Have you ever felt that God just doesn’t hear your prayers? I think that many Christians have felt that way at one time or another. Does God hear our prayers, and will He answer? In our Scripture today from the Gospel of Luke, we read what the Lord Jesus had to say about this. Let’s take a quick look at this passage.
Immediately prior to these verses, the disciples had come to Jesus, asking Him to teach them to pray, and He proceeded to give them the Lord’s Prayer (Luke 11:1-4). Jesus then continued by teaching them, using a very brief parable, some important lessons about prayer, specifically the need to be persistent in prayer, and also showing the goodness of God.
The short parable gives a scenario that many of the people could relate to, that of a man who has some sudden, and unexpected visitors who arrive at the house quite late at night (vs. 5-8). In Bible days, hospitality was extremely important, no matter what the hour or how unexpected the guests may be. And if the host didn’t have all the necessary provisions, it wasn’t unusual to ask a neighbor for some help. In this instance, though, the neighbor did not want to get up and help, and basically told his friend to get lost. However, the man was not going to go back home empty-handed, with nothing to feed his guests. That would be unthinkable. So instead he keeps knocking, and keeps knocking until his neighbor gets up and helps him, just to stop the pounding on the door.
What does Jesus teach here? He tells us that when we pray, we need to be persistent and not give up, just like the man with unexpected visitors was. God honors persistent, faithful prayer. This isn’t because He is reluctant to answer our prayers, but instead because He desires us to seek Him earnestly (I Thessalonians 5:17; James 5:16).
Jesus teaches us that in prayer we need to ask, to seek, and to knock, and keep on doing so until we receive an answer (vs. 9-10). Each of these words - ask, seek, and knock are written as present tense verbs, which implies that there is ongoing action. Jesus promises us that those who ask in prayer will receive, those who seek will find, and those who knock will have doors opened. This does not mean that we have free reign to demand that all of our selfish desires be granted. We are to have faith-filled, God-centered prayers, prayers that reflect our active dependence on Him. If we come to God in prayer with the right motives, putting first the Kingdom of God, and if we live for Him, He will give us the desires of our hearts (Psalm 37:4).
If we want God to respond to our prayers, we must meet some conditions. First we must have a right relationship with Jesus Christ by trusting Him as Savior. God is not under any obligation to answer the prayers of the unsaved, except the prayer of salvation. And after salvation we must not live an ungodly life (Psalm 66:18). Secondly, We must make right requests, asking according to God’s will (I John 5:14). If the neighbor had been asked for a large sum of money, it likely would not have been answered. Instead he asked for what he needed, bread, and it was granted. Lastly, we should pray specifically and with confidence. Remember, we serve a God who answers prayer.
Jesus then contrasted earthly fathers with God, our Heavenly Father (vs. 11-13). Most fathers will make sure that their children have all that they need if they are able to provide it. And if their child asks for something they need, a good father will try to provide it. Even sinful men give good gifts to their children, so how much more will God give the Holy Spirit to those who ask! God is a benevolent and holy God. The Holy Spirit is the ultimate gift, empowering believers to live godly lives (Galatians 5:22-23; John 14:26).
Looking back over this Scripture passage, we see that when our need is urgent, we can approach God boldly in prayer, especially in times of crisis. He is not reluctant to answer us, yet He invites persistence in prayer. We can trust God’s faithfulness to answer. Though our earthly fathers may give us good gifts, God, our Heavenly Father’s nature is even more generous.
We should keep on praying and trusting that God will graciously and generously supply what we need. So let’s keep on asking, seeking, and knocking. Jesus will answer!
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