Which of you has a friend…

Luke records a curious little passage not found in any other Gospel. It reads as follows:

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. – Luke 11:9-10

There are some who use this passage in many self-serving ways…

All we need to do is ask the Father and he will give us what we want. Right?
Are you in poverty? You will become rich!
Are you sick? You will be healed!
Are you depressed? You will be happy!
Ask the Father and you can have your best life now!

To them I say, Balderdash!

This oft called “Prosperity Gospel,” doesn’t seem to be consistent with Jesus’s other words, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” and, “You will be hated by all for my name’s sake.” And it certainly doesn’t seem consistent with the words of the author of Hebrews who wrote, “Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated—of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.”

If we are to properly understand these words of Jesus, we must read the entire passage starting in verse 5 and continuing all the way to verse 13. The full passage reads,

5-8 And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs.
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.
11-12 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?
13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” – Luke 11:5-13

This passage contains two illustrations and two conclusions. The first illustration (vv 5-8) is about a neighbor who asks his friend at midnight for some bread. The second illustration (vv 11-12) is about a father giving fish and eggs to his child instead of serpents and scorpions. These two illustrations are about two different points. The first is about our persistence in prayer; the second is about the gifts the Father gives.

The man in the first illustration has settled into bed for the night; everyone is asleep and the doors are locked. But at midnight his neighbor pounds on the door and wakes him asking him for some bread. Imagine going to your neighbor’s house at midnight, ringing the doorbell, and asking for a slice of bread because you want to make toast for a friend. I’m guessing your neighbor wouldn’t be too pleased with that intrusion. And, if the roles were reversed, you probably wouldn’t be too pleased yourself.

This first illustration tells us we should not fear asking the Father for whatever we need. If our neighbor would give us a slice of bread at midnight don’t you think our heavenly Father would listen to our request? Just ask, and the Father will answer. But we must notice that this illustration isn’t about health, wealth, and prosperity, it is about asking for bread. Interesting, don’t you think? Doesn’t the Bible say somewhere that we are to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread?”

The second illustration tells us that if an earthly father wouldn’t give his son a snake or a scorpion when he asked for fish and eggs, then would be ludicrous to think that our Heavenly Father would provide dangerous gifts instead of gifts that benefit his children. But we must notice that the conclusion isn’t that the Father will give us health, wealth, and prosperity. No, Jesus qualifies this illustration by saying, “How much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

The fact that this passage is found only in Luke’s Gospel is quite interesting to me. Not because the other Gospel writers don’t mention the Holy Spirit, they do, but because Luke also wrote the book of Acts. And it is in Acts where we read about the growth of the early church as guided by the Father’s gift of the Holy Spirit.

In Acts 1:8 the Holy Spirit is promised to the disciples before they go to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth to preach the gospel.
In Acts 2:4 the Holy Spirit comes upon the disciples as they preach to those in Jerusalem and many from Judea.
In Acts 10:44 the Holy Spirit descends upon the house of Cornelius in Samaria.
In Acts 19:6 the Holy Spirit comes upon the believers at the “end of the earth” in Ephesus.

Luke’s Gospel tells of the work of Jesus, the bread that came down from heaven for our salvation. The book of Acts tells of the work of the Holy Spirit as given to believers for their growth and for the spread of the gospel. These two gifts are the greatest gifts the Heavenly Father could provide to his children: the bread of life and the Holy Spirit. Jesus brings salvation to those who believe, and the Holy Spirit enables believers to become citizens of the Father’s kingdom and to do the Father’s will on earth.

Jesus tells us that if we are persistent in praying to the Father, the Father will be gracious in providing the best answers to our prayers that will supply our every need. That is, the Father who has already given us the bread from heaven will also send to us the Holy Spirit. The Lord’s Prayer isn’t about any form of a “Prosperity Gospel,” rather, it is about the Father sending us the necessary help that will enable us to become citizens of heaven while we live here on earth.

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