Shameless Audacity
“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; a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ ” Luke 11:5
It would be understandable to raise eyebrows at a friend arriving at midnight unannounced in our present world with several modern forms of communication, but in Bible times it was customary during hot seasons of the year to deliberately travel in the cool of the evening and arrive very late, and whether or not the traveller had eaten supper, hospitality dictated that you offer him something to eat at the end of his journey. Poor families may not have leftovers, but neighbours regularly shared with each other, so the new host’s request even at midnight is not unusual.
Also, the neighbour’s reluctance to get up in this story is not unusual. He and his whole family may have slept in one bedroom, a level above the area where the family’s cow, sheep or goat might be and the door locked with a heavy metal bolt. Helping the man asking for bread was therefore no simple task.
What is really striking is that the man will help his neighbour in response to his “shameless audacity” as seen in verse 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.”
The word means more than just persistence or boldness but importunity or imprudence!
In essence, Jesus is by this story teaching us about the nature of our prayers to God. The logic is that of “how much more”
If a reluctant neighbour can be badgered into helping us, how much more eagerly will God answer our prayers! And if it feels we have to ask with shameless audacity, God can handle it. We do not have to approach him in one certain mood, style of speech or form of address.
So how has your praying been? You too need to have that ‘shameless audacity’ and approach the throne of grace and receive mercy and grace. Remember, the words of Jesus – “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. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”
What are you waiting for?