5 And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; 6 For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him? 7 And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. 8 I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth. (Luke 11:5-8 KJV)
William Burkitt’s Commentary
The design of our blessed Saviour in these, and the following verses, is to excite and stir up his disciples to fervency, importunity, and constancy, in the duty of prayer, and to this purpose, he makes use of a double argument, the one of a friend, and the other of a father. He lays before them the parable of a friend, coming to his friend at midnight, and by his importunity obtaining that of him which otherwise he must have gone without.
From whence our Lord leaves us to infer that if an impudent and bold beggar can obtain so much from a man, what cannot a humble, earnest, and daily petitioner obtain from God? What friend is so faithful and helpful to his dearest friend, as God is to us his children?
From the whole note,
1. That a man must be brought into a state of friendship and reconciliation with God if he hopes his prayers shall be accepted.
2. That when any of the friends of God are in necessities and straits, he allows them the liberty at all hours to call upon him, and pray unto him: at midnight as well as at mid-day, God’s ear is open to his praying friends.
3. That Almighty God takes pleasure in being urged in prayer by the holy importunity of his friends: never is he better pleased, than when his people, with holy Jacob, wrestle with him, and will not let him go till he hath blessed them.
4. That such holy and humble importunity shall not only obtain what we desired, but more than we expected: only three loaves were desired here, but because of importunity he had as many as he needed; more is given in the concession, than was desired in the supplication. The original word here rendered importunity, signifies impudence, according to that saying among the Jews. The impudent man overcomes the modest and the bashful; how much more God, who is goodness itself?
BURKITT | Luke 11:1 | Luke 11:2-4 | Luke 11:5-8 | Luke 11:9-10 | Luke 11:11-13 | Luke 11:14-20 | Luke 11:21-26 | Luke 11:27-28 | Luke 11:29-32 | Luke 11:33-36 | Luke 11:37-40 | Luke 11:41 | Luke 11:42 | Luke 11:43 | Luke 11:44 | Luke 11:45-46 | Luke 11:47-54 |