In Luke 11:1, the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray. After giving the model prayer in verses 2-4, Jesus spoke a brief parable as a part of this teaching.

"And He said to them, 'Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, "Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him"; and he will answer from within and say, "Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you"? I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs'" (Luke 11:5-8).

In the parable, a man has come to be in need. Hospitality was an important custom in this culture. A friend has arrived at his house at midnight. He is hungry from his journey, but there is no food to offer him. For us, we would consider ourselves as being rude to arrive at someone's house at such a late hour, and we would certainly understand if they had nothing to offer us to eat. However, in the Lord's day it would be considered rude if the host had nothing to offer his guest, regardless of their time of arrival.

The unprepared host goes to his neighbor for help. When awakened at midnight, the neighbor refuses the request on the grounds of the inconvenience it would place upon him and his family. The door is locked. The children are all sleeping on pallets or blankets placed upon the floor of the small house. To get food would cause a stir that would "trouble" the entire household.

The man in need does not take "no" for an answer. He continues to make his request. The inconvenienced neighbor realizes the only way he is going to get any peace is to rise and give the man what he wants. He does not give because he is touched by his friend's plight and wants to help. He gives out of selfish motives, and only after being "troubled."

A second parable on prayer is found in Luke 18:1-8. Jesus spoke of a judge who did not fear God or regard man. There was a widow in that city who repeatedly came to him seeking justice. He refused her request at first, then he changed his mind. "And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, 'Though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me'" (vs. 4-5).

Attention is again drawn to the motives behind the granting of the request. "And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily..." (vs. 7-8).

The neighbor in the first parable and the judge in the second parable do not represent God. Their character is an ugly contrast to what we know about our Heavenly Father. The Scriptures never indicate that God is inconvenienced by our prayers. His ears are always open to our petitions, and He delights to give us what we need (Matt. 6:31-33; 1 Pet. 3:12).

The second parable was spoken for a specific purpose: "that men always ought to pray and not lose heart" (Luke 18:1). I believe this is the key to properly understanding both parables. The answer to our prayers does not always come as quickly as we would like. Sometimes we feel like we are standing and knocking, and God is not listening. We do not know what is happening on God's side of our prayers. There could be any number of reasons why we are not seeing an immediate positive response to our prayers. However, we are not to lose heart and give up on prayer.

Prayer is an exercise of faith, and Jesus wants us to approach God's throne with boldness and expectation, not with reservation and doubt. He wants us to keep on praying, even when it seems like God is not listening. Will we? This is the question raised by the Lord as He ends the second parable. "Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:8).