember the tabernacle is divided into two parts. You had the holy place and

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Where the priest would go and there was the lampstand and the table and the priest would serve the Lord there in the holy place. But then the most holy place, nobody was allowed to go except for the high priest and only one time a year. Now the reason why they were only allowed to go that one time a year is because that's where the presence of God dwelt. That's where he said, I'm going to meet with my people and my presence will be there.

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Now what the author of Hebrews is saying is that we have boldness to enter the holiest. That is that room where the presence of God is. You have boldness to enter the holiest, he says, by the blood of Jesus. Now the priest would enter into the holiest with great timidity because although they offered the sacrifice, well, they were entering into the holy presence of God and if

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If they weren't right with God, they would be killed instantly as a result of sin. But the author of Hebrews is saying, look, you are a sinful person, but by the blood of Jesus, your sin has been forgiven. By faith in Jesus Christ, you've been washed, you've been cleansed. And so now you have boldness to enter into the presence of God.

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In verse 20 of Hebrews 10, he says, it's by a new and living way which he consecrated for us through the veil that is his flesh. And so in between these two rooms in the tabernacle was a veil. And that veil, when Jesus was crucified upon the cross, was torn in two from top to bottom. God took the veil and just went, to indicate to us, to show us,

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Access has been granted. You have boldness now to enter into the presence of God because Jesus died upon the cross. And so the conclusion that the author of Hebrews comes to in verse 22, he says, let us draw near. So he says, look, the way has been opened. You've been forgiven. You have access to the throne room of God. So what should you do? Take advantage of that.

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Grasp hold of the grace of God, the forgiveness of God, and draw near. Enter into the presence of God. The door is open. The veil is torn. Jesus, being the door, has made the way so that you can come to the very throne room of God, to the presence of God, and present your requests and your needs. And so Jesus says in verse 9, So I say to you, ask. The door is open. So ask God.

30:27
Well, the fourth point we find as we continue on in verse 7, as we look at this example, we see that for God, it's never too inconvenient to ask. It's never too inconvenient. Now, in verse 7, there at the end, he says, Do not trouble me. The door is now shut. And notice, And my children are with me in bed. I cannot rise and give to you. So now the friend continues on from within the house, and he says, Look, I'm already in bed. The kids are in bed.

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It's too much inconvenience for me to get up and meet your need. Now again, understanding the culture, their homes were not like our homes. Our homes usually we have, you know, kind of a main room and a kitchen and sometimes a dining room, couple bedrooms, bathrooms, that kind of thing. Their homes consisted of one room.

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And so the family would all sleep together in that room. And oftentimes when it was cold and, you know, they didn't have much livestock, they would bring the animals inside as well. They would all sleep in the house together. So you could understand then, you know, how long it would take you to get settled. Get all the kids in there, get everybody settled, get the animals in there. It's all nice and quiet. Now it's midnight and here comes this guy knocking at the door.

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Now, for this person to respond to this guy's request, the whole house is going to be disturbed. The kids are going to wake up. The animals are going to start moving around again and making their noise. It's going to be a great inconvenience. It's not just, you know, kind of sneaking out to the kitchen and grabbing a couple of things and just quietly shoveling it out the door. But the whole house is going to be disturbed. And then they're going to have to settle down again. It's just too much inconvenience.

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They can wait a couple hours and eat in the morning. There are times when you have needs, where you feel it's just too inconvenient to ask somebody. You know, you ask for a ride, but you're kind of like asking, well, if it's on your way, you know, if it's not an inconvenience, you know, could you give me a ride? Now, there's some people that you could ask a ride for even if it was an inconvenience.

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And again, there's that evaluation that we do. Can this friendship handle this kind of inconvenience, this kind of request? Hey, can I trouble you for a ride to the store? And most of your friends would be like, oh yeah, no problem. Let's go. Can I trouble you for a ride to the airport? Now maybe there's a little bit less of your friends. Oh, that's going to be a lot of inconvenience. Gas money, traffic, time, got to worry about the kids. Now the people available has been reduced.

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Because of the inconvenience. Or you say, hey, can I get a ride to New York? You know, maybe you got one friend who would drive you to New York, right? But it depends on how much inconvenience it is and what kind of friend it is. Last year when I had my foot broken and I was on crutches and off the foot for such a long time, oh, I hated that feeling of just being such an inconvenience, you know?

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Kim had to like take care of so many things and carry me around all day. No, she didn't carry me around, but it felt like that. Like it's just, man, I'm just such a burden on everybody. And even like to get here to church, you know, I was bugging George for a ride every week and every ride, every time I'd be like, George, I'm sorry. You know, I just, I felt so bad to be such an inconvenience, you know, couldn't help set up or clean up and everything.

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You know what that's like. And we have these needs, these situations. Oh, but I don't want to be an inconvenience to people. Well, this friend here says, hey, it's too inconvenient. I don't want to wake the kids and get everybody all disrupted and then try to get them settled again. By that time, it's going to be almost morning and I could have just got you your bread at that time. But with God, as Jesus is dealing with the subject of prayer, the point is, it's never too inconvenient.

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God's not saying, man, I wish you wouldn't bother me with these kinds of things. I've got so much other stuff to do and to help you with this, I'm going to have to shuffle these things and juggle these things over here. I always love Romans chapter 8 verse 32. Romans 8 31, we know, right? If God's for us, who can be against us? That's a great verse. Verse 32, in my mind, it's an even better verse.

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Romans 8.32 says, He who did not spare his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he, not with him also, freely give us all things? Here's what Paul is saying. He says, Jesus died upon the cross. God didn't spare his own son. So how would he then not freely give you all things? It would be kind of like this. I would go up to George and I would say, George, can I borrow $4 billion?

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And George says, no problem, friend. That's not inconvenient at all. And so he gives me $4 billion. And I go, oh, George, I'm sorry. I need two more cents. Can you give me two more cents? And George says, what are you, crazy? Of course. If he's going to be able to give me $4 billion, he's going to give me two more cents, right? I mean, it's like, oh, yeah, no problem. Here you go. Two pennies.

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that's kind of the proportions except for it's far greater. But the idea that God, He didn't spare His only begotten Son. He sent Jesus to be crucified for your sin, for my sin. He already paid our biggest debt. He met our biggest need by offering us forgiveness of sin, by giving us the opportunity of eternal life.

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All these other things that we need, I know they're big in our minds. And we look at these huge problems we have and we go, I don't know how God ever is going to do this. It's going to take all of His might and all of His power to pay this bill. But in reality, it's like those are just pennies. It's like, it's nothing. Your biggest need, He already took care of. So how would He not then also take care of all your other needs that are so minuscule compared to what He's already provided?

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It's not too inconvenient to ask. He's already met your biggest need. So your friend drives you to New York and you say, hey, could you take me one street further? Well, yeah, I've already taken you this way. Might as well take you the rest of the way. In the same way, when we come to God with our requests, it's not too inconvenient. He's already provided. He's already met the biggest need. So the point Jesus comes to in verse 9 is, so I say to you, ask.

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It's not too inconvenient. You see, in this illustration, Jesus is expressing, he's saying, God is better than a friend. A friend might say, hey, it's too late. It's too much trouble. The door is shut. It's too inconvenient. I can't help you. But God is not that way. Well, in verse 8 says,

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Jesus concludes the illustration saying, I 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. So here the friend has said no. That's it. No. I can't help you. Sorry. Go away. But Jesus is explaining, look, the guy doesn't go away though. He just keeps on knocking persistently. And that word persistent, it's the idea of like a shameless persistence.

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He knocks on the door. Hey, can I borrow some bread? No, go away. Hey, can I borrow some bread? I need some bread. Go away. No, I need some bread. Can you give me some bread? Just persisting, you know, shamelessly, boldly. And finally, the guy's like, well, this guy's never going to go away. What am I going to do? The kids are already awake. You know, the whole house is already disrupted. Okay, fine. I'll give you some bread. I'll answer your request.

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Now again, this is illustration by contrast. The friend did not want to help, but finally did out of frustration just to make him stop asking. God, on the other hand, wants to help. He wants to help. It's not too late. It's not inconvenient. The door is not shut. It's not too much trouble. He wants to help. So Jesus' point is, ask.

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And it will be given to you. Verse 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. Ask, he says. Seek. Knock. God invites you. Knock on his door. Ask him for help. Present your requests. Now, the words ask and seek and knock are all in the present tense, which literally could be translated, ask and keep on asking.

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knock and keep on knocking seek and keep on seeking and so we have this idea of this persistence like the friend who keeps knocking at the door persistently and the neighbor says i don't want to help but fine i will because you're so persistent now that's not illustrating how god is that you know fine you keep on asking all right fine i'll give you what you want i'll answer your prayer no god's wanting to help he's willing to help

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But he also tells us to be persistent and to keep on asking and keep on seeking and keep on knocking. So why is persistence required? Why does he command us to keep on asking? I like what David Guzik has to say about that. He says, our persistence doesn't change God. It changes us. Developing in us a heart and a passion for what God wants.

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You see, the command to keep on asking and keep on seeking and keep on knocking isn't so that finally we can convince God to, you know, give in. And although you might be frustrated, God, you might not want to do it, but just do it, please. That's not how it works with God. He doesn't get frustrated by our persistence. He welcomes it. He enjoys it because it's through our persistence that

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That we're connecting with Him and He's connecting with us and He's changing us and transforming us through this relationship where we continue to come back to Him to ask and to seek and to knock. So ask and keep on asking. In verse 10 He says, For everyone who asks, receives. And he who seeks, finds. And to him who knocks, it will be opened. He says ask, it will be given. Because everyone who asks, receives.

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Now some will try to take this and make it say something that Jesus is not saying. They try to take it too far and say, this means that whatever you pray for, God is obligated to give you. So God, give me the Mercedes. And now God's obligated because you asked and he said it will be given to you. Now that is taking it too far. It's way out of context in that way. Because remember the prayer that we just studied last week and the few verses before it.

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In that model, in that pattern, Jesus taught us to pray, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And to pray that prayer, well, we are saying, God, I submit to your will. Prayer is not about getting God to conform to our will. It's exactly the opposite. So it's not, God, you're my, you know, wonderful genie, and you got to give me everything I wish for. Because everyone who asks, receives.

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That's not what Jesus is saying. Persistence is important because it brings you in alignment with God's will. Think about it this way. In the illustration that Jesus is giving and asking a friend for a favor, for some help. If you're asking a friend to do something wrong, to do something illegal, if it's a good friend, you know, they're not going to be persuaded by your persistence. Please, please rob this bank for me.

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And then the next day, come on, please, man, just do it. Just rob the bank for me. Well, it doesn't really matter if you're persistent. They're not going to break the law. They're not going to do something illegal for you. In the same way, persistence with God doesn't make him do something that's wrong for you, that's bad for you. God wants what's best for you, and that's what his will is.

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And so as we are persistently praying for Him, it's not bending His will to ours. It's transforming our will to be aligned with His. So that He can answer the prayer with what is best for us. As we keep on asking, we receive. Because He's changing us. He's working in us to bring us in alignment with His will. So the point is, so I say to you, ask. Keep on asking.

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God invites you to do so. I want to close with one final verse from Philippians chapter 4. It's a verse you're probably familiar with. Verse 6 and 7, Paul says, be anxious for nothing. You want to know what it is that you're to be praying for? Here, Paul gives us a good clue. Whatever causes you anxiety, whatever you're worried about, burdened over, stressed about, whatever you're anxious about,

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Well, that's a great start. Present that to the Lord. He says, be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And then God will grant all of your wishes and give you everything you ask for. Is that what it says? No, it doesn't say that. He says, let your requests be made known to God. Present those to God. That's what we're called to do. Ask and keep on asking.

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But what Paul says in verse 7 of Philippians 4, he says, And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. So what does he say? When you ask, here's the promise, God will give you peace. He's going to be working within you. Again, he's going to be transforming you. That process of persistence in asking is necessary for us so that God gives us peace and he aligns us with his will.

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so that He can do what is best for us. So ask and keep on asking. Don't be anxious, but present your request to God. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank You for this insight from Jesus to teach us, to remind us, to call out to You, to cry out to You, and to present our request to You. Lord, we hold back sometimes.

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Because we've sinned. Because we've blown it. Because we feel like we haven't deserved it or earned it. Because we feel like it's too much of a bother or too much trouble or too inconvenient. Yet God, those are all just excuses that keep us from obeying you and asking. And so God, I pray that you would help us to ask. That you would help us to be faithful and diligent. To not be anxious. To not worry and stress. But to take each of those things that cause us anxiety and

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And present them to you. That we would cast our cares upon you. Because you care for us. And so Lord we want to do that now. Let's take this time and just spend a few moments of quietness in your own heart. Just whatever requests you have. Whatever anxieties you have. Let's just present those to the Lord right now. And Lord thank you that the door is open. That we can come to you with these requests. Because of what Christ has done for us upon the cross.

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God, you're so good to us. And Lord, we don't want to demand that you do things our way. But Lord, we do have these needs. But I pray that you would meet each and every one according to your will, the way that you desire to, because we know ultimately that's what's best for us. And so we submit ourselves to you. And I pray, God, that you would give us peace, peace that passes understanding, that doesn't make sense, as you transform our hearts.

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And bring us into alignment with your will. That we could be more and more like you. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.