Page 8 - Florida Sentinel 2-21-20

Religious
Perseverance In Prayer LUKE 11:5-13 (KJV)
Scriptures
Luke 11:5 And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at mid- night, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves;
6 For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him?
7 And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is
now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I can- not rise and give thee.
8 I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.
9 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
10 For every one that
asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
11 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?
12Orifheshallaskan egg, will he offer him a scorpion?
13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
The Picture Of Perseverance – An Earthly Example (Luke 11:5-8)
Jesus uses an illustration to underscore His point in teach- ing on God as Father. He shares
with His audience an example that places them in the scenario. Jesus asks His listeners to sup- pose that a friend comes by at an inconvenient hour to ask a favor. At the heart of this is the issue of hospitality. In Jewish culture, hospitality was an im- portant custom because it speaks of the love modeled by God toward Israel and is repli- cated by all members of the community.
Jesus’ parable presents quite a problem for the listeners. A friend who has a visitor of his own is unprepared to show hos- pitality and so requests help for his situation. However, when he knocks on his neighbor’s door, the person approached does not open the door. Instead, he sends his friend away, saying that he and his family have retired to bed.
What Jesus makes apparent is that the untimely visitor kept knocking on the door to receive a response. It is also important to note that the man was not asking for himself. He was ask- ing in order to help someone else. Jesus ends the parable with the words, “I say to you” mean- ing that Jesus is about to tell the point of the parable. Despite the friendship of the two men, the door was answered — not out of an obligation as a friend — but because of the person’s persist- ence, his relentless pursuit of a resolution to his situation. His perseverance led to his receiving what he asked for.
Our persistence in prayer is to help us know God’s will for the situation and then to get our hearts and minds aligned with his purpose for us.
The Results Of Perseverance (vv. 9-10)
Jesus then clarifies the focal point of His teaching. He in- structs His audience to keep pursuing God by asking, seeking and knocking.
To ask is more than just po- litely making a request. Jesus is telling us to earnestly bring our needs to the Lord on a dailyba- sis.
Second, we are to seek God. This implies looking with the ex- pectation of finding a solution to our situation.
Finally, we are to knock. Knocking cannot be done from across the street or in the next suburb! Knocking requires that you go directly to the person’s door. Our knocking then means stepping into the presence of the Lord so that our request can be made known. Our desire is that He opens doors of opportunity for us to serve Him.
Notice that as we ask, seek, and knock, we are getting closer in a relationship with the person we are asking to help. So it is with God. Jesus always placed emphasis on going after God and pursuing fellowship with Him. Everything needed in life is found in Him (Matthew 6:33). The outcome of such a prayer life is to live in the will of the Father who always gives us what is best for us because that accomplishes His purpose in us. As a result of an ongoing pursuit of God through prayer, believers have what they need (Psalm 37:3–5, Matthew 6:6, 25– 26)
The Response To Perseverance (Vv. 11–13)
Jesus shared another relat- able illustration with His disci- ples to show the goodness of God and His response to the one who pursues Him. In short, Jesus said that if human fathers provide for their children and take the time to listen, then be- lievers should expect that their heavenly Father will do the same. God’s response to our pursuit of Him in prayer is that He will give us His Holy Spirit who is our unlimited power sup- ply. The Holy Spirit is not given to us for selfish pursuit or gain, but to keep us connected to the Father and to trust His purpose.
When God’s people pray persistently, it helps them to gain a better understanding of His will in the matters about which they are petitioning, and they grow in their fellowhship and faith in Him.
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