Luke 11:5-10: Jesus' Midnight Snacks

Luke 11:9-10 "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."

Do you ever wake up in the night and find yourself extremely hungry? Perhaps mom's dinner wasn't as good as usual the night before, or the cafeteria was serving some weird Southern dish that you don't like (that never happens), and you didn't get your full share of food the evening before. Nevertheless, you find yourself starving in the middle of the night, so you decide to get up and get some grub.

In the Bible, Jesus tells a similar story, and it goes like this. A man was comfortably enoying his third cycle of REM sleep when his best friend wakes him up in the middle of the night with the ring of his doorbell. Not knowing who it is, the man gets up and answers the door for his friend. "I'm hungry, friend," says the friend at the door, "and I ran out of Hamburger Helper. Would you mind sparing me a box?" The man replies, "My wife and three newborn babies are sleeping. To walk across my creeky fixer-upper house would wake them up." The man wishes that his friend go away, but he keeps asking him for a midnight snack. Nevertheless, the man decides to get his friend some Hamburger Helper and send him on his way, not because he wants to be a good friend to the man at the door, but because the man at the door wouldn't go away.*

So, what's the point of this wacky story? Answer: Jesus is teaching us how to pray persistently. In the story, God is portrayed by the man sleeping in his house; the man knocking on the door is us, and knocking on the door in the middle of the night represents our prayers. Through this story, we see that God will give us what we ask for if we ask for it persistently. Even if we knock on God's door in the middle of his third REM cycle, he is happy to give us what we ask for if we ask for it persistently.

But, you may ask, why doesn't God just give us what we ask for the first time? Why do I have to persistently ask him for it? That's a great question! And I'd be happy to be with you when you ask Jesus for the answer when you get to Heaven, because I don't know! There probably is an answer to that question in scripture, but that is not necessarily the point of this parable. The point is this: if we pray to God consistently, he will answer us. If we seek him dilligently, we will find him. If we knock with impudence, he will answer us and give us all that we need.

So, where's the application this morning? Oftentimes, these passages of scripture are ones that we hold onto like a stuffed animal and forget that they are a double-edges sword that ought to drive through our hears (Hebrews 4:12-13). The conviction here this morning is this: when is the last time you persistently prayed to God? Oftentimes we grow cold, lazy, and doubtful and do not pray to God persistently. So often we give up on him and try to do things on our own. What would it look like if we continued to pray for God, knowing that he will provide for our every need? Brother and sister, I encourage you: knock on God's door. Ask of him consistently. For you do not know of the great riches that he will grant you as you trust him in prayer.

*I obviously took some liberties in the retelling of this story, Jesus didn't actaully speak of doorbells and Hamburger Helper of course.