“And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.
And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.
And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him? And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.
And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” - (Lk 11:1-13) KJV
– The Parable of the Friend at Midnight
Last weeks post was about death, it happened to be posted on a Black Friday, and we also got to talk about the deal of a lifetime, the free giveaway of eternal life! :-)
Hallelujah!
So death is fine, and eternity is secure, but what about this thing called living? Can we do it any better? We need a lot of help… don’t we also have a Helper ? – so how should we go about living? How do we make sure that the coupon we are holding for Heaven is good? All good questions… lets take a look!
CONTEXT:
The parable is presented as given to us by the gospel writer Luke, and we are fortunate that we are able to reproduce it completely above.
Now the Paternoster, Disciples Prayer, Lords Prayer – whatever name you know those verses by, has been studied enough ....
( & we did a little one of our own on what that prayer teaches us about Parenting - http://tabernacleoftheholyspirit.org/…/75-parenting-a-g… )
…we will not go into detail there – but please just note:
1. that in the prayer model, there is no "I". The prayers are for the benefit of ALL!
2. If day by day just this petition were granted, it is enough for us!
3. Since His kingdom has not come in the world as it should (yet), we should note that we are still to pray for things that might be delayed.
But apart from this, we (as humans) are to earnestly seek a peaceful existence (the other items in the prayer)!
All well and good, but now what about the parable itself? After its telling, our Lord reinforces the fact about praying … ASK!!SEEK!!KNOCK!! And then, He seems to wrap it all up by, making a direct reference to the giving of the Holy Spirit as akin to asking and being given bread, fish, eggs (good gifts).
Well, the pot is now fully stirred, so we ask as always, what is the key message of the parable(s)? (Actually there are three in here… the friend, the asking for food by our kids being similar/parabolic to, the asking for the Spirit, and a related one - parable of the persistent widow/unjust judge further on in the gospel)… close your eyes, and think about it…..
KEY MESSAGE : God’s Revelation of Himself to you is in direct proportion to the earnestness with which you desire Him!
The solemnity of the model prayer seems to segue into the most comical scene we can imagine… Mr. X in pajamas and cap, all tucked in nice and snug, happily snoring, when there is this dratted banging on the door! Its midnight…(We are TOLD that..!)… and it’s that christian disciple from next door. What’s he want now? Oh… an unexpected visitor? Oh all right……… whatever……….
In fact, if we take the parable literally, here are the last words --- .” I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, --because he is his friend--, yet because of his -importunity- he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.” Even if God is not inclined to friendship yet ---- but because of your need and boldness/persistence --- He WILL STILL be a friend to you! Imagine when He calls you Friend!..... but we digress..
How earnestly do we pray the Paternoster/Lords/Disciples Prayer? It comes out rolling almost automatically, even to the “and thine is the kingdom etc… (not found in the better manuscripts, probably added later). Do we really emotionally invest in each sentence? Probably not….
How is the search for God going? For some, its great… time in prayer, time in the Word, good fellowship, fulfilling ministry and service. Others may not be active in service, but are working to love their fellow man as much as they possibly can.
Others, rebel – the “guilt trip” of religion is the stumbling block for them, but they will not look to lift the curtain and see if there is indeed an Oz behind it (as they think). They have no incentive to be proven wrong, that would interfere with their self-directed enjoyment of all life has to offer, and make them accountable for their actions. It is so much more convenient to pooh pooh the evidence in front of their eyes… only God can heal them - because logic will NOT do it friends!
For the rest of us, we are afraid that the day to day business of living has rendered God almost irrelevant in our lives, other than as a source of comfort that all will work out in the end. The teachings of the Bible seem to be hopelessly antiquated and irrelevant. A technological onslaught on our attention spans has glued our eyeballs to “entertainment” (a term more and more broadly defined nowadays) served up on little screens that control our lives and feelings. Amidst all those voices, how much airtime does God get?
We ourselves are a witness, that armed all only with the Bible, the Spirit of God, and some good commentaries, the time spent in His Word yields riches that are beyond description. The fun of suddenly being shown something and going ...w..o..o..o..a...a...a...h ... :-) !!!
God, the Holy Spirit is real. He will live with you, guide you in His Word, prompt passages to your recollection, and give you real comfort in all situations. BUT, you do have to hang out with Him to do it!
Now this doesn’t mean we are to be perfect, and holy, and only then can the Holy Spirit descend on us. He is for everyone – not just the faith healers, or miracle workers, or silver tongued evangelists – He is FOR EVERYONE! If He can descend on pagans just making a confession of faith, before they have ever done ONE good deed in their lives, don’t you think He can make His Home with you? Dont worry about your sin - A. He knows and paid for it B. If it didnt discourage Him from loving you then, it wont now!
Here’s the clincher!!!
Christ says, almost nonchalantly, “You – being evil – know how to give good gifts.” The holiest of us is blacker than evil in Gods sight! So don't think you aren't Holy enough for the Spirit not to live within you!!!
But even we, in our depravity, know and care for our children… How much more do you think God will care for you – He who is altogether GOOD?
The power and presence of the Spirit can be with you always, but you have to diligently seek Him, get to know His voice – He convicts, never condemns- He binds up, never tearing down- He helps our weaknesses, because He knows we can’t even pray as we should – so He does it for us!
The disciples wanted to be like Johns disciples, who learned from John how to pray. Christ taught them not only what to pray, but how to pray…. Persistence, & importunity (Boldness) – what a formula!
The apostle Luke also gives us the parable of the Persistent Widow/Unjust Judge (Luke 18:1-8). Again, it is the widow’s persistence that moves even an evil unjust judge to deal with her petition, just to get rid of her!
The message is clear! Persistence pays.
“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he that comes to God must believe that He is, and is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” – Heb 11:6
Our faith is founded upon our knowledge of God. Knowing you have a Big God, you can have Big Faith! If you don’t know what He has done for others, how will you know what He is capable of doing for you? In His way, in good time, for the benefit of all – He WILL fulfil it!
So, friends – please be diligent in asking for, and expecting the fruits and gifts of the Spirit! Let them be for the benefit of others and not yourself, and through their flowing, you will find that your own life has been enriched beyond measure! The gifts are for the children, let us be bold and appropriate them!
Lord give your people eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to heed this – you are so near to them, and desire to bless them so much with your presence – all they have to do is ask!!!
Hallelujah!