The Parable of the Persistent Friend
Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 21 viewsNotes
Transcript
Open your bibles tonight to Luke 11…. Tonight we begin talking about one of my favorite topics, a topic the Lord has been growing me in for the last couple years. And that is prayer. Prayer is power. Prayer is faith. My friends, the prayerful person is not an anxious person.. the praying family is a bright family… and the praying church is a church on the move. I hope you hear this message this evening and are move to pray, to seek the Lord and grow in this great gift he has given us called prayer.
5 Then He said to them, “Which of you has a friend and will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, 6 for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and from inside he answers and says, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed; I cannot rise up and give you anything.’ 8 “I tell you, even though he will not arise and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much 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 “But what father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish? 12 “Or, if his son asks for an egg, will give 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?”
Again the parable is one that is relatable. We can place ourselves in the situation. The friend is in need. Need of bread, sustenance, energy for his who has come from a journey. The entire basis of this parable is on the friendship between these two people. A friend has come to a friend, not an aquaintense, not a neighbor even. The understanding of a friend in the greek or hebrew was closer than we now think. Today we have come to understand friends in a superficial way. They are facebook friends, friends we know from a distance.
They did not see friendship in this way. The word for friend is closly tied to that of brotherly love. The friend was like a brother, a family member that is beloved dearly. This story is an explanation of the verses before it an a great illustration of the verses that come after it. When we pray, we do not pray to a sky genie, we do not pray to a cold deity, we pray to our father. Our father who is our beloved, and in whom we are beloved. He is not our friend in the sense that we are like him, but the coming to him is predicated on fellowship. We may even be tempted to take our friendship with God too lightly in this day and age. But by what basis are we able to call God our friend and come to him in prayer? Hebrews 10 tells us…
19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
Jesus Christ is the only way one is reconciled to God. Man, born in sin, and constantly sinning, can be called pure of heart do to one man… that is the sacrifice of Christ for us! Jesus is the only way to the father, for salvation and for prayer. We do not need a special language, or a special title, the man who has been bought by the blood of Christ, the man that believes and trusts Christ as Lord has friendship, or peace, of belovedness with God.
But the friend comes to his other friend not out of want, but out of necessity. The ancient near east then , and the middle east and eastern cultures today are cultures of hospitality. I was able to experience this in India. I was taken back by their service and desire to please their guests. Here it is pictured for us. The friend has another friend that has come from a long journey. The need is to take care of him. He has no food to show love and care for his friend. Yet, what hinders the friend that has bread from giving it?
The door has been shut, and the children are asleep. The hinderances are small compared to the common eastern decency of hospitality. The door opening and potentially waking up the children by walking through the house is not a large ask. I was on the phone with my friend in India at one in the morning and he was talking with me and showing me around his house and his children and wife were there sleeping on their cots.
Jesus says, though he will not arise and give him anything because he is his friend… Meaning, there is no pressure to help this friend to please him out of the fear of man. Nor is there a reason to help him solely on their friendship. The parable is exaggerated for a reason. No Jew would be able to comprehend such a failure in friendship or even come up with a friend who would fit this mold. But the point is clear, you men, who may even deny your friend, you men who are evil, if even he can be motivated to give, how much more would your father…
The reason the friend overcomes is persistence. Now, this parable isn’t about the persistence in prayer, although there will be another parable in Luke 18 to bring out this needed persistence. This parable is about the promise of God to motivate the Christian to pray. Luke 11:9-10
“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.
“For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened.
Now, who is Jesus talking to? It is his disciples. Peter quotes o psalm 34 when he says,
For,
“The one who desires life, to love and see good days,
Must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit.
“He must turn away from evil and do good;
He must seek peace and pursue it.
“For the eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous,
And His ears attend to their prayer,
But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
Again, the call is to friends. Those who have been made a friend of the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ. Who does the Lord come near? Not the one who is humble. James 4:8
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
This is not to say that the one who calls upon the name of the Lord must clean themselves up. No, the call is to come by faith. By faith in the offering of the Lord Jesus Christ on your behalf. It is Christ who purifies us. There is so much attention given to the Holy Spirit in our day. It is the charismatic church that seems to grow the most. They boast in money, and power, and tounges, and signs and miracles. None of those things are a prerequisite to prayer. The greatest tool Jesus is giving his followers is prayer, and no prayer is answered because of charismatic people…
No a humble people. A people who have the mind of Christ. Philippians 2:5-7
Have this way of thinking in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,
who, although existing in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,
but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a slave, by being made in the likeness of men.
If you want to be powerful in Christ, become needy… The greatest sign and wonder a child of God can exhibit is faith. Faith of a child. A Child needs their father. They want their father. The greatest power a Christian has is to obey Jesus…
Come with me to Matthew 6… Matthew 6:1-8
“Beware of doing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.
“Therefore, when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be glorified by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.
“But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,
so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.
“And when you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.
“But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.
“And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words.
“Therefore, do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.
The church today is all about waving their righteousness around. True faith is not flaunted. It is found in the hidden and secret places. It is found in the prayer closet. Hypocrites, two faced people, fakers, double minded… They like to let you know how great they are at praying. But don’t follow suit… When you pray go to the inner room. Somewhere no one can see you. And pray to your father who is also in secret. He will see what is done in secret and reward you.
Jesus gives us a promise, that you need to take hold of. Ask and it will be given. My friends, I will say it again, if you want to be powerful for God, become needy. Do you need your father? This is a characteristic of a Christian. We need our father. We want to be with him! Better is one day in His courts than thousands elsewhere. Do you believe Him? Ask and it will be done for you. Seek and find. Knock and it will be open to you. Certainly there is something to say about praying with wrong motives.
James says, James 4:3-6
You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.
You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity toward God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world sets himself as an enemy of God.
Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: “He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us”?
But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
We must align our will to the will of God! Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. It is not for earthly gain, nor earthly comfort. Bur prayer belongs solely to the advancement of the Kingdom of God! Yet, if we being evil know how to give our children good gifts, wil God not give you even better ones?
Now, he mentions the Holy Spirit here which is to say, he cares for the smallest of details and the greatest gift we could receive, the gift of the Holy Spirit? That is salvation! Those who are born again are not born of flesh but of Spirit. Thus, our Good father gives new life! He grants salvation through prayer! The sustains the Christian through prayer, he has given us a promise, that we must start believing if we want to grow in Christ, and that is ask and it shall be given to you.
What are our needs dear friends? The Lord knows what we need before we ask it. So ask it and let him answer! Do you desire to grow in holiness and sanctification? You need that, for without it no one will see God! So go into your prayer closet and pray. Does your marriage need work? Do you need strength in weakness, do you need greater faith, are you in need of wisdom, go and ask the Lord! Do you have someone who is lost? Before you witness to them again, go and pray for them…. Beseech the Lord to give them a new heart. Dear friends, if you want a pastor to pastor this church, stop looking for him until you go into your prayer closet and plead with God.
How do we pray? In faith… Believe the promise of God, for believing the promise of God believing what he says to be true. He is kinder than your best friend, he is more gracious that your earthly father, he knows you better than your spouse. Can you trust him? Prove it in the prayer closet.
