The Friend At Midnight

Good morning and welcome to Our Daily Walk.

Audio version at http://tinyurl.com/yrlcv6

Not often, but sometimes I receive calls late into the night. Sometimes it is news of a pending death or an accident that has occurred. Or it might be someone who is distraught and just needed to talk with someone. Many times I can take these calls and others in the house are not even awakened by the phone.

Being a preacher, that comes with the territory and I’m glad to be able to be of service to those who need me. It may not always come at a convenient time, but then shouldn’t all friends be open to help one another regardless of the hour?

Houses in the day of Jesus were very modest. In fact, most of them were one room homes with dirt floors. At night any animals that the family owned would be brought in to stay indoors. This would protect them from the elements and also from thieves.

The interior of the house would be very modest. The animals would be on the floor of the house. An area of the house would be built up a bit off the floor and this would be where the family would eat and sleep.

In our time today it would be very possible for us to take a late night phone call or even answer the door without disturbing the others in the house. But this would not be the case in the time of Jesus.

While discussing the subject of prayer, Jesus offers a parable to the disciples. We find this in 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.

When we tie this parable to the teaching on prayer we can understand the point better. Jesus is asking us to be persistent in our prayers to the Father. When we pray we should be aware of our needs and we should pray fervently to God in anticipation that our needs will be met.

For a friend, we will open the door, even at midnight, even if it means waking everyone up and changing our routine. Why? Because we know that the knocking on the door won’t go away until we answer it and take care of the needs.

Jesus then continues in verses 9-13 with the following.

“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. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 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? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 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!”

What a beautiful comparison and lesson. If even those who are godless know how to take care of their own children, then certainly we should know that God will be more than able to take care of His own.

When the disciples asked Jesus, “Lord, teach us to pray,” they may have only expected a lesson on the words to speak. But Jesus went beyond that and also taught them to be willing to pray with persistence.

What about us today? Are we willing to pray and ask God for blessings, seek God for answers and knock on the doors that need to be opened? If not, we should be.

On Our Daily Walk today, may we stop this very hour and pray to God, asking, seeking and knocking for something that is needed in our lives. May we be confident that our Father will always do what is best for us.

Our thought for the day: “No one is poor who can by prayer open the storehouse of God.”

May God bless you on your daily walk.

© Our Daily Walk, Mike Baker, 2007. Permission is granted to copy these articles provided they are not sold and the author's name and copyright are included.