Luke 11: Persistance

In this passage, we have the "less popular" version of The Lord's Prayer. Most of the time, the unabridged Matthew version is the most popular. Some of you guys may be a little freaked out because the 2 versions are different. Luke leaves out some of what Matthew keeps in his version, but the gist is the same. When you pray: exalt the Lord, focus on His will for your life and not you own, depend upon God for your daily needs, seek forgiveness through repentance, and pray for spiritual protection.
The latter part of this passage is what I want to talk about today. The next story in verses 5-8 has a great lesson we need to hear. In this story, a man has a surprise guest in the middle of the night and needs to feed him. Knowing he has no food, the man pounds on his neighbor's door so he can borrow some food. Because he is a friend and because of his persistance (v.8), the neighbor relents, gets out of bed, and helps the guy out with some bread to share. I love the 2 criteria by which the neighbor decides to act: relationship and persistance.
In other words, he wouldn't have just done this for just anybody. Because they were friends, the neighbor wanted to help him out. Friends have each other's back. Friends look out for the best interest of each other because they are committed to each other. Is God your friend? Do you have an intimate relationship with the Lord as such that when He needs for you to do something you would do it for Him?

"Now wait," you say. "I thought this passage is about God doing what I ask Him to do for me?"

This passage is about just that...but friendship is reciprocal. Most of the time when I think about prayer I think about me asking God to do what I want him to do. I'm just reversing that thought for a second, since friendship is a reciprocal act. Let me ask you again. Since you are a friend of God, would you be willing to do whatever He asks you to do because you trust Him? Jesus speaks here as if the Lord feels that way about us.
The Lord also responds to persistance. The NIV calls it "boldness." Have you quit praying about something because God didn't answer it? Maybe you should consider asking again. God answers all prayers. Sometimes He answers yes, sometimes He answers wait, and sometimes He answers no. But we have to know, based upon verses 9-13, that He answers out of a heart of concern for me. He is my Heavenly Dad and He knows best. Aren't you glad God hasn't granted everything you ever prayed for Him to do? If that were the case, I would be married to someone else. I wouldn't have finished college. I would not be pastoring a church...the list could go on. My life would be dramatically different, for the worse, if God just did everything I asked Him to do simply because I asked Him to do it. That's where the Lord's Prayer fits in. Remember the part in the prayer about "Your Kingdom come." My life is ultimately about ushering in God's Kingdom on this earth. Admittedly, most of my prayers revolve around my kingdom. Prayer is about lining up my heart with my best friend's heart. So pray about your life...pray with persistance...and accept the Lord's answers!