Luke 11:7-12
Luke 11:7 (KJB)
And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut,
and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.
The neighbor then yells to the man and it does not say that he even got out of
bed when he responded. This situation would be akin to receiving a phone call
from a friend in the middle of the night making some kind of request. The word
“trouble” in this verse carries with it the meaning of toiling or wearisome. In
other words, the man is more concerned about what he would have to go through to
get the bread rather than the bread itself. He then proceeds to make three
excuses to his neighbor. He tells him the door is shut which may mean it is
bolted or has a cross bar on it because if it was not, then he could have just
pointed his neighbor to where the bread was and there would be no further
disturbance. Then he says that his children are also asleep in his bed and he
may wake them and then it would be hard for them to get back to sleep. Then he
states that he cannot rise and give him the bread.
Luke 11:8 (KJB)
I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend,
yet because of his importunity he will rise and
give him as many as he needeth.
Importunity - Persistence
The man will not rise and give him the bread because they are friends. That
would take second place in the middle of the night. The man would get up because
the neighbor was importunate in his requests. In other words, he was not going
to give up until he received the bread. So there would be only one way to stop
all the noise making in the middle of the night and that was to get up and get
the bread for his neighbor. Once he had the bread, he would go back to his home
and be able to serve his friend who came to visit. Not only would this man get
the three loaves he needed but because of his persistence, if he wanted 5 loaves
he would have gotten them.
Luke 11:9 (KJB)
And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find;
knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
Many have used this verse as a formula to try and get the things they want in
prayer but it is not that type of prayer. It is tied back to the previous
teachings that Jesus gave and it is like a summary of those teachings concerning
praying with the right motives. First of all we are to ask for the things that
we need such as the food and raiment and the spiritual food and raiment. This is
in contrast to those who go about anxiously seeking the material goods of the
world. God knows we have need and when we come to Him in prayer, we ask for
those things. Then we are to seek and that means we seek the face of the Lord,
or in other words we only seek Him as our only source of both spiritual and
material things of necessity. Then finally as one knocks on a door till it is
opened, we must remain vigilant in prayer until we receive the answer from the
Lord. The words ask, seek, and knock are all in the present tense which means
they are referring to a continuous action. Luke 18:1-7 speaks about the fact
that even an unjust or unsaved judge will respond to continuing requests, how
much more our Heavenly Father will when our prayers are vigilant and diligent.
Luke 11:10 (KJB)
For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him
that knocketh it shall be opened.
This verse basically is a response to verse 9. The three words asketh, seeketh,
and knocketh are in the present tense forms meaning it is a continual action on
part of the believer. This verse teaches that God will respond to the prayers
which are in keeping with what the Lord just spoke about and according to His
will. The believers’ faith and trust in God causes the believer to continually
ask. The seekers are determined to keep seeking. Those who knock will continue
to desire to enter into the fellowship and blessings that are theirs in Christ.
Luke 11:11 (KJB)
If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a
stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?
Then Jesus asks a simple question of those fathers who are in attendance. He
asks them if your son asks for some bread are you going to give him a stone
instead? That would be a cruel trick to play on a child who might think a stone
is bread and then bite it and break his teeth causing him much pain. Or if his
son was hungry, would a stone satisfy his hunger as bread would? The answer, of
course, is no. Both bread and fish were staple foods around the Sea of Galilee,
so both of these illustrations would drive the truth home to them. If a son asks
for fish, would his father give him a snake instead and risk the chance his son
gets bit and dies from poison. If a son was hungry for eel and was given a
poisonous snake, it would cause this son to die. Both eels and stones, which
looked like the Pita Bread would not be substituted for what was asked for.
Luke 11:12 (KJB)
Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?
What if the child asks for an egg which was something which was easily
obtainable but instead the father gives him a scorpion. According to Pliny, the
Roman author, a scorpion can be placed in an empty eggshell and given to a
person who is to be assassinated. Once the egg shell would burst, the scorpion
would come forth and bite the person causing their death. So if a child asks for
an egg, would his father give him this?