3/2/2020 – The Parable of the Friend at Midnight

Passage: Luke 11:5-13

Written By: Victoria Tarkington - Undergrad

When I was little, I remember a time where I was out shopping with my mom at the mall and I really wanted a cookie. I kept asking over and over again, and she kept telling me “no”. I remember being upset and frustrated because I didn’t understand why I couldn’t have the cookie with my meal when every other time we went shopping, I could have a cookie. Little did I know that my mom was planning on making a really yummy dessert for dinner that night. The reason she wasn’t letting me eat the cookie in the mall was because she knew what she had in store for me later.

The parable of the friend at midnight reminds me of this cookie story. In this parable, Jesus talks about a man who kept knocking on his friend’s door at midnight to borrow some bread. At first the friend seems annoyed, but ultimately gets up and gives the knocking man the bread so he can get some sleep. I’m not implying that God gets annoyed with us when we repetitively ask for something, but He does hear us when we ask. The parable goes on to say, “if your children ask for a fish, do you give them a snake instead?” This is not how God would ever treat us. He will give us what we ask if we keep asking for it. The other side to this parable is the patience part. The friend didn’t just get up immediately to fulfill his friend’s request of bread, so neither does God immediately fulfill each of our requests. He waits until the time is right, just like the man in the parable had to wait for the loaves of bread.

I don’t know what you are desiring during this Lenten season, but whatever it is, I hope you are not afraid to ask God for it. Know that He cares, and that “everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.” Trust that God will provide you with what you need and ask for.