Thoughts on Luke - Day 49

                                                  Luke 11:5-13

Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; ⁶ a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ ⁷ And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ ⁸ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.
⁹ “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ¹⁰ For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
¹¹ “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? ¹² Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? ¹³ If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”


           In this continuing passage on pray, Jesus tells us to think of God as a friend and a Father. I kind of felt, as I looked last blog on the "Lord's Prayer", that although it starts out "Our Father", it gave the impression of us approaching a king. It talked about His kingdom coming to earth. It talked about Him providing food and I was reminded how Pharoah with the help of Joseph provided food for his starving people. It talked about worshipping Him and I'm reminded of how people would bow before a king. It talked about delivering us from our adversary and isn't that the job of a king? I think it is very important that we start with this attitude as we come to God. He isn't "The Big Guy", "The Guy Upstairs", "My Homeboy", etc. but He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the name above all names, and The Lord God Almighty.

        That being said, if we approach Him in reverence, fear, and submission, He would take us by the hand, stand us up out of the prostrate position, and say "Call me Father", "Call me friend." "Ask me anything, don't be embarrassed - all I can say is no." We are encouraged in this passage to be impertinent - to wear God out with the same requests over and over. Didn't our kids do that" Don't our grandchildren do that? Asher, my grandson, always wants to play Talking Tom. It's a stupid App on the tablet that gets you to a cat who mimics you. I really don't want to play it because he constantly touches links that takes you to the internet store wanting you to buy things, so we have a hard time getting back to Tom, but yet, since he continues to ask, we play it. (I better make sure it is charged, he is coming over) Now if the App was bad for him, taught him bad principles, I would direct him to or open up instead, a different App that was edifying. This is what Jesus is saying here. We ask our Father for things and since He is a good, good Father (sounds familiar), if we are asking for things that are bad for us He will substitute things that are good for us. I've heard Tim Keller say, "Thank goodness God didn't answer my prayers as a teen for a certain girl to love me or I would never be married to my wife." It's scary to think what our lives would be like if God let children run their own lives and get everything they wanted. He is a parent - He is a good Father.

        And He is our friend. A true friend reasons with us. A true friend comes alongside us and says "you don't need that". A true friend doesn't let you down in times of need. A true friend has your best interests at heart and wants to see you succeed in life even at their expense. This is the friendship that God offers us. At His expense, He brought us eternal success and He is going to answer our requests accordingly so that we will continue to succeed in the Kingdom of God and wants to explain to you why you didn't get what you want, if you would just listen.

       Lord, I submit to your authority today in my life. I know you love me and have my and my loved one's best interests at heart. You do all things well and want what's best for me. Grant the requests that correspond to that and substitute answers that are right for me. Amen