Monday with Jesus was something that I started writing this summer. First of all, thinking about Jesus seemed like a good way to start the week. Secondly, for so much of my Christian walk, the foundation of my life with Jesus seemed to be about what I could do for Him. More recently, I have come to realize that the foundation of my walk with Jesus, is His love and compassion for me. Period. End of story. In light of this “aha” moment I ‘ve wanted to reexamine the Gospels and reexamine the person of Jesus Christ. In part, because it’s something that I need to do. There is so much about Jesus that I’ve taken for granted. Mondays With Jesus is my opportunity to “rediscover” Jesus.
Luke 11
5 Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; 6 a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ 7 And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.
Jesus’ parable here is part of a larger discussion on prayer that follows what we commonly call ”The Lord’s Prayer.” To illustrate the relationship that we share with God through prayer, Jesus tells the story of a man who bothers his friend late at night and asks to borrow some bread. Jesus tells us, the person inside the house, wouldn’t be even be swayed by his friendship with the man at this door, but he will nonetheless give this man bread because of his “shameless audacity.” The English Standard Version(ESV) says that the person in the house is influenced by the “impudence” of the man at his door.
I love this illustration, because Jesus is telling us that God is essentially swayed by our “shameless audacity” or “impudence.” The word “impudence” can also be defined as “chutzpah.” Jesus is telling us that we should boldly come to our heavenly Father in prayer, without shame and without being self-conscious.
We don’t usually think of shamelessness or impudence as worthy characteristics, but Jesus is telling us that sometimes, its not even relationship that wins a response to our prayer, but our boldness and faith in coming to God.
9 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
We have a God who answers our prayers, and who knows how to give His children good gifts. He is a God who answers prayer. Jesus is telling us that if we go to God, we will not come away empty-handed. But the best gift of all, that God has to offer us, is Himself. He wants to give us His Holy Spirit. It’s like a parent who spends time fishing or going to the park with their child. What the parent is giving their child is more than simply an opportunity to go to the lakeside or spend time on the swing, what the parent is really giving the child is relationship and time to spend with them. They are giving the child their presence. Such is the case, with God, when we come to Him in prayer. It is an opportunity for us to receive His Holy Spirit and experience His presence.
Here’s a live version of a Keith Green song, “When the Praises Start” that touches on all of this. I linked to this a few weeks ago. It’s a beautiful song, but I am giving it to you again, because in the prologue Keith Green talks about the background to this song.
As parents we wouldn’t rebuke our kids for coming to us because they lost a nickel, instead we comfort them. We have a God of the small and the great. We don’t need to have cancer to come to God in prayer, instead we can come to him even with a cold. Keith Green, shares how God gave him this song, as an answer to prayer. In itself, asking God for a song seems kind of a frivolous prayer request, but we have a God who wants to give His children good gifts.
In God, we have a heavenly Father who wants to be a part of our life. When we come to him in prayer, we are asking Him to be there with us. We are asking Him to step in on even the small parts of our life.
I still remember when I had this realization in my prayer life, that I could bring all of my requests–even the small ones–to God. It was like a whole new universe was open to me. It was as if a part of my life was a road, that had been formerly marked “road closed,” and now the road had been opened to new possibilities. For example, I can pray to God about my job and ask Him, to give me direction on my future. I really don’t know what an answered prayer might look like in this area. A head-hunter could call me tomorrow. Maybe my boss will talk with me about my future with the company. I don’t know how God might answer my prayers, but its exciting to consider the possibilities.
More recently, I confess to being a little discouraged, not about anything major, but just about a lot of little things. I am just not sure where my life is going–job, church, family and more. With all of this in mind, I was really encouraged by this weeks text. It was just heartening to know that I can invite God to intervene in the small parts of my life.
Unfortunately, what keeps us from coming to God more frequently is fear. Prayer is a risk. We risk hoping. Having expectations is a risk. As a way to avoid hurt and disappointment, we tell ourselves to lower our expectations. Is it any wonder that our faith doesn’t grow. Our faith cannot grow, if we are too worried that even our small amount of faith will come to naught. We have a God, who is all about having expectations. He wants us to come to him with expectations. He wants us to come to Him with impudence, with shameless audacity and with chutzpah.
For myself, I cannot claim that all of my prayers have been answered yet, but it’s exciting to consider that if I continue to pray to God to open doors that He might open a door, and when He does, I want to be ready. I want to see Him work. I want Him to move me to intervene in the lives of people around me. I want to see His Holy Spirit in action and experience His presence. I want to receive my heavenly Father’s good gifts.
James 1:17
17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
