Luke 11: 5 – 13
Never Accept ‘No’ For An Answer
5 And He said to them, “Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; 6 for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and he will answer from within and say, ‘Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you’? 8 I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many 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 If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer 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!”
The apostle Matthew commented on part of what Luke recorded, so let’s take a look at his version.
Matthew 7:7-11, 7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”
Without looking at your bibles, do you remember what we studied in our last Scripture passages? We went over what many refer to as ‘The Lord’s Prayer’. In review, the disciples were moved when they saw our Lord step away to commune in prayer with Adoni Yahweh, our Father God. They wanted to be able to do the same thing. In verses 1 through 4 our Lord taught them the pattern in how they should also communicate with Jehovah Elyon – The Lord Most High.
Now as the Great Teacher that He Is, He gave them a story. Please note that it is not a Parable, which is a story that has a hidden meaning. Here our Lord gives His disciples a story to drive home the point how Great, Merciful, and Gracious our Precious Holy Father Is.
5 And He said to them, “Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; 6 for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and he will answer from within and say, ‘Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you’? 8 I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs.
An important area that I have personally experienced and have counseled many individual’s about is the situation of having a ‘friend’. Have you ever experienced a so called ‘friend’ that has let you down? You know, there have been different occasions where you needed this person in your life, and to a large degree, he or she betrayed you?
Well, hold on to your seats for a moment. If this has happen to you, the problem was not the other person, but was your fault. I know this statement does not have your feeling all warm and fuzzy.
You see our problem is one of ‘expectations.’ What we did incorrectly was to place this person in our minds as being a ‘friend’, when in reality, he or she is just an ‘acquaintance’. Yes, we may even spend a lot of time with these people, weather it be work, church, or in social events. Put the key problem is that we put them in the category of friend when they never in their hearts thought the same about us. So, when some difficulty or unique situation came about, we expected these people to be there for us, and they didn’t. We were hurt for their apparent failure. Do you see my point? If you are able to actually find one or two good real friend’s in your lifetime then you are blessed.
At our first glance at our Lord’s story it appears that this guys next door neighbor although friendly to each other now shows his true colors. Note that the man thinks of his neighbor as his friend – ‘5 And He said to them, “Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; 6 for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him’
Hospitality is not such an important part of people’s lives today as they were in the past. I know as a little kid when I would go to someone’s else’s home their mom would feed me like I was this starving child of theirs. Now, it is very rare that someone can get a treat at another’s home. Would you agree with me on this? Well, this guy who was thought of as a ‘friend’ would not help his neighbor - 7 and he will answer from within and say, ‘Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you’?
So, if we come across such a situation, we should tell this person what we think of him or her and that they should return all the tools and other things that you have loaned them, and that you want nothing to do with them ever again. Is this what our Lord advises?
No, this is our Lord’s direction, ‘8 I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs.’
No, in reality what is needed to do is to humble yourselves and plead for this neighbor’s assistance. In the Gospel of Luke chapter 18 we read, “Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, 2 saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. 3 Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’ 4 And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, 5 yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’” 6 Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said. 7 And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? 8 I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”
Notice, the last statement of our Lord, “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” A technique that the enemy tries to use against us to hurt our Holy El Shaddai – God Almighty – is to cause us to doubt that God actually really cares about us. When you get hammered all the time you begin to doubt your relationship with God. You start asking yourself, ‘are you really God’s child.? Does He really in fact even care about you? If He Is really what the bible describes Him as All Knowing, All Compassionate, All Caring, or our Holy Heavenly Dad, then why Is He not answering our prayers?
The doubt turns into indifference. We stop trying to talk with Him. Thus, we see our Lord’s question to us - Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”
No, our Lord Jesus Who Is The Messiah tells us about our Holy Dad.
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 If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer 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!”
Our Master and King instructs us to be continually asking and seeking. Not just one time and then move on. Sometimes we think, ‘Hey, He already has heard my cry. It’s not like He has forgot what I asked Him for.’
In the book of 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 we are taught by the apostle Paul, “16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
Now, I want you to catch the importance of our Lord’s answers to our prayers. No matter what you ask for, our Lord’s answer comes in one way - 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!”
His answer is that in whatever we ask for, His approval of our prayer is that He will give us the Holy Spirit. What? Now wait a minute, ‘I asked for a person to be healed.’ Or I asked that the Lord grant me a new job, or money to pay my bills. And what does He give me in answer to my prayer? – The Holy Spirit.
Why is receiving the Holy Spirit the only correct answer to our prayers. Try this verse on for size.
Matthew 6:32-34, “32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
I encourage you to memorize this scripture passage. For in it your prayer life centers. Remember, never accept no for an answer.
