Luke 11:5

And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; AND HE SAID UNTO THEM, WHICH OF YOU SHALL HAVE A FRIEND, AND SHALL GO UNTO HIM AT MIDNIGHT, AND SAY UNTO HIM, FRIEND, LEND ME THREE LOAVES;...

Luke 11:5._Which of you shall have a friend, Luke _adds this comparison, which is not mentioned by Matthew. The general instruction conveyed by it is this: Believers ought not to be discouraged, if they do not immediately obtain their desires, or if they find them difficult to be obtained: for if, among men, importunity of asking extorts what a person would not willingly do, we have no reason to doubt that God will listen to us, if we persevere constantly in prayer, and if our minds do not slacken through difficulty or delay....

5-13 Christ encourages fervency and constancy in prayer. We must come for what we need, as a man does to his neighbour or friend, who is kind to him. We must come for bread; for that which is needful. If God does not answer our prayers speedily, yet he will in due time, if we continue to pray. Observe what to pray for; we must ask for the Holy Spirit, not only as necessary in order to our praying well, but as all spiritual blessings are included in that one. For by the influences of the Holy Spirit we are brought to know God and ourselves, to repent, believe in, and love Christ, and so are made comfortable in this world, and meet for happiness in the next. All these blessings our heavenly Father is more ready to bestow on every one that asks for them, than an indulgent parent is to give food to a hungry child. And this is the advantage of the prayer of faith, that it quiets and establish...

AND HE SAID UNTO THEM ... - Jesus proceeds to show that, in order to obtain the blessing, it was necessary to “persevere” in asking for it. For this purpose he introduces the case of a friend’s asking bread of another for one who had come to him unexpectedly. His design is solely to show the necessity of being “importunate” or persevering in prayer to God. AT MIDNIGHT - A time when it would be most inconvenient for his friend to help him; an hour when he would naturally be in bed and his house shut. THREE LOAVES - There is nothing particularly denoted by the number “three” in this place. Jesus often threw in such particulars merely to fill up the story, or to preserve the consistency of it. MY CHILDREN ARE WITH ME IN BED - This does not necessarily mean that they were in the “same bed” with him, but that they were “a

EXPOSITION LUKE 11:1 The _Lord_'_s teaching on the_ _subject of prayer. _Again the scene is far away from Jerusalem; no special note of _time _or _place _enables us to fix the scene or date with any exactness. Somewhere in the course of the last journeyings towards Jerusalem, related especially in this Gospel, did this scene and its teaching take place. LUKE 11:1 LORD, TEACH US TO PRAY, AS JOHN ALSO TAUGHT HIS DISCIPLES. It seems as though some of his disciples—we know at this period many were with him besides the twelve—heard their Master praying. It appeared to them—no doubt, as they caught here and there a word and expression as he prayed, perhap

AND HE SAID UNTO THEM, WHICH OF YOU SHALL HAVE A FRIEND,.... A neighbour, or acquaintance: AND SHALL GO UNTO HIM AT MIDNIGHT; which may seem a very unseasonable time, and which nothing but real distress, not knowing what otherwise to do, would put a man upon: AND SAY UNTO HIM, FRIEND, LEND ME THREE LOAVES: it was usual of the Jews to borrow bread of one another, and certain rules are laid down, when, and on what condition, this is to be done; as for instance, on a sabbath day k, "a man may ask of his friend vessels of wine, and vessels of oil, only he must not say, lend me: and so a woman, מחבירתה ככרות, "bread of her friend".'' Again l, "so said Hillell, let not a woman lend ככר לחברתה "bread to her friend", till she has fixed the price; lest wheat should be dearer, and they should be found coming into the practice of usury.'' For what was lent, could not be demanded agai

Luke 11:1. _And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples._ It seemed to this disciple as if he did not know how to pray after he had heard Christ pray. The prayer of Jesus was so infinitely above anything that he had ever reached that he said, «Lord, teach us to pray;» and, as if he felt that he needed a precedent for asking such hallowed instruction, he said, Teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.» We must all feel that if we are to pray aright, we must be taught of God, by his Holy Spirit. We are full of infirmities, and if there is any time when our infirmities are felt most, it is when we engage in prayer, but «the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as are ought.» Let us, then, breathe this prayer to

CHAPTER 11 _ 1. The Prayer Given to the Disciples (Luke 11:1 .)_ 2. The Friend at Midnight. (Luke 11:5) 3. Encouragement to Pray. (Luke 11:11) 4. A Demon Cast Out and the Blasphemous Accusation. (Luke 11:14) 5. The Return of the Unclean Spirit. (Luke 11:23) 6. The Blessedness of Hearing the Word. (Luke 11:27) 7. The Sign of Jonas. (Luke 11:29) 8.

ON PRAYER (Matthew 6:9 *, Matthew 7:7 *). Lk. assigns the Lord's Prayer to a separate occasion and gives two reasons for the disciples-' request. For the first _cf. Luke 3:21_, Luke 9:21, etc., for the second, Luke 5:33. Rabbis were accustomed to frame special prayers; there are examples in the Talmud. Lk.'s form of the Lord's Prayer is shorter and more original than Mt.'s. The earliest reference to the use of the Prayer is in the _Didaché, c._ A.D. 100, where it is ordered to be said thrice daily. Note Forgive us, _because_ we have forgiven, etc....

TEACH US TO PRAY (Luke 11:1-4)...