Jesus is in the middle of teaching on the subject of prayer and after His disciples ask Him to teach them how to pray, Luke 11:1-4, He goes ahead and shares the following parable with His disciples.
Jesus now moves on to share a parable with His disciples concerning prayer which is commonly called, ‘The Parable of the Friend at Midnight’. We must remember that hospitality was very important in ancient near eastern society. The man has a friend who arrived on a journey and the man has no food to give him, Luke 11:5-6. It is the middle of the night and so, the friend says he won’t get up and give him anything because the door is shut and the children are in bed with them, Luke 11:7.
The man’s house is possibly a one room house, hence, the whole family would sleep together in one bed or it’s possible that it simply means that he and his wife were in one bed and the children were in another. Whatever it means, Jesus says, if the man gets up to open the door, then the whole family will be disturbed and therefore, they too would have to get up, Luke 11:7.
The point of the parable is simply this, the friend will get up, not because they’re friends, but because of this man’s ‘shameless audacity’, Luke 11:8. It’s not the man’s persistence of the request, it’s the timing of the request along with the persistence. This man had boldness and gall to make this request at such an hour, Luke 11:5. The friend in the house gives him the bread because he is such an irritant, Luke 11:8.
Jesus’ point is that disciples should pray boldly with shameless nerve. Prayer is the audaciously bold request for God to do what He has promised. This shameless boldness isn’t for selfish requests, James 4:3, no, we’re revealing our complete dependence on God. We are telling God what is happening in our lives and the things that we need spiritually or physically, 1 John 5:14.
Dummelow, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The connection with what goes before is suitable and natural. Having given the disciples a form of intercessory prayer, Jesus encourages them to persevere in its use, and also in the use of other prayers formed on its model, by a homely parable, the lesson of which is, if a churlish man can be forced by importunity to give against his will, how much more can persevering prayer bring down from the bountiful Father in heaven all good things.’
1. A friend in need.
In the parable we read of a man who was in need. The Bible is filled with example of people in need and James tells us that ‘Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress,’ James 1:27.
God has always cared for the most vulnerable in society and the chances are there are people in need all around us, begging on our streets or even in our churches. Why not practice this true religion and asks God to help you find someone in need today and help them out, Romans 12:13 / Galatians 6:10.
2. Find out exactly what people’s needs are.
In the parable the man asked for bread because bread is what he needed. There would be no point in asking for water if he didn’t need water and so it is the same with Christians when we pray to our Father, we need to learn to be specific in our prayers, Matthew 6:11 / Matthew 7:9-11.
It’s often said that giving someone physical food often opens up the door to offer them spiritual food, Luke 7:36-40. Why not go out your way today and find someone who really needs some food and then invite them to your home for dinner and show them real hospitality, Hebrews 13:2. Who knows, it may be an opportunity to share the Word of God with them.
3. There’s never an inconvenient to help others.
In the parable the friend inside the house demonstrated his reluctance to help others because it was an inconvenient time. There are times when God may call upon us to help people when it doesn’t fit in with our timetable. I understand there are times when we’re at work that’s it not always possible to stop what we’re doing to help someone.
But there are other times when we’re busy doing other things or out enjoying our hobbies, or we just got to bed after a busy day but helping others must never be put on hold because it’s an inconvenient time. There are times when someone in need, usually needs help straight away. Will you get out of your bed to help someone in need? Why not pray to God and ask Him to help you remember that its more blessed to give than receive, Acts 20:35.
4. Be bold in your prayers.
The man inside the house opened the door and gave the man as much bread as he needed because of his friend’s shameless audacity. God longs to hear from His children and He longs to give us what we really need and the real application from the parable is seen in Jesus’ next words concerning prayer, Luke 11:9-13.
God has given us the offer to make bold, audacious requests to our Lord, Hebrews 4:16. What have you been afraid to ask God to do in your life? When was the last time you went boldly to God in prayer, even at midnight? Psalm 119:62.