the reading:

Jesus was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” He said to them, “When you pray, say:

Father, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.
And do not bring us to the time of trial.”

And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, `Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.’ And he answers from within, `Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.

“So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

the sermon:

Imagine… After a long, busy day, you settle in to enjoy some dinner and relax for a bit. You spend some time with the family, take the dog for a walk, and get the kids tucked into bed. The house is still, the kids are asleep, and you finally settle in for the night yourself and drift off to sleep. 

Then sometime shortly after you slip into your slumber, there’s a noise that breaks the silence…

[a gentle knock]

But that doesn’t phase you. Then it gets a little louder…

[a little louder knock]

It stirs you enough to wake you, but not enough for you to know exactly what’s happening. So you lay there in bed considering what might be happening and what you might need to do about it. Then the next one gets even louder…

[heavy knock]

And that one wakes the dog up too, and now it’s barking at the noise that intrudes on the peacefulness of the house, which is now gone.

So you get up and go to the door to find out who’s knocking. On your way, you grab your phone to check the Ring camera and see that it’s your neighbor from three houses down.

So you ask through the door, “Hey… what do you need?”

And you hear the response, “Umm… do you have any bread I can borrow?”

Crazy, right?

We’ve gotta ask ourselves, why would Jesus tell this story after teaching His disciples how to pray?

the friend who knocks

In today’s Gospel reading, Luke tells about the disciples asking Jesus how to pray, and He shares what today we call the Lord’s Prayer. And then He launches directly into this wild story, saying something like…

Let’s say you have a friend, and you go to his house after midnight to ask him for some bread because you just had some guests arrive, but you’ve got nothing to share with them.

And Jesus continues, saying…

Your friend responds, “Dude! Go away! Do you realize how late it is? The kids are all asleep and everything is already put away and locked up for the night.”

Then He explains…

But when you think about going back to your guests empty handed, you decide not to just go away, and persist in asking your friend for some bread. And because of your persistence, your friend gets up and gets you some bread to share with your guests.

In this story, the man didn’t get what he needed because of friendship, but because he kept knocking.

The word that Luke uses here to describe this persistence is anaideia (an-nah-ee-die-ah), which more accurately means shameless persistence. It carries this idea of a bold tenacity that refuses to shrink back for fear of shame.

In the person who’s knocking, there’s no stopping until they get what they need.

It’s kinda like when I’m at the grocery store, and I’m not seeing what my wife sent me there to get. So I text her for clarity or other options (because I want to make sure I get the right stuff).

But she doesn’t respond. So I send another text with the pointing up hand emoji to make her phone alert again, directing her to my previous text. 

And still no response. So maybe now it’s a phone call, which she doesn’t answer. I know she’s home, so I keep trying until I get through.

Long story short… I’m blowing up that phone until I get what’s needed.

Jesus’s invitation: keep asking, keep knocking

After sharing this story, Jesus says something amazing…

“So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.”

And here’s the really cool thing about this statement…

The verbs used here in the Greek are present imperative tense, which means they aren’t just one-time actions.

It’s not, “ask once.” It’s, “keep asking.”

It’s not, “seek once.” It’s, “keep seeking.”

It’s not, “knock once.” It’s, “keep knocking.”

Listen… Jesus is inviting us into a persistent pursuit, the kind of prayer that doesn’t give up when we don’t get an answer right away.

That’s something that resonates deeply for me, personally. 

As some of you know, I’ve felt called to ordained ministry for over 20 years. And I’ve prayed fervently for a lot of that time for something to break through in this area of my life. Now I stand before you, ordained, and feeling more fulfilled in ministry than I ever have in my life. 

It’s not about just praying once for something and expecting a breakthrough. It’s about building a lifestyle of dependence and trust. 

It’s about hunger, desire, and persistence.

Jesus is challenging us to live like we actually believe in God’s generosity and love for us.

a tale of two prayers

A few chapters later in his Gospel, Luke tells us another parable of Jesus about the prayers of two men. One was a Pharisee and the other a tax collector who both went to the temple to pray.

The Pharisee prayed like this…

“God, thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.”

But the tax collector stood further off, not even looking up towards heaven, beating his chest, praying…

“God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”

One of these men was concerned with performance, the other his brokenness.

One of them was filled with religious ego, the other with a raw and humble honesty.

Notice that it wasn’t just the tax collectors words, but even his posture and actions reflected his attitude.

Throughout the Scriptures, people didn’t just say they were sorry. They showed it with their whole bodies. Sackcloth and ashes, tears, and beating the chest were all ways of saying, “I am broken, and I need God.”

That same spirit continues today in small practices you see during the liturgy of the Eucharist. When we get to the Breaking of the Bread, we often recite the Agnus Dei (AH-noos DAY-ee) with a light strike of the fist on the chest, saying…

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, grant us peace.

This is a way of stepping into that same ancient posture of repentance and longing for mercy. It reflects the passion that should mark our prayers.

the Father behind the door

And when we come knocking on the door in this way, we need to understand who it is behind that door. 

God’s not a reluctant neighbor. He’s a loving Father who delights in giving good gifts. 

Jesus continues by saying,

“Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead…? Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? If you … know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

First, you need to understand that He’s there, expecting your arrival, ready and waiting for you. 

It’s like if you’re coming over to my house, and I’m expecting you, then before you arrive, I’m most likely already sitting in a chair in our front room waiting to greet and welcome you. If you’re that guest, you can confidently know that I’m there already waiting to open that door when you knock.

The other thing I want to recognize here is that the “good gift” of the Father is the Holy Spirit. I may come knocking thinking that I need something specific, but what I get when I arrive is His presence… which is what I need. 

The gift of the Holy Spirit is what brings the peace and healing and wisdom and strength for any circumstance that I might be going through.

God doesn’t just fix your problem from afar. He walks with you in it.

When you have the Spirit, you find that you have everything you truly need.

teach us to pray

Here’s the part that I really love. 

If we go back to the beginning of this passage, we see the disciples wanting to learn from the Son of God how to pray.

So Jesus gives them the Lord’s Prayer, which is a model for prayer, a specific prayer form, and even a summary of Christian life and discipleship.

But then He launches into this master class on how we should pray, with this shameless persistence marked by dependence and trust.

Even in each petition for things like bread (hmmm… the very thing the neighbor knocking after midnight was asking for), forgiveness, and guidance all require real trust and hunger.

When we pray the Lord’s Prayer during the liturgy, I get it… It’s really easy to just rattle off the words mindlessly.

But when we pray, we should make it personal and pray as though we really need what we’re asking for.

final thoughts: the door will be opened

So maybe today… you’ve been knocking for a while, and you’re wondering if God even hears it.

Or maybe you stopped knocking altogether.

What if Jesus is reminding you right now that the door is still there… and the Father is still on the other side, waiting?

You don’t have to say the perfect prayer. You don’t have to bring anything but your honest self.

Come boldly, come persistently, come humbly… but just come.

Because the door will be opened. And the One behind it isn’t annoyed or tired or indifferent. He’s a good Father who delights in giving His Spirit, His presence, to those who ask.

So, may we go today with confidence to keep asking, to keep seeking, and to keep knocking. May the Spirit of God fill us with persistence in prayer, trust in His goodness, and joy in His presence.

And may the door be opened wide.