Everything you need to know about The Parable of the Friend at Night? Immediately after teaching the disciples to pray the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus told the story of the neighbor who was in need of bread for a visitor (Luke 11:5-10). The disciples had just asked Him to teach them to pray (Luke 11:1), and the lesson He is teaching through this parable is to be persistent in prayer. This is the first of two parables Jesus uses to drive this concept home—the second is the parable of the persistent widow and the unjust judge in Luke 18:1-8. Paul reiterates this same concept in 1 Thessalonians 5:17.
This progression of intensity in Jesus’ use of metaphorical language teaches us just how passionately we should persist in prayer. For example, the more we may feel that God is distant – perhaps because we have already been persistent in asking – the more we are to persist in seeking Him. As the author of Hebrews reminds us: NKJ Hebrews 11:6 [Open in Logos Bible Software (if available)] But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Application: 1) The main point here is that God wants us to pray this way. He wants us to have to be persistent and to have to wait for answers from Him. Have you ever secretly thought that God must get tired of hearing your prayers? Or that you might annoy Him with bringing the same requests to Him? If so, Jesus wants you to know that God never gets tired of listening to His children! 2) On another note, have you ever thought that what you pray about most may reflect what is most important to you?
As I have already indicated, this is a pretty long question, but it is pretty easily understood nonetheless. The question demands an answer something like, “Of course my friend would not refuse to help me in such a situation!” Jesus is simply asking us to think about how a friend would indeed get up in the middle of the night in order to help us with a need. And He assumes that we all have friends who would not refuse us but would help us out. After all, isn’t this what friends do? See additional information with the The Parable of the Friend at Night video on YouTube.
Jesus is not comparing the reluctant friend with the heavenly Father; He is contrasting the two. Jesus is not saying that the heavenly Father is like the reluctant friend who needs to be persuaded many times before he would help. He is saying that if even a reluctant friend will give out of a person’s persistence, how much more will the heavenly Father give out of our persistence. In verse 13, Jesus says that if we, who are evil, know how to give good things, how much more the heavenly Father. Again, He is contrasting the two.
