Just Ask

Luke 11:5-13

⁵And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, ⁶for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; ⁷and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? ⁸I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. ⁹And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. ¹⁰For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. ¹¹What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; ¹²or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? ¹³If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Jesus has taught His disciples how to pray using what we now call “The Lord’s Prayer”. After that brief instruction, He proceeds to expand upon their understanding of prayer through the use of some illustrations. He wants His followers to know how much they are loved and how closely the Father hold them.

First He sets up the scenario of a man who is visited in the middle of the night by a guest. Typically we would not probably offer a whole meal at midnight if we were to have a guest arrive at that time. But this is a different culture. For the person who received such a guest in Jesus’ day, the standards would be different. There would be a meal offered, no matter the time of the arrival. The brilliant Kenneth Bailey give us some insight into the customs of Jesus’ day.

A guest must be served a full loaf or it would be an insult. Enough must be served to give the semblance of a full meal. To entertain a guest at one’s home is not only the responsibility of the individual, but of the whole village, even at the unusual hour of midnight. Even if the guest is not hungry, a meal must be set before him. Thus to find bread for the guest at midnight would involve the community, and it would be common knowledge who had recently baked and would have bread. The meal would consist of common dishes, and the bread would be dipped into these dishes and eaten, so that the bread would function as the utensils used to eat the meal.

K. Bailey, Poet and Peasant, 122–23

The man in need of bread to serve his guest is just like us, seeking help from the Father. We are in relationship with Him and we are free to go to Him even if it seems like a strange time to ask. Jesus listeners would recognize that the topic being discussed here is the openness of God, no matter the circumstances, because He is honorable and generous, supplying whatever we need. The examples of the fish/serpent, egg/scorpion, (and Matthew adds bread/stone) point to the fact that God provides everything we need and will not withhold it from us. He also won’t trick us or cheat us by giving substitutes that might look like what we need but in fact are not.

For me, the bottom line of this passage is that I am walking in relationship with the Living, All-Powerful God of the Universe. That is His choice, not mine! Since He has chosen to be my constant companion, I can go to Him for all things – even the ridiculous and at least talk about it. He may not always say “yes” to my request but He will always give me what I need for He means me well. The most striking case in point is the fact that even though I didn’t ask for a Savior, God sent one anyway. Adam and Eve didn’t request a solution for the sin they had gotten into but our gracious God provided an answer for their problem and we are beneficiaries of that promise.