Luke 11:4-13

     The form of the prayer that Jesus uses in Luke’s account ends with the request about temptation and Jesus goes on to tell a story. He begins by posing a question. Who of them who has a friend will go to that friend at midnight to ask for bread to feed a guest? And the friend refuses because of the hour and his family, but if you persist he will give what is asked for simply to avoid the persistence.
     It is an odd story. Posing he question in that way almost makes it sound as if there are two layers to the story. Who will dare go to a friend at midnight? Especially for bread? One might go for an emergency--the house on fire, a grave illness, word of an enemy approaching...but who would bother a neighbor otherwise?
     But, if one did have the audacity to trouble a neighbor for such a request, the normal response will be a rejection. It’s late. You’re bothering me and the family. Go away. But persistence will still gain the result.
     So, Jesus says, I tell you, Ask and it will be given you...
     One author says that the message here is that in prayer, the important thing is not to give up. Then he goes on to speak of what a loving earthly father will do. It certainly won’t be to give something evil and dangerous to a child. And if faulty humans can do that much, how much more will God?
     So Jesus begins with the question--who has a friend to whom you can go at midnight? Concluding as he does with the story of the father, we are led to the answer of the question. There is one friend to whom a midnight visit can be made without fear of rejection. Still Jesus seems to be recognizing the reality of the fact that prayer is not like going shopping at a store. If “answers” are not immediately apparent, that isn’t a cue to quit, but instead to persist. Knock, and keep knocking.
     The conundrum of prayer will likely continue to exercise the minds of the faithful in every generation. At Monterey United Methodist Church we print a long list of prayer concerns in our Sunday bulletin and newsletter. With it, we include the statement that you don’t have to understand prayer in order to practice it.
     Jesus doesn’t try to explain prayer, nor the mystery of either answered and unanswered prayer. His message is to persist with the knowledge of God’s loving nature.

What in prayer is the biggest challenge for you?
What would you tell someone struggling with the subject of prayer?

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