In Luke chapter 11, right after the desciples ask Jesus to teach them the right way to pray and he gives the 'Lord's model prayer for believers, this passage is given: 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!”
Why I am so often afraid to be who I am with God is a mystery, especially when I read these and other verses. Now I'm not talking about disrespect and casual degradation, though nothing in my heart is hidden from him and if that comes out, then it is an indication of need on my part. But I am becoming convinced that no prayer spoken in desperate sincerity is offensive to my God. Some of those prayers I have prayed that were contrived to connive were probably offensively humorous to him, much like the manipulative requests of a young child bring us a laugh before we say 'ah - no.'
I remember "Oh Lord let me win this PCH clearing house sweepstakes" prayers that probably were offensive. He has all the resource I could ever imagine and yet I would trust PCH. What a mess!
One of my favorite lines - there are so many - from Fiddler on the Roof is where Tevya is praying and complaining and says "I know you are very busy. . . but when you have time, . . . " Another is when he asks God "Am I bothering you?" In these verses, Jesus is giving us permission to bother God with our need - any time of the day or night. Insist. Recently a preacher in our church made the observation that he would rather know that God chose not to give him what he asked for than to admit that he did not even ask.
Another observation from this reading is that the Holy Spirit, that divine personal presence in our life is more important in any situation than any other solution. He brings enlightenment; He brings instruction; He brings the understanding of resource. Most of all, he brings perspective and peace.
Shameless Audacity. I intend to pursue it. I'm convinced that God will not tell me to go home empty.
I often wonder about the inability of humans to walk in faith. In a quest for faith, I asked of God to increase my faith, and I was continually led back to “faith is like a mustard seed”. “What kind of an answer was that?” I would ask.
ReplyDeleteFaith is mysterious substance to me. The spirit plants a tiny seed of faith in me, and it grows, so I am told. Is that one seed he plants, or does he plant a mustard seed for each occasion faith is needed? One can carry a parable or metaphor to ridiculous extremes, but still, I think the message is pray once, then keep reminding God. Which leads me to, “Why does God need reminding? Is he forgetful?”
Many times that fish sure looks like a scorpion to me, and it taxes my belief that He will only give good gifts to His children. Still, I persist in believing just that. Maybe that is the gift of faith. I sure hope so.