Then, teaching them more about prayer, He used this story: “Suppose you went to a friend’s house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread. You say to him, ‘A friend of mine has just arrived for a visit, and I have nothing for him to eat.’ And suppose he calls out from his bedroom, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is locked for the night, and my family and I are all in bed. I can’t help you.’ But I tell you this—though he won’t do it for friendship’s sake, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence.
Luke 11:5-8
I left you yesterday to come up with your own questions on this passage. Here are mine.
- Does this story connect to what has gone before it or does it start a new section, theme or thought?
- What really happened in the story? Did a friend actually say “Don’t bother me . . . I’m in bed . . . I cant help you”?
To understand this story we need to understand the cultural cues behind the story.
What on earth is “Importunity” (KJV)?
Whatever it is, its clear that it is crucial to our understanding of the story.
This is the reason that the request will be answered, so we had better find out exactly what it means.
Using the various versions of the Bible to explore the meaning of Luke 11:8
διά γε τὴν ἀναίδειαν αὐτοῦ
because for the importunity {of him}
Because (of):-
- AMP – his shameless persistence and insistence
- ASV, KJV, RV, YLT – his importunity
- BBE – he keeps on making his request
- CEV – because you are not ashamed to keep on asking.
- EMTV, ISV, NASB – his persistence .
- ESV – his impudence
- GW – because you were so bold.
- LITV – his shameless insisting
- MSG – if you stand your ground, knocking and waking all the neighbours
- NLT – if you keep knocking long enough . . . because of your shameless persistence.
You need to do some digging on this word.
There is so much we need to understand in any passage of the Bible. But some words are more important than others. We need to understand the key words. Knowing where to dig is an important step to gaining understanding. I will leave the next step to you.
Whose importunity? The way the story is written it contains an ambiguity. The importunity could belong to the person knocking on the door or it could be the reaction of the person who was in bed and had to get up. Which is it? Sorting out the meaning of the story depends on which person is in focus.
What are the points of comparison that are relevant to prayer in this story?
Once we have worked out what the story is about then we have to apply it to what Jesus is telling us about prayer.
We still have a lot of work to do before we can crack this one.
The input I get back from you Gem readers makes me smile. I have some of you who tell me,
- “Don’t do this Ian. Just give us the input.”
- “Don’t ask us questions. Just tell us the answers.”
- “I don’t have time for all the questions.”
Others of you say things like,
- “I love the way you give us direction of what to do with the passage and how to do it for ourselves, then you leave us the time to do it.”
- “I love being coached in how to dig the Bible for myself. Keep it up!”
Like they say, ‘you can’t please all of the people all of the time’. So I will just keep doing what I am doing. Hint: for those of you who don’t like me asking all the questions or giving you time to do things before I give you the input, just miss out the “doing” step and wait for the answer. But I am sure you also know that it is in the practical steps of doing it for yourself that you learn the most. But I know you are busy, so take the short cut. No problem.
Next Gem I will start “the answers” to these questions I have posed for you. Just one more day to wait. You can do it.
It’s not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are.
Roy E. Disney
Our willingness to wait reveals the value we place on the object we are waiting for.
Charles Stanley
God’s way is rarely the quickest way. It is seldom the easiest way. But it is always the best way.
John Ortberg
Don’t be discouraged by slow growth. While you’re waiting, God’s working in unseen ways.
Rick Warren