Slices
Prepare
Thank God for any prayers he has answered recently, and bring to him any that you seem to have been praying for a long time, so far without seeing an answer.
Bible passage
5 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; 6 a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.” 7 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.” 8 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.
9 ‘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. 10 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
11 ‘Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!’
Explore
Sometimes I’m so slow to learn because I’m so quick to forget. Take these two stories Jesus tells. First (vs 5–8), there’s something I’ve been praying for, for a very long time, but nothing has changed. So, I stop and immediately start to think, ‘What’s wrong with God?’ Pretty arrogant of me? Sure. Really, I should be listening at that moment. It’s then that our Father is asking, ‘How much do you want this, and how much do you trust me?’ As William Hendriksen said:
‘With God it is never midnight; he never lacks anything; he is never “bothered” when any humble child approaches him; and he is never taken by surprise.’*
Secondly (vs 9–13), why am I ever disappointed in answers to prayer? It’s not as if God gets it wrong, like some poorly chosen Christmas gift. Even ‘no’ should be a cause for rejoicing, simply because he knows what’s best! And of course, he has already given us the Holy Spirit to bring all the good news God has to offer into our lives. What’s not to like?
*William Hendriksen, The Gospel of Luke, The Banner of Truth Trust, © 1978
Respond
Take a moment to examine your own attitude to prayer before God. Is there anything we need to be sorry about? Anything we really need to persevere in prayer about? As disciples, we’ll always need to go round the learning loop one more time.
Deeper Bible study
‘I am weak, but thou art mighty; / hold me with thy powerful hand. / Bread of heaven, bread of heaven, / feed me now and evermore, feed me now and evermore.’1
These parables belong with the Lord’s Prayer. The disciples ask Jesus to teach them how to pray. Jesus doesn’t give them a magic formula. Instead, he teaches them about the nature of God: not a distant, transcendent being but their heavenly Father who knows and cares about them. We must not overanalyse this parable, or indeed any parable which Jesus does not specifically interpret. Jesus did not say that God resembles the neighbour who will grant our requests if we persist enough, nor even that God resembles the kindly father who will give us whatever we want. What Jesus did say was that if an earthly man will get out of bed to help his earthly neighbour and if an earthly father responds kindly to his children, how much more can we, who pray to God as our heavenly Father, count on God’s readiness to hear us and to answer.
Jesus encourages us, therefore, to pray in the knowledge that God cares about us, knowing how desperately we need God and knowing that God will listen to us. We must not ever, as some do, take these sayings to mean that we can presume upon God, presenting God with a blank cheque on which to write our requests. These assurances after the Lord’s Prayer assume that those who ask, seek or knock, because of their need, are also yearning to know God’s will and are longing for God’s kingdom to come. We may be anxious about the necessities of life, our needs and our families’ needs, but Jesus calls us to lift our eyes beyond this life: ‘...seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. Do not be afraid … for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.’2
Lord of our lives, thank you that you know our needs and hear our prayers. Help us to glimpse your coming kingdom, where joy will surpass all earthly pain.
1 William Williams, 1717–91, ‘Guide me, O thou Great Jehovah’ 2 Luke 12:31,32
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Ezekiel 32,33; 2 Peter 1
Pray for Scripture Union
Pray that the team in Wales will be able to encourage more churches to make use of the Revealing Jesus mission framework, and to grow the reach and depth of churches already working with it.
