The Parable of the Midnight Emergency

Well, good morning. Turning your Bibles to, Luke chapter 11. Gospel of Luke chapter 11. I hope you understand the the blessing of attending a church where our pastor always begins the sermon with those words. Let's turn in our Bibles. Our passage today is Luke 11 verses five through eight, but we'll be reading from the beginning of this chapter to allow the context to take us there.

Now most of us are familiar with this parable. I've entitled it the parable of the midnight emergency. It's gone by many names, the parable of the persistent friend, the parable of the friend at midnight, the importunate neighbor among many others. My previous understanding of this parable was quite simple.

God wants us to be persistent in our prayers. And I thought thought this was at first gonna be a pretty simple sermon, but as I studied it and learned more about it, I found that this may actually be one of the most difficult parables to interpret. And the place where I've landed is not anywhere close to where I began.

So I hope you don't run me out of town on a rail. Well, let's beginning let's begin American Standard, the most recent version, twenty twenty, because of its formal word for word translation. Luke chapter 11 verse one. It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.

And he said to said to them, when you pray, say, father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us and do not lead us into temptation. Verse five.

And he said to them, suppose one of you has a friend and goes to him at midnight and says to him, friend, lend me three loaves because a friend of mine has come for come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to serve him. And from inside, he answers and says, do not bother me.

The door has already been shut, and my children and I are in bed, and I cannot get up and give you anything. I tell you, even if he will not get up and give him anything just because he is his friend, yet because of his shamelessness, he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

I realize many of you may have a translation that has the word persistence in verse eight. Many English translations of the bible use the word persistence, which we will see is the keyword in the parable, this word. There are a variety of words in the different translations, and I will discuss those later.

I choose I chose to read from the New American Standard because it uses the word shamelessness, which appears closer to the meaning of the Greek word that was used there. Now in my bible, which I love, the New King James, the word persistence is used. And, if you have your study bible, your commentary notes at the bottom of the page probably say something like this.

This word can even mean impudence, conveying the idea of urgency, audacity, boldness, and relentlessness like the persistent asking of a beggar. Well, remember, while the words of scripture are inspired, the commentary notes are not. Now it is true that God does want us to be persistent in our prayers and continually pray to him.

That is taught many places in scripture, but that is the lesson of another parable. I'm going to attempt to show you today that persistence in prayer, while a good quality, is not the lesson of this parable. If that were the lesson of this parable, then this parable must also mean that God is normally slow or reluctant to respond to our prayers like the man sleeping in the bed.

So stay with me and I think you'll see that this prayer is more about God's character than it is about the persistence of the one praying to him. Well, what I hope to show you is this, is that, we can be certain that God will do good in response to our prayers simply because he is a good father.

Or put another way, God does not need to be persuaded or cajoled or harassed into answering our prayers. He will do what is good because of his name sake, for his own honor, and because he's righteous. Now the outline I will use is this. First, we're gonna look at the prayer to God verses one through four, then the parable about God, which I just read.

And then the following verses are about the lesson about how much greater God is than everything else. So let's start back at the beginning of Luke 11 and look briefly at the prayer to God. This prayer is one version of the model prayer which Jesus taught his disciples when they asked him after seeing him pray, probably early one morning.

It's not intended to be repeated mindlessly, but Jesus gave it to us as an outline or a template helping us to formulate our prayers. Most of us have learned the unabridged version from Matthew chapter six when Jesus taught this to a multitude during the sermon on the mount.

But this is a different occasion. Jesus was praying in a certain place, it says in verse one. He taught this before in the sermon on the mount, but maybe his disciples weren't paying attention. But, he teaches it again to them here on this occasion. So we have two versions recorded in scripture, and the words from this prayer are really the same, but this one is a bit shorter.

And we're not going to study it today, but I do want to focus on one word that we find in verse two. It's the word father. Both of Jesus' lessons on prayer to God begin with the instruction to simply use the title father when addressing God with your needs.

Of course, God is our father. If we have faith in him and we belong to him, then we are his children. Now there are many titles we could use to refer to God. We could use a positional name, almighty God, or a functional name, creator, or a his proper name, Yahweh, or his royal name, king of the universe, or a lofty name like master, or we could simply call him God and those would all be appropriate.

But of all the possibilities, father is the one father is the word that the son of God tells us to use when we address God in prayer. So I think it's especially noteworthy that not once but twice in scripture that Jesus tells us to address God as he does by his relational title, a familial title, father.

I remember as a child, I was probably about 10 years old, sitting between my father and my grandfather as we were driving to town. I was sitting in the middle of the bench seat, a long time ago, of their blue Chevrolet Impala. My mother, sister, and my grandmother were in the back seat.

And we're on our way to town, and my my dad was driving and having a conversation with my grandfather. And, as they chatted, I wanted to join the conversation. So, wanting to be like my dad, I interjected and addressed my grandfather with his name, mister Rothel. Now I don't know what else I said or what general observation I intended to make, but I never got to make it because my grandfather gently but quickly corrected me that I was to call him grandpa.

I realize now that he wanted his grandchildren to call him by a special name that highlighted the unique relationship that he had only with them. And I never called him mister Rothel again. He was my grandpa. Jesus teaches us that when we pray, God wants to be called father.

It's a special name that highlights the unique relationship that he has with his children, those that belong to him. And when we pray, we should relate to him as a child does to a father, and addressing him as a father does that. It puts us in that mode.

So make a note of that, father, because we'll see that detail again later in the lesson following this parable. The remainder of this model prayer would be make a great sermon, but that's for another day. It does follow the general outline of praise to God, a prayer of petition, a prayer of restoration, and a prayer of protection.

But at least let us note that we're able to approach God as a child approaches a father, making our requests to him. So immediately after teaching his disciples what to pray, Jesus told this parable to teach them and us to trust that God is not reluctant to respond to our prayers.

And God will do what is good because of his name's sake. Now as we look into this parable, let's look at, let's read these verses again and let's look at, verse five. He said to them, suppose one of you has a friend and goes to him at midnight and says to him, friend, lend me three loaves because a friend of mine has come to me from a journey and I have nothing to serve him.

So let's stop there because what we have beginning in this verse is a rhetorical question. Jesus is giving us an illustration of prayer using two men. We'll call them just for the sake of simplicity. You've got the man at the door and the man in bed. The man at the door has a need and comes to a friend in bed to ask for help.

So in this story, the man at the door is a type for someone praying. The man in the bed then is a is the one to whom the request is being made. So who is he a type for? He's a type for God, the one who would hear our prayers.

But it's important to note that Jesus often illustrated with contrast, and here he's contrasting the similar types. They're similar in some ways, dissimilar in the others. The man in the bed is imperfect type, but that's really the purpose for contrasting him with a perfect and good God. Now let's come back to this the way he begins this parable.

You know, most of the parables that Jesus teaches, were very detached and impersonal, employing some notional characters to make his point. A farmer went out to sow or a a man traveled to a far country. You might have an object like a mustard seed or a man looking for a treasure in a field or a merchant seeking costly pearls.

But in this parable, he doesn't send us off to a far country or on a quest for hidden treasure. He begins it with a rhetorical question which brings the disciples and it brings us into the parable. Now this is rather unusual, so let's look at the grammatical context of this parable to hear it as a first century listener would.

Important to to put yourself back 20 centuries ago. And let's look at the structure of this question and examine the purpose behind it. Now the first phrase in the New American Standard is suppose one of you. And the footnote in that version of the bible reads like this.

It says, literally, which one of you will have? Which is what most other translations have as well. So which of you shall have a friend and go to him at midnight would be a way of rendering this that that is consistent with the others. Now at first, this seems like a simple question.

But Jesus uses this type of grammatical device a lot. This expression, which of you, is a clue. And it's used multiple times in the New Testament to introduce a rhetorical question that expects a negative reply. As a matter of fact, it expects an indignant negative reply. A reply that says, that's unthinkable.

A reply that says, no, we can't imagine such a thing. Let me give you some examples. Luke chapter 12, just in the next chapter, verse 25, Jesus asked, and which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? Two chapters later, Luke, Luke 14, which of you having a donkey or an ox that has fallen into a pit will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?

Can you imagine not pulling out your donkey? No. How about one more? Luke 15. Which of you having a 100 sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the 99 in the wilderness and go after the one which is lost in the fields until he finds it?

What's the expected answer? No. I can't imagine leaving, that one sheep out there by himself. I can't imagine that worrying will add a cubit to my stature. It's unthinkable. So that's the expected answer to a question like this. So let me read it again. Which of you has a friend and goes to him at midnight and says to him, friend, lend me three loaves because a friend of mine has come to me from a journey and I have nothing to serve him.

Now what we're introduced here is the emergency. So this friend, you which of you have an emergency? Right? Now continue reading. The man in the bed, he doesn't want to answer, does he? He says, no, the the the door is shut. I'm in bed with my children. He's basically saying, come back another time.

And I have to admit, I sympathize with the man in the bed. And I'm not gonna ask you to raise your hand, but maybe many some of you do too. Right? I mean, is this such a big deal that would necessitate waking me at midnight? I mean, we're all in bed here.

Can't can't wait till the next day. So to our twenty first century ears, this may not seem like an emergency. But to the disciples in the first century, what Jesus has described is a calamity. And we have to understand that. In those days, visitors would sometimes arrive in the middle of the night since the heat of the day, was too rough and traveling at night made it more bearable.

So to truly grasp the situation here, we must, examine historical and cultural context. We've looked at some grammatical context. Now we're gonna look at historical and cultural context. In the first century, near eastern culture was very different from ours in many ways, too numerous to discuss here. But one specific difference was the strict honor and shame culture, a system where hospitality was not just social etiquette but a sacred duty.

Ends for lodging and eating were rare. There was no holiday inn on the corner as Jesus and Mary found out. Right? Travelers were more dependent on finding someone, a host to provide their protection, their lodging, their care, and their food. And once you accepted someone into your home, whether it was a family or business occasion, and they were under your roof, the host was responsible for their safety and their welfare.

Sharing food was considered a solemn binding covenant of of friendship or business partnership. To violate that expectation was a matter of extreme shame or dishonor. And so I want to keep before us the role of honor and shame in this first century world, which we, we we don't understand to the degree they did back then.

The role of honor and shame in that society is key to understanding the meaning of this parable. This was a matter of public reputation. Hospitality was the primary way to gain honor and reputation, and being a generous host increased your honor and your stature while ignoring a stranger or fumbling in this duty brought shame.

So while this situation may not sound like much of an emergency to us today, to Jesus' listeners in the first century, this was like the guy's house was on fire. Okay? If I were to put it in modern terms, it would be more like this. Which of you has a friend and you go to him at midnight and you say to him, friend, my house is on fire.

Can I borrow some water to put out my fire? What's the expected answer? No. I can't imagine having a friend that would do that. I can't imagine such a thing. So with that context, we can better understand the shock Jesus intends when in the next verse, it records this unexpected response from the man in bed.

And so the unexpected response in verse seven from inside I mean, can you imagine, friend, that you come here and you've got this emergency? And verse seven says, from inside he answers and says, do not bother me. The door has already been shut and my children are in bed and I cannot get up and give you anything.

Now earlier, we may have read this response and it looked pretty reasonable to us. Right? Hey, I'm asleep. I don't wanna wake up my children. And you get this to some degree. Now some of you may or may not sleep with your children today. I'm not judging. Okay?

But the first in the first Century home, they didn't have separate bedrooms. You had, four walls, maybe an extra room. But generally, there was not a luxury bed. There was a mattress made of straw. It was in one corner of the room. Maybe it was near the fireplace, but everybody slept in that bed.

So we can see why the man in bed might be reluctant to get up and respond to his friend making this request. Now a minute ago, we looked at the role of honor and shame in that culture from the perspective of the man at the door. He's got an emergency.

He's about to lose his honor. Let's see how this same rule applies to the man in the bed. And I don't think we have to go all the way back to the first century for you to understand his dilemma. As bad as things are for the man at the door, having no food for his midnight visitors, imagine what would happen socially the man in the bed if he turns away a friend with an emergency like this.

Shameful. He could never show his face in public again. Imagine. I mean, bringing this into modern terms, your your friend outside, his his house is on fire. He needs your water hose from the garage to put it out. What do you do? Do you roll back over in bed and and say, I'll I'll I'll, I don't wanna wake up my kids?

No. I can't imagine such a thing. This is what's going on through the mind of the man in bed. That sort of refusal would bring unimaginable shame on his name and his family's name. To refuse his friend's request would bring shame upon him to a degree that he'd probably be ostracized, have to move, lose his job.

Not gonna happen. He is not going to refuse that request. Let's move along again and discuss a little bit more the expected answer to this question. Now that we understand the grammatical context of this question, which of you has a friend, and we understand the cultural context of honor and shame, the expected answer to this question.

He said to them, suppose one of you has a friend goes to him at midnight and says, friend, lend me three loaves because a friend of mine has come to me from a journey. I have nothing to serve him. And from inside, he says, do not bother me.

The door has already been shut and my children are in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything. What is the expected answer? No. I cannot imagine such a thing. It would be too shameful for that man not to get up out of bed and help his friend.

He has no choice but to help him where it will bring bring shame upon him and his whole family. He has to help his friend to avoid shame and to preserve his honor. This brings us to verse eight. And verse eight is a bit of a puzzle. As a matter of fact, that's what I call it in my outline, the puzzle.

You like to work puzzles? Alright. Well, buckle your seat belt here. I had to sit down with pastor Tom to take this puzzle apart and put it back together. The key I'll tell you right now. The key, to put this puzzle to get ever put together a puzzle before?

You take it out of the box and you got all the pieces on the table, but you just throw the box away. Right? You just put it on another table over there. Have you ever tried to put together a puzzle without the picture on the box? No. I can't imagine such a thing.

No. You have to look at the picture on the box when you're putting together the puzzle. It's a lot easier that way. And for us, the picture on the box of putting together this puzzle is the role of honor and shame. We have to keep that in view here, that first century picture.

Verse eight, I tell you, even if he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his shamelessness, he will get up and give him as much as he needs. Now why does the sleeping man answer the door? But does the sleeping man answer the door?

Yes. He does. The question is why? That's the real puzzle in this picture. That's the first puzzle. Why does he answer the door? Is it because he's friends with the man at the door? They may be friends, but is that what got him out of bed? No. There's a greater reason.

It's because of his and let's just fill in the blank here or let's just leave it blank. Because of his the Greek word is anadiah. That is the word here that we have to, unpack. Okay? What's in a word? Anadiah. There's a lot in this word. This is a difficult word appearing only one time.

I'm gonna say that again. Only one time in the New Testament. And the translators, I think, had trouble with it too because there is a wide range of English words that have been used in different English translations. I read to you the most recent New American Standard, which says shamelessness.

The word persistence is used in the other versions of the New American Standard as well as the New King James, the legacy in the Holman. Shameless audacity is used in the NIV. Impudence is used in the ESV. And importunity, not sure what that means, is used in the King James version.

Now that's a wide variety of words for this one word, anadiah. Nine translations I looked at, five different variations. Persistent is the winner with five uses. So let's declare persistence the winner. Is that the best way to approach this? Let's examine the Greek word more closely. Anadia is a compound word.

The root word is aadia or idos in its root form, meaning shame. Eidos means shame. And it's preceded by a negative particle. Any English teachers in the room? Help me out here. A negative particle, ah, or the Greek letter alpha. And since in English, it or it they they do this in in Greek too when it precedes a vowel, it's a n.

So an idea. The negative particle negates the word that follows it. So negating shame without shame, and that's where they get shameless because there's no shame. The shamelessness is the construction of this Greek word. Now this word understood incorrectly could indicate a wrong attitude when approaching the Lord in prayer.

We are not to be impudent or demanding or audacious or annoying. These are negative qualities and not the right attitude for approaching God when you look at all the teaching in scripture. So how about the word persistence? Well, that's a positive quality. That word means to do something repeatedly and with determination.

I like that word. There are two other Greek words that the bible uses for the word persistence. Those words are hard to pronounce, and they mean persistence or perseverance or patient continuance. Those words are not used in verse eight. Without shame, shameless, negating shame. So how did the translators go from without shame, anodaya, to persistence, which means repeatedly indetermination?

Well, they probably look for other uses of the word anodaya in the New Testament. And there's only one. It's right here. So that was no help. Then they probably look at the surrounding text and landed quickly on the next verse, verse nine, which I will read to you.

So I say to you, ask and it will be given you. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be open to you. These verbs in verse nine, ask, seek, and knock, are in the Greek aorist tense, which implies a present and continuing action. So you could say keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking.

And that is true. We are to keep asking, seeking, and keep knocking. And that sounds a lot like persistence. That's a good lesson for verse nine. I just don't think that works with this parable. I'll tell you why. First of all, looking at the para at the man at the door in the parable, does he knock at all?

No. He doesn't. Does he keep knocking? No. He's not knocking at all. The only mention of a door at all is the man in the bed who says the door is shut. So we know there's a door there, but not because he's knocking on it. Does the man at the door say anything repeatedly?

Does he repeat himself? Does he do anything repeatedly? Does this passage reflect any passage of time at all? No. Does the man at the door have to shamelessly annoy the man to get him out of bed? No. I tell you that because he's his friend, he will open the door.

Not because he's his friend, but because of Anadiah. So now let's look at some pronouns and antecedents. So, I mean, we don't really see persistence demonstrated by the man at the door at all. The real question is, does the word persistence even apply to him? Who is the him in verse eight who Anadiah without shame applies to?

So let's look at pronouns and antecedents. Aren't you glad you came today? I hope you're taking notes. There will be a quiz. Count the pronouns in verse eight. There's four he's. Him occurs twice. His occurs twice. A total of eight in one verse. That's a lot of pronouns.

Thank goodness they're both men. Actually, it'd be easier if there was one was a woman, but they're all similar. And they all seem to have pretty clear antecedents except one of them because of his Anadiah. Who does the word Anadiah apply to? Is it the man at the door or is it the man in bed?

Consider this word Anadiah and it's used in other peak period Greek literature. It's only used in the bible once, but other first century Greeks, even Josephus, used it a lot in the first century. This word evolved in meaning from the first century where it almost exclusively meant shameless or without shame or to lack shame.

In other words, like impudent and harsh or fierce, could be used if demanded by the context. And the context of its use here determines its definition. The context here is this first century role of honor and shame. So let's look at its use in this parable in verse eight.

When the negative sense of shamelessness is brought out from the word anadiah, we have a dilemma. Is the man in need? Is the man at the door acting shamelessly by appealing to his neighbor for help? No. There's nothing shameless about that. I would do the same thing. You you would too.

That's a normal and reasonable thing to do even at midnight when you have an emergency. By extension, are we acting shamelessly when we pray to God? Are we to be ashamed? Certainly not. So there's only one other possibility. The word anadea belongs to the man in the bed.

Because of the man in the bed's anadea, because of his lack of shame, he will rise and give him as many as he needs. The man in bed wants to avoid shame by refusing his friend's request. He doesn't want to bring shame upon himself and on his name.

He's got to respond. He has no choice. Anadeya, shamelessness, no shame because of his sense of shame to avoid shame. Anadeya is to remain without shame. He will this man will respond to his spin to preserve his name and to help his friend, to preserve his honor and his reputation.

It would be socially unthinkable to do otherwise. And this fits the expected answer to the rhetorical question. Can you imagine a friend refusing you when you have an emergency? No. I can't imagine such a thing. He may a single person. Single person. Would come upon him for staying in bed and refusing.

So because of the man's Anadeia is wanting to avoid shame, he will rise and give him as many as he needs. I know this journey is, through the lexicon and through hermeneutics has been a bit arduous and, a bit different from the most popular lesson of this parable, but consider this also.

Remember, this word anodeus is only used once in scripture. There's no Greek word to express the thought of avoidance of shame that's that is anything closer to this one. So the surrounding context helps us to define it, I think, more appropriately as the man in bed, who helped his friend in need even at midnight.

And in this, we can be certain that God will respond to our prayers not because of anything we do, but because of his namesake to preserve his honor. He will not roll over in bed like like the man in the parable was thinking about. Well, let's move on to finally, the lesson.

We're gonna look at the remaining verses, verses nine through 13, to see what else Jesus has to say here. The lesson here really is about exalting God. This parable is not about exalting the man at the door for his persistence. It's about exalting God or his righteousness and he will answer us.

And I think we can bring that out here in these verses. 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. Verse 10, for everyone who asks receives and the one who seeks finds and to the one who knocks, it will be opened.

The repetition here emphasizes the certainty of God's response. Each of these verbs, ask, seek, knock, it's a picture of prayer. That's why it follows this discussion about prayer. And it's a double list of three. Verse nine, you've got ask, seek, and knock, and and then again, you've got it in verse 10.

So it's it's really there six times. That is a it's like six exclamation points in scripture to emphasize that the certainty of getting a response from God. He is not like the man in the bed who's thinking about why are you bothering me? So keep praying. Don't doubt that God is good.

Even who you may not receive, find, or open to the response you would have liked, be certain that God is good. Now I simply have to address for a moment here, what someone considered unanswered prayer. I know some of you have prayed for years for something. I know I have.

We're told to keep praying. Even when you feel like you haven't gotten an answer, you may start to doubt that God even hears you. This parable says, don't think that. That is wrong thinking. God hears you. Just because you didn't get the answer you you wanted in the time frame that you wanted doesn't mean that God is not good.

We are taught here that God is good. He is righteous. Righteous. He will not shame his name by rolling over in bed. I can find no better example than our Lord's prayer in the garden the night before his arrest and crucifixion. Crucifixion. In Matthew 26 verse, 39, the Lord is praying, my father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me.

Yet not as I will, but as you will. And Matthew records that Jesus prayed this in deep anguish and he prayed it three times. Yet God still led his son to the cross. Why? Because God is good and Jesus trusted in that. God's will is perfect. How about the apostle Paul when he says, second Corinthians twelve seven, he pleads with the Lord that this thorn in the flesh three times that it might And we're do so so we're in weakness.

To And For when I am streak, when I am weak, I am then strong. Sometimes God's negative response is for our edification or building up of our faith. Sometimes God says no. That is still a response. And we have to accept God's goodness. And when we turn our back on God's goodness, well, we're failing the test of of faith.

The second lesson here, I believe, is, found in verse 11. Where am I at here? Okay. In verse 11, as good as we are as fathers to our children, God is much better a much better father to us. Look what he says here. Now which one of you fathers will his son ask for a fish and instead of a fish, he will give him a snake?

Or will he even ask for an egg and his father will give him a scorpion? Did you notice the question here? Have we heard something like this before? Which one of you which one of you? Jesus is, using that rhetorical question again. What's expected response? Are you gonna are you a father gonna give when your son asks for a fish?

Give him a snake? No. I can't imagine such a thing. How about if he asks for an egg, you give him a scorpion? No. I can't imagine. That's unthinkable. No decent father would do something so cruel to his son and neither will God. In fact, Jesus makes this emphatic in the next verse, verse thirteen, thirteen, by making the ultimate contrast.

The ultimate contrast here in verse 13. So if you being despite being evil or being sinful, if you despite 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? Even sinful men can be good fathers, and many are.

But the ultimate contrast comes when a good earthly father, even a good earthly father compared to God, is nothing compared to his goodness, compared to the ultimate father, God himself. The power of a father is so formative in our lives. Good or bad, we come up with our first image of God from the fathers in our lives.

Now I had a wonderful father who provided a good and healthy foundation for our image of a good God. So fathers, make sure you do the same for your children that we bear a heavy weight of responsibility. But I must say a word to the many of you who may not have had a very good father.

In fact, you may have had a wicked father, whether he was violent or abusive. I know there are those out there. I knew a man once whose father taught him how to do drugs and how to run from problems instead of facing them, and his view of God was never right.

So please, if you have a wrong view of God, hear the words of our savior in this verse. How much more will your heavenly father give good things, even the holy spirit to those who ask him? How much more is our heavenly father's goodness even than the best of fathers among men?

Do not let the sins of your father corrupt your view of your heavenly father. He is better. He is much better than any father that ever lived on earth because he is perfectly good. And that's why the sleeping man, the man in the bed in the parable had to get up from his bed and help.

He could not bring shame upon his name and let his friends go away in his hour of need. Not because he was a friend, but because of his anadea, because of his wanting to sense of remaining without shame, his sense of honor. How much more does God preserve the honor of his name by answering according to his goodness?

So let me conclude by asking you, which of you can imagine that you approach God in prayer from your when you approach God in prayer with your needs and from heaven he answers and says, do not bother me. The door is shut and I am asleep. No. I can't imagine such a thing.

I can't imagine a god like that. Indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. God is not asleep. He is not worried about waking up his children. He is eager and willing to respond to your prayers. Ask and you shall receive. Seek and you shall find.

That that happens. It happens a lot. Knock and it will be open to you. We can be certain that God will respond to our prayers, not because of anything we do, but simply for his name's sake. He would not bring shame upon his name by refusing. Let's pray.

Heavenly father, we thank you that, you are a good god. Lord, help us to trust in your perfect goodness. Lord, in times where we are likely to doubt, and I'm sure Jesus knew that, his disciples would be facing times where they would doubt God's goodness. And we might be tempted to think that you are locked behind a door and we simply need to yell louder or knock louder or or annoy you and harass you.

Lord, help us to trust in your goodness. It is not for because of our effort that you answer our prayers or respond to our prayers, but simply because of your honor. And that we know and we trust that you would not bring shame on your name. We thank you that you have taught us this in your word, and it's in your holy name, son, we pray.

Amen.