Luke 11:5-8-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; for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 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’? 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.
You may not agree with my interpretation of this parable, but at lest you’ll have something talk about on the way home.
Prayer is not overcoming God’s reluctance but laying hold of God’s willingness to answer prayer.
Verse 5-Which Of You Shall Have A Friend,
Proverbs 18:24-A man who has friends must himself be friendly,
But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
John 15:13-15-Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.
And Go To Him At Midnight
Mark 13:35-36-Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming—in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning-lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping.
Matthew 25:6-“And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!
Friend, Lend Me Three Loaves
Jesus, is asking us to lend Him, our life!
Jesus, is asking us to lend Him, our talents!
Jesus, is asking us to lend Him, our money!
Jesus is asking us to lend Him, our lips!
Jesus is asking us to lend Him, our hands!
Why you ask?
Verse 6-For A Friend Of Mine Has Come To Me On His Journey, And I Have Nothing To Set Before.
We are His mouth-piece, we are His hands, we are His feet!
There is no plan B….He Ministers To Others Thru Us And He Ministers To Us Thru Others!!!
That’s why God wakes us up in the middle of the night, to pray for someone.
That’s why He lays a burden on our heart to go witness to someone, to go visit someone, to send a card, or to call.
Matthew 25:35-40-for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’
But here is what happens, but here is the reality!
Verse 7-Do Not Trouble Me
The Excuse-The door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed.
It’s a good excuse, I’ll give you that, anyone who has children knows that once you get small children into bed and asleep, you sure don’t want anything to disturb them. ( Unless you have some Night Quil handy, they are going to be up for awhile.)
And maybe our excuses are real legitimate too.
But I really think that we are like this guy, he is well fed, well contented, warm, snug, comfortable and he doesn’t want to move.
We to get contented and comfortable in our life and Jesus comes along and ask us to get out of our comfort zone and we don’t want too!!
But look what else happens!
Verse 8-Yet Because Of His Persistence He Will Rise And Give Him As Many As He Needs.
Jesus has to stay on us, He continues to convict us, to burden us, sometimes He makes us so miserable, let me rephrase that, we make ourselves so miserable, that we reluctantly give in.
We finally give up, we finally give in, we finally surrender to His will!
That’s not how God wants it, But Jesus is telling us that’s how it is!
Verses 5-8-Is How We Relate To God!
Verses 9-13-Is How God Relates To Us!!
Church wake up!! Jesus’ friend is out there needing help, needing rescued, needing a word of encouragement, maybe even needing the Bread of Life! (Three Loaves…Father, Son, Holy Spirit)
And guess what, that friend of Jesus, may just be your love one! Wouldn’t you want someone to get up and help them?
Then Won’t You Get Up And Answer To What Jesus Want’s You To Do!
