Even When The Clock Strikes Twelve

⁵And he said to them, "Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves, ⁶for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him'; ⁷and he will answer from within, 'Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything'? ⁸I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs.

Luke 11:5-8

This is the parable Jesus talked about while he was praying. He was relating this to prayer. This section includes the all famous, "Lord's Prayer" and the "Ask, Seek, Knock" verse we all know. Through this passage he's trying to say that God will come and give you want you need when you ask for him. Which leads into prayer.

there are two things that are key in the passage.

Because He Is His FRIEND

This is Christianity in a nutshell seed. Christianity isnt a religion where you do things to gain something, may it be a nice reincarnation, or... im not sure what, but for us, this is a relationship. This has always stuck with me when my pastor first preached it. Christianity isnt a religion, its a relationship. As cheesy as it is, God is your true friend. He'll never leave you, he stays with you to the end. No betrayal, no deception. There may be times where you dont understand him, but there is no relationship where that doesnt happen. Christ is by your side at all times, and whenever you pray and speak to him, he's listening. Refering to my previous post, there are usually three answers. YES. NO. and WAIT. read more about God the stoplight here! It does say "not... because he is your friend" but there's MORE.

Because of your IMPUDENCE

Impudence means boldness, no shame, confidence. God will answer us because we speak to him boldly. This is how we should pray. But do not mix this up with pride and cockyness. When we pray, dont pray like your bribing or setting up a deal "if you do this for me, i will do this for you". Dont pray with pride "give me what i want because im so much better than this person who doesnt deserve it". Dont pray with weakness either "can i have this... but if you're busy its okay". Pray with confidence. The man in the parable asked with full out confidence. Midnight, while everyone is asleep, BOLD. Asking for things right on the spot, BOLD. Honestly if i were in that situation, i wouldnt want to go and disturb someone, i wouldnt have the guts to do that.

Pray Pray Pray. DEAP. Remember that? Here. That hasnt turned out very well, but on the topic of prayer, try to do it more. DEAP. Pray to our God more. We all dont have enough of him in our lives. My friend reminded me last night, and it was kinda BOLD. Never thought of it to THAT extreme. She asked that i pray for better time management, here i am thinking it about school and all, but she said that she can incorporate God MORE into every SECOND of her life. Thats BOLD.

Pray. DEAP right now. Drop Everything And Pray. :)

Pray. with thanksgiving.

Pray. with a humble heart.

Pray. more often.

Pray. even when the clock strikes twelve.

verse of the morning: Ephesians 6:18

¹⁸ And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.