Asking For Bread

Luke 11:5–13 NKJV

5 And He said to them, “Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; 6 for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and he will answer from within and say, ‘Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you’? 8 I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs. 9 “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 11 If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

Let’s consider this story of Jesus as though we were one of the people in the audience. Keep in mind that there are a couple of important details you need to consider.

Often the heat of the day was oppressive, so people traveled when it was cooler. Either way, midnight was not a convenient or normal time for anyone to just show up at your house.

Hospitality is a major value of the culture. To not provide hospitality to someone who came to your home would not only bring shame to you but dishonor your whole community. It was a serious ordeal.

Another thing that we need to know is that back then families would sleep in a common area to share body heat.

So imagine you have a friend come to your house at midnight and you have nothing to feed them with. But you have a neighbor, who also is a friend, and you are pretty sure that they have plenty. So you go to their house after midnight and you call out to them for help.

But they are asleep. To get up and get you food for your friend they would wake up their wife and kids. So they say, “I can’t help you.” (When really they mean, “I don’t want to help you.”).

You know the next place where you might be able to walk to get food is too far away. So how far do you go to obtain what you need to help your friend? How insistent would you be? Your reputation is on the line. Your friend is in need. What do you do?

I want to talk to you about how you can pray effectively, especially for others. I want to talk to you about how you can come to the throne of grace with boldness to ask God in prayer for what you need (Hebrews 4.16).

The type of prayer that Jesus is teaching us is not a generic, casual prayer. It is an insistent, persistent, shameless type of prayer.

We need to understand that a general, generic prayer is not enough when we have a need and nothing but faith and prayer to bring the answer.

When we can learn to pray the way Jesus taught us then we will have confidence in and experience with answered prayer. We won’t only have the right belief about God and prayer but we will also have answers and experience to our prayers.

This is the type of prayer that brings God’s grace and power into the needs of our family, friends, and neighbors.

Don’t Give Up

Often when we pray we give up too soon. We kind of throw our prayers out there like seed, hoping that something will land and produce. When this is our experience with prayer we often miss the answer or never see a result.

And when we don’t receive the answer or see a result we often give up on asking or believing. We might still pray in a sense, like generically over our food, but not seriously.

Many times we “have not because we ask not” (James 4.2). And we ask not because we gave up on prayer.

But if we can learn to pray persistently, seriously, shamelessly just like Jesus taught us then we will see the great power of prayer. Prayer pleases God. It delights Him to give us the kingdom (Luke 12.32).

This kind of prayer pleases God because it believes that God is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11.6).

Asking for Bread

Jesus used the story of a friend asking for bread to teach His disciples some important truths about prayer.

Pray Confidently

Luke 11:2 NKJV

So He said to them, “When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.

Luke 11:9–13 NKJV

9 “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 11 If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

This chapter of Luke contains a series of teachings on prayer. And the first thing that Jesus said was that when we pray, we pray to our heavenly Father.

In the story if a friend, no matter how reluctantly, is willing to give what the petitioner asked then how much more would God? Jesus took the illustration even further by contrasting a human father with the heavenly Father. If a human father wouldn’t give terrible things to their children, how much more would God give good things?

How can we pray with confidence? We rest in the knowledge that God is a better Father and a better friend. He doesn’t only give us what we need but He gives us what we ask for.

And because He is our Father and He is our Friend we can ask. And Jesus said that if we ask it will be given to us.

Illustration: Faith of a child asking dad for something.

God is your Father and your Friend. And God is good and faithful and gracious. This is the confidence that we have that if our good and loving and gracious God hears us then we have what we ask Him for (1 John 5.14).

Pray Persistently

Luke 11:5–8 NKJV

5 And He said to them, “Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; 6 for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and he will answer from within and say, ‘Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you’? 8 I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs.

If we begin with the grounds for prayer being our access to God through relationship, this part of the story illustrates the manner in which we are to pray.

We pray with importunity. Importunity is a shameless persistence. It is unashamedly asking God. Where the friend wasn’t too happy with the persistence of his friend, Jesus is telling us that God is happy with ours.

This shameless persistence is going beyond appearances.

This is midnight praying. Throughout Scripture God delivered His people at the “midnight hour.” Example: Paul and Silas in prison.

This prayer continues to pray in the face of what looks like indifference or lack of concern or closed heaven.

We need to pray seriously, not casually, understanding that sometimes we have to keep praying and contending while we wait for the answer and knowing that because of the faithfulness of God His answer is worth it.

Pray Effectively

James 4:2–3 NKJV

2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.

Luke 11:13 NKJV

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

In His teaching, Jesus points us to the penultimate gift—the Holy Spirit. Through the Holy Spirit we receive all the spiritual gifts, regeneration, wisdom and revelation.

In the illustration, who was the man asking for—himself or another? It was for his friend.

What did he ask for? Three loaves of bread. Bread in the word speaks of God’s provision and of His word. We are asking for God (Father, Son, and Spirit) and for the word of God. With God, no word that He speaks will be impossible (Luke 1.27).

Illustration: the prophetic, word of knowledge, word of wisdom

We pray effectively when we pray according to God’s will. We pray effectively when we pray for the needs of others. Ultimately, our prayers are more effective when we are focused on what pleases God and how we can bless others. And when we pray that way we will see God meet our needs according to His riches in glory.

Conclusion

Ask God for bread…ask Him to meet your needs and the needs of the world around you. But when you ask, remember who He is and who you are. When you ask God, your Heavenly Father and Friend, you can pray confidently.

When you pray don’t take a casual, generic approach. Pray persistently, seriously, shamelessly.

And finally, when you pray, pray effectively by praying for God’s will and for His Spirit to come into your circumstances and areas of need. Pray for others and their good and you will see God do great things.

If we will pray this way we will do so with greater confidence and have more experiences with answered prayer. Because we continue in prayer we will have a life and legacy of answered prayer for ourselves and others.