Lesson on how to pray and parable of the bold friend

Lesson on how to pray and parable of the bold friend

Luke 11:1-13

In his commentary, Alexander Balmain Bruce suggested “that the parable of the Good Samaritan, the story of Martha and Mary, and the Lesson of Prayer form together a group having their common heading: “at school with Jesus”…”[1] The common lesson in each section has to do with life in the Kingdom…the kind of behaviour characteristic of those who live in submission to the King. Understanding the role of prayer, or the manner in which the believer communes with God, is of vital importance. The foundation for any good relationship is good communication.

Every Jew knew how to pray. Although the order of the Jewish Prayer Book, the Siddur, was only formalised soon after the destruction of the Temple in AD 70, standardised prayers date back at least to the time of Ezra. It is possible that Jesus’ prayers were so different from the formal prayers of the time that the disciples wanted Him to teach them His way of communicating with the Father. However, even John taught his followers how to pray, so it might not be totally clear as to the disciple’s motive for the request.

In reply, Jesus first gave them an outline, then an exposition of that outline, and ended with a hyperbolic application. The form of the prayer focuses on life in the Kingdom, first addressing the King with a pledge to live according to Kingdom principles, and then confessing the believer’s inability to live that life without Divine aid and Divine intervention and protection. As such, the “coming” of the Kingdom is a present reality revealed in and through the life of kingdom subjects. Dwight A. Pryor says that for Jesus, “the Kingdom of heaven is not some place in “the world to come” but the in-breaking activity of Someone in this world…It is not a political empire nor territorial domain, but God’s activity of supernaturally exercising dominion in the lives of those who receive Him as King”[2] In this light, the line usually translated and understood as a petition for future realisation of a spiritual or even physical entity, “May Your Kingdom Come”, is actually a request for God to rule and reign in the life of the petitioner and in the world through the petitioner. “Our chief duty, from Jesus’ point of view, is to sanctify or hallow God’s name (His person and character) in this world.”[3] In other words, the opening lines of the prayer is a request for God to be exalted through the petitioner so that His reign might be made evident through the petitioner’s manner of life which ought to reflect kingdom principles.

A summary of these principles follows with three requests: for provision (with obvious allusions to the provision of manna in the wilderness), for reconciliation (between the petitioner and God and the petitioner and others based upon an understanding of the mutual inadequacies of all kingdom subjects), and for protection or preservation (not to yield to the lifestyle of the old kingdom). It is interesting that the request for reconciliation (forgiveness) is conditional. The petitioner is actually asking the King to forgive him or her in the same way as he or she forgives others. The basic idea behind this condition is that the petitioner is to reflect the person and character of the King as part of hallowing God’s Name and of bringing the reality of Kingdom life into full relief as a contrast to the “dog eat dog” manner of the world. God is a forgiving God and His followers must reflect that quality.

Jesus then followed up on this teaching with a brief exposition of what the application of prayer would look like through the parable of the bold friend. What is often overlooked in modern day explanations of the meaning of this parable is the underlying Ancient Middle-Eastern custom of hospitality. Kenneth Bailey points out that the custom of the day would make the community at large responsible for the guest’s adequate entertainment. Neglecting to do so would reflect negatively on the whole village. “With this background in mind, verse 7 becomes clear. Verses 5 through 7 are together the extended question that expects an emphatic negative answer. Jesus is saying, “Can you imagine having a friend and going to him with the sacred request to help you entertain a guest, and then he offers silly excuses about sleeping children and a barred door?” The Oriental listener/reader knows the communal responsibility for the guest and responds, “No, we cannot imagine it.”[4]

The instruction to persevere or to persist in prayer is thus based upon the fact that God delights to answer the petitions of His subjects. That is His nature and it is the way of the kingdom.

In application, it seems Jesus was pointing out that God’s Name is hallowed and the realty of His Kingdom is made evident through answered prayer…especially for the life-directing indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, the one who enables us to live out kingdom principles. Just as Ancient Middle-Eastern custom demanded a positive response from the inconvenienced sleeping friend, as to refuse would go contrary to the understood manner of the village, so too Kingdom custom demands a positive response from the King, as to refuse would go contrary to God’s person and character.

Thus for the disciple, the prayer Jesus teaches us to pray is the backbone for daily life in the Kingdom. It is the King Who makes His Kingdom evident through our submission and dependence on Him. His Name is hallowed when His gracious nature is observed through answered prayer. Through answered prayer the reality of His rule and His Kingship is made evident. In this light, prayer is as much for us as it is for the watching world, as answered prayer is a testimony to God’s gracious and merciful rule and reign in our lives.

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[1] Bruce, Alexander Balmain, The Expositor’s Greek Testament, I The Synoptic Gospels, Hendrickson Publishers, 546.

[2] Pryor, Dwight A., Behold the Man! Discovering our Hebrew Lord, the Historical Jesus of Nazareth, Centre for Judaic-Christian Studies, Dayton, OH, 2005, 124.

[3] Pryor, Dwight A., Unveiling the Kingdom of Heaven: The Origins and Dimensions of the Kingdom Concept as taught by the Rabbi Jesus, Center of Judaic-Christian Studies, Dayton, OH, 2008, 14.

[4] Bailey, Kenneth E., Poet & Peasant and Through Peasant Eyes: A Literary-Cultural Approach to the Parable in Luke, Combine Edition, Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, MI, 1983, 124.