Luke 11:5-6
Jesus said to them, Suppose you go to a friend in the middle of the night and say, “Friend, would you please borrow me three loaves of bread. Because a friend of mine is traveling and now wants to spend the night with me. But I don’t have any food for him at home.
Having nothing to present to a guest was unimaginable in Jesus’ days.
Luke 11:7
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 cannot rise and give thee.
The houses in Israel were generally simple. They consisted of four walls and a flat roof. Day and night all family life took place in that one space. This explains much of the father’s seemingly snappy response, in the middle of the night.
Opening the door (locked with a crossbar) took a lot of effort and would also cause noise. As a result, the children would certainly also be disturbed in their night’s sleep.
Luke 11:8
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.
I tell you, even if he doesn’t actually want to get up to give you those loaves, he will give them to you. He will give you as much as you need. Not because you are his friend, but because you have been bold enough to bother him for this in the middle of the night.
The friend’s refusal is practically unthinkable. If that is the case among people, will the Lord not give what someone asks for?
We can always turn to our heavenly Father and always know He hears us. Everyone may assume that. (Compare Psalms 4:4, James 1:5)
That is why Jesus says in Luke 11:9
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.
We never have to fear that our Lord would give us something bad. God does not tempt us with anything bad. When we are tempted, it is always our own desire that lures and pulls us along. (James 1:13-15)
Luke 11:10
For every one that asketh receiveth;
and he that seeketh findeth;
and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
When we pray to God, a door opens to Him.
Luke 11:11-12
¹¹If 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?
¹²Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?
(Bread and stones are similar in shape.
It is possible to regard snakes for a certain type of fish, for example an eel,
and when a scorpion makes itself small, it has the shape of an egg.)
Jesus makes it clear that even an earthly father does not knowingly endanger his child.
Do you go to God with all your questions, needs, wants and desires? Or do you first seek help from your friends, neighbors, or anyone else?
You must learn to knock on the door of the Lord first. You can always go to Him with everything that happens in life.
In Matthew 7:11 Jesus says: If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?
In Luke 11:13 we read: 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 Holy Spirit is the pre-eminent good gift, the gift that the disciples absolutely are going to need in the period after Jesus left the earth in order to follow in the footsteps of their master. And the same goes for us.
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ENGLISH
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