We are near the end of a series entitled “Short Sayings of Jesus.” Jesus was a master teacher who employed many teaching forms. He also uttered short sayings that are easy to memorize and have wide application. He used two types of short sayings:
We will look at another one of Jesus’ mini-teachings. It is found in Luke 11, and it is Jesus’ response to His disciples’ request in 11:1, where they asked him to teach them how to pray. They saw that Jesus’ prayer life was key to His spiritual vitality and poise and power and fruitfulness. His response to their request (11:2-13) is therefore profoundly important for us if we want this kind of life. We will focus on 11:5-13 – but let’s look briefly at 11:2-4 and notice two things.
How ironic that this prayer, which is to many (including myself growing up) an impersonal and formalistic ritual, is actually emphasizing that prayer is personal communication to a loving God! If you want an effective and satisfying prayer life, you must know God as your Father (not as some abstract, distant Deity; not as a cosmic rule-Giver; not as an abusive or neglectful father, etc.). You are not born with God as your Father, but He will adopt you as His child if you by simply welcome Jesus into your heart (John 1:12 gives all who receive or welcome Jesus the right to become children of God). This is the prayer that opens the door to real prayer.
Once we become God’s child by receiving Christ, Jesus encourages us to pray for the advancement of our Father’s kingdom (11:2), and to freely petition Him for personal needs to this end (11:3,4). How different this is from praying to God as our magical servant – trying to get Him to fulfill our personal agendas (see James 4:3)!
11:5-13 emphasizes kingdom-advancing prayer for spiritual enablement to serve the people He brings into our lives (especially in verses 5-8). In every such situation there are three parties, just as in this parable – the person (or persons) in spiritual need (the “friend” arriving at midnight), the person called upon to meet the spiritual need (“one of you” - the man visited at midnight), and God who alone has the resources to meet the spiritual need through us (the “friend” awakened).
How can we serve others in a way that advances God’s kingdom? By praying – not in some impersonal, religious way, but by praying personally to God and with three heart-attitudes – willingness, helplessness, and boldness.
Let's focus on 5:6a. In the ancient world, there were very few inns, and predictable travel schedules were non-existent. This is one reason why hospitality was a solemn duty. “A visitor was tobe welcomed and cared for, regardless of the hour of his arrival.” This man who was visited at midnight could have put a pillow over his ears, but he acknowledged his responsibility to help, and got out of bed and opened the door.
God is constantly sending us people who need spiritual life. Some we already anticipate and have scheduled time for (e.g., an established Bible study; a planned meeting with a friend), but some are unexpected like this man who came at midnight (“interruptions”). Some are obviously “spiritually important” (e.g., witnessing to a relative in crisis), but some are less obvious though just as important (e.g., helping people with problems that come up; showing a Christ-like attitude at an office meeting; coming home after work to our children). Some come to us and ask for help (e.g., church friend seeking counsel), but some require our notice and initiative toward them (e.g., church friend needing admonition).
God wants to give His spiritual life to them through us, and this is our greatest privilege and responsibility in life. Will I get out of bed, or will I put a pillow over my ears? This is the attitude of willingness – to open myself to serve the person in need.
There are lots of ways to put a pillow over my ears. I can fundamentally reject serving others as a life-style responsibility. I can decide that I will not serve today, that today is a “me” day. I can decide to serve only those I expect, but not those who “interrupt” me. I can decide to serve only those who are in my tribe, but not those who are very different from me. I can decide to serve only those whom I feel competent to serve, not those who are “too difficult.”
So, this kind of prayer begins with the choice before God to be willing to serve others, but it doesn’t end there...
Look again at 11:6. When the visited man goes to his neighbor friend, he says “I have nothing to set before him.” He not only doesn’t have any extra bread; he doesn’t even have the flour to make bread! He goes to his neighbor because he knows he is helpless to provide what is needed, and he expresses this helplessness to his neighbor friend.
This is our position in every serving situation. Whether it is sharing our faith with someone at the office, or spending quality time with our children or spouse, or preparing for and/or giving a teaching, or visiting our aged parent, etc. – whatever the ministry situation, we have nothing to set before them (John 15:4,5; 2 Corinthians 2:16; 3:5,6). We do not have the love or the wisdom or the power or the patience or the courage or the clarity of speech, etc. Only God has the spiritual life that they need, so we must acknowledge our utter helplessness to ourselves and express this helplessness to Him. Sometimes we can stop and do this out loud and/or with a brother or sister. More often, we express this silently to the Lord.
Some of us pray rarely or never in these situations because we don’t believe we are helpless. Pastor and professor Jack Miller says: “Increasingly I saw myself as a desperately needy person, like the man who goes to his friend at midnight and says, ‘I have nothing.’ Before this, my problem in praying was that I had something – namely, reliance on myself, my training, my study, and my work. But the man at midnight has no bread for himself or for others.”
Some of us know we have nothing, but let our inadequacy paralyze us from going to God. Norwegian theologian Ole Hallesby writes: “Do not become (discouraged) because of your helplessness. Above all, don’t let it prevent you from praying. Helplessness is the real secret and impelling power of prayer . . . For it is only when we are helpless that we open our hearts to Jesus and let Him help us . . . according to His grace and mercy.”
So let us turn to God in every ministry situation and both affirm our willingness to serve and admit our helplessness. But don’t stop here...
Look now at 11:8b. Why did the neighbor agree to get up and give the man as much as he needed for his guest? Jesus uses the word anaideia – the only time this word is used in the New Testament. One translation wrongly translates it “persistence”; a closer translation is “shameless audacity.” Anaideia means “shamelessness,” “impudence,” “without regard for etiquette.” Anaideia is when the president's son barges into his office in the middle of an important meeting. Anaideia is what these two children express. Similarly, the man in the parable won’t take “No” for an answer. He insists: “This guest has come to my door, and I don’t have anything to give to him. You have what he needs, so it doesn’t matter what time it is. You must give it to me so I can give it to him!”
Jesus says we should pray like this in every ministry situation (verses 9,10 – “So . . . ask, and it will be given to you.”).
On what basis can we ask in this way? Not because we’ve been spiritual lately, or because we are important people, or because we feel confident, or even because the need is urgent. We can ask with shameless audacity because God is our Father. God is not a reluctant helper (like the neighbor); He is our Father who is gracious and generous, who has promised to give His children everything we need to serve others, and who is delighted when we ask on this basis. This contrast between the reluctant neighbor and God as our Father is emphasized in 11:11-13.
And what will our Father give us when we ask with willingness and helplessness and boldness? The Greek text is: “how much more will He give Holy Spirit to those who ask Him.” Many times when the Holy Spirit is mentioned in the New Testament without the definite article, He as a person is not in view but rather His operations and manifestations. That is, God will give whatever provision of the Holy Spirit is needed to enable us to serve in this situation. It may be courage, or wisdom, or discernment, or patience, or compassion, etc. We don’t even have to know exactly what we need; we just need to ask and He will give us what He knows we need.
And so, after asking Him, we can plunge into the situation and count on Him to come through. We shouldn’t wait until we feel He has answered; we should step out knowing that He will give what He has promised. As Andrew Murray says: “As we pray to be filled with the Spirit, let us not seek for the answer in our feelings... (Rather) let me believe, the Father gives the Holy Spirit’s (help) to His praying child... (In this way) the blessing, which has already been given us, and which we hold in faith, may break through and fill our whole being.”
This is what Paul calls “presenting ourselves to God” (Romans 6:13) – approaching God in Christ and placing ourselves in God’s hands for Him to wield as His surgical instruments of healing for people whom He loves. Ask God to help you view each day as a series of service opportunities. Ask Him to remind you to present yourself to Him in each situation with willingness, helplessness, and boldness. And then thank Him by faith as you move into the situation. This kind of prayer will enable us to embrace a lifestyle of ministry that glorifies God and gives us true joy!
