Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Luke 11:5 - 11:10

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Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Luke 11:5 - 11:10


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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:

The importunity of prayer:

v. 5. And He said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves,

v. 6. for a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him;

v. 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?

v. 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.

v. 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.

v. 10. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

An effective admonition to be instant and persistent in prayer. Note the vividness, but also the chasteness of the narrative: The friend, presuming upon the rights of friendship; the midnight call; the urgent pleading for three loaves of bread to set a meal before an unexpected guest; the displeasure of the other at the disturbance and his unwillingness to disturb the children that shared the same room with him; his pleading inconvenience and grumbling over the matter, protesting that he cannot fulfill his request. All this is true to life. But just as true to average experience is the final yielding of the house father, not so much on account of the demands of friendship as for the purpose of quieting the importunate disturber. The picture is strongly drawn, and purposely so, on account of the lesson the Lord wishes to convey. The importunity of the Christian's prayer must verge on impudence; it must be characterized by an unwearied perseverance, by an endurance which refuses to be discouraged, by a shameless disregard of God's apparent indifference. There is a climax in Christ's admonition. The asking must be followed by an earnest seeking, and this eager searching by persistent knocking at the door of God's heart. The result must finally be that the pleader will see his petition fulfilled; the searcher will find his quest rewarded; he whose knocking reverberates through the house again and again will find the doors opened unto him. This is the holy importunity of prayer which Jesus here recommends to us, enjoins upon us; for it is a praying, an urging, a storming which comes out of faith and therefore cannot fail of its object. "If even a man that loves his night's rest more than his friend can be moved to yield, since he cannot sleep on account of the importunate pleading: how much more the best Friend in heaven, who is all love toward His friends on earth?"