The Friend at Midnight
“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; a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ 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.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need. 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.””
— Luke 11:5-10 (NIV)
The man knocking is not asking for himself. A traveller has arrived and he has nothing to put on the table. The word behind shameless audacity means exactly that: he is past caring how he looks. It would be easy to read this as God needing to be worn down, and that is not the argument. Jesus is reasoning from the worse case to the better one. If even an annoyed neighbour gets out of bed, the Father is not the one who has to be persuaded.
There are things people stop praying about because it has been too long. Some requests get repeated so often that they start to feel embarrassing. The man in the story was embarrassing too. He is the one Jesus holds up.
Ask Again for the Old Thing
- 1Name the request you gave up on because you had asked too many times.
- 2Ask for it again today, out loud, in plain words.
God, I stopped asking You about some things because I got tired of hearing myself. I am asking again today. Here is the one I keep putting down. Please do not let me confuse Your silence with Your refusal.
I can ask again and not feel foolish for it.
Is the sleeping neighbour meant to be God?
No. Jesus argues from the worse case to the better. If a reluctant neighbour gets up, the Father is not the reluctant one.
What does shameless audacity mean here?
The Greek word describes someone past caring how they look. The man keeps knocking because a guest is waiting.
Who is he asking for?
Not himself. A traveller has arrived at his house and he has nothing to serve.