And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend to whom he goes at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, 6 for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey and I have nothing to offer him,’ 7 and he says in reply from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked and my children and I are already in bed. I cannot get up to give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, if he does not get up to give him the loaves because of their friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence.
In first-century Palestine, hospitality was a matter of honor, food was offered to a visiting traveler, and bread was used for dipping in a common bowl and therefore a necessary part of the meal. Since bread was baked outdoors everyone knew which neighbor had fresh bread so if a surprise guest came and you had no bread you would know to whose house you could go to get bread. If it was late and your friend did not want to be inconvenienced at that hour, he would give you the loaves out of your persistence because not being hospitable to a visitor not only brought shame on you but on the whole village.
Our merciful God responds to our prayers, so we are to persevere in prayer. If we who are sinners know how to provide for our children how much more will God our Father give the Holy Spirit to His adopted children when they ask (Lk. 11:13)?
Almighty God, let your Spirit guide us in prayer so that we
may ask for that which is pleasing in your eyes and beneficial to those in
need. This we pray through Christ our
Lord. Amen!
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
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