One evening, a man retired for the evening, having put his kids to bed, going upstairs with his wife and settling in for the night.
About three hours later, his doorbell app erupts. He reaches for his phone to check the front door monitor, and he sees his next-door neighbor standing and waiting on the porch, clearly agitated.
“What is it, Bob?”
“Hi Dave. Sorry to bother you. Were you asleep?”
“Ummm…. it’s 2 a.m. Bob.”
“Yeah, right… sorry about that.”
“Yeah, you said that.”
“Of course. Well… thing is, I’m out of toilet paper.”
“And?”
“Well, my wife’s family just got in, they’ve been driving for hours and it turns out, I don’t have any toilet paper. So I’ve got a situation here, and I was wondering… can I borrow some?”
“Walmart’s down the road. Open 24 hours.”
“Come on, Dave, you know they don’t have any. No one has any. And I saw that post on Facebook. I know you’ve got plenty.”
“Seriously. You’re asking me for toilet paper at 2 in the morning. Because you couldn’t be bothered to go get any yourself.”
“Well…. yes!”
The man’s wife rolls over and mumbles something about giving him what he wants so he’ll go away.
“Fine. I’ll be down in a minute….”
Does that story sound familiar? It’s basically the scenario that Jesus describes in Luke 11 as he’s trying to teach his disciples an important principle about prayer. He describes a similar situation, but with something much less valuable than toilet paper in a corona virus world: food.
And it’s interesting that Jesus describes the man’s willingness to help his neighbor as having nothing to do with graciousness and everything to do with annoyance. Have you ever experienced a situation where someone asked a favor so inappropriate, so out of line, so shocking, that you didn’t know how to respond in the moment except to do it?
The saying goes: “Fortune favors the bold.” And that’s a principle that Jesus indicates is important in our own prayer life.
In this passage, he has just finished describing a model prayer to his disciples, showing them the general areas for which they ought to pray, and indicating the attitude of humility (“hallowed by your name”), submission (“your will be done”), lack of greed (“give us our daily bread”), and graciousness (“forgive as we forgive our debtors”) that prayer requires.
But learning how to pray well is more than just knowing what to pray for. It’s about how we view the God to which we pray. And whether He will do for us what we need.
So that brings us back to the request for food… or toilet paper.
Put yourself in Bob’s position.
I expect it wouldn’t be a fun experience to go over to your neighbor, wake him up knowing how angry he’s going to be, and then asking for something relatively embarrassing and all the while knowing that ultimately you’re asking your neighbor to fix a problem that you brought upon yourself by your own negligence. He has absolutely no obligation to do anything for you, and would be within his right to lecture you about how you should have been more prepared!
In fact, it almost reminds me of the parable of the 10 virgins (Matthew 25:1). The five foolish women who did not think to buy extra oil, and so were unprepared when the time came to light their lamps. And the five wise women rejected their request, saying they wouldn’t have enough for their own responsibilities.
But Jesus is making a different point in this parable. It’s about the willingness of the requester to swallow his pride, recognize his need, and ask the hard, unreasonable favor, and to not stop asking until he gets what he needs. Not wants, but needs.
As Jacob refused to let go of the angel until he had received a blessing (Genesis 32:26), God wants us to persist in prayer until we receive a blessing from God. As Jesus says in Luke 18, God doesn’t answer that prayer because he is tired of hearing the request and finally gives in, he answers because of the faith that drove the person to pray “without losing heart” (Luke 18:1).
There’s a second illustration after this that is important to bear in mind in order to understand this principle. Jesus makes the point that just as any good father would only give his child what is good for him, God the Father responds to our prayers with good gifts. That means answering our prayers according to what is best for us – and that isn’t always what we ask for!
And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:9-10)
Put this all together:
Am I humbling myself before God in prayer? Recognizing that God knows what I need better than I myself? Am I praying knowing that God hears and answers my prayers as long as I am in fellowship with Jesus? Am I praying for my true needs (and those of others) — my spiritual life, my health, the material needs of the day (not extravagances, not abundance, but what I need to live and serve God?)
And most importantly, am I praying with the knowledge that how God answers your prayer may not be what you expect, but it will always be better for you than what you envisioned?
When we pray with Jesus’ heart of submission to God, we not only expect God to answer our prayers, but we accept that answer – whatever it is – and we glorify God.
