Breaking the Word

And he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend to whom he goes at midnight and says, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey and I have nothing to offer him,' and he says in reply from within, 'Do not bother me; the door has already been locked and my children and I are already in bed. I cannot get up to give you anything.' I tell you, if he does not get up to give him the loaves because of their friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence… (Lk 11:5-13)

Luke presents God as a father and as a friend when he speaks of prayer. God as a father we have heard many times but as a friend we have not heard much. In this story God as ‘friend’ replies to his friend who is standing outside the door saying that he is at the moment as ‘father’ could not help him. If he gets up to help a friend then he will be a nuisance to his children (and not a father to them). But the friend outside the door has a real problem. The friend outside the door believes that the friend in bed will understand the situation.

What the author is trying to communicate in this story is persistence. Even a sleepy friend will give in for persistence. Constant knocking, persistent asking and continuous searching will bear fruit. Our prayer should be so. Formal prayers, regularity in prayer, regular liturgies are all needed for spiritual life. Persistence and determination in prayer will have the desired results. Even a sleepy friend will respond persistence. 

  He was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples." He said to them, "When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us, and do not subject us to the final test." (Lk 11:1-4)

Jesus was praying. Praying is a mystery. Praying speaks of the relationship between the one who is praying and God. Relationship can be measured or gauged by the people in relationship. A third person cannot know anything about what goes on in between the people of relationship. That is why the disciples ask Jesus about praying. They have seen Jesus praying and they want to know the relationship that existed between God and Jesus and how this relationship is expressed.

The prayer which Jesus taught them probably expressed the relationship which existed between Jesus and God or it expressed how the relationship of the disciples should be. It should be a ‘father-son’ relationship. It should express itself in trust, guiding, providing, etc. God’s name (character) should be always honoured and held high. God and Godly presence and Godly ambient should be created in and around the place (Kingdom).  God’s providence and forgiveness are the two things needed in living out this relationship.