Luke 11:5-8 And he said to them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go to him at midnight, and say to him, Friend, lend me three loaves;… I think the meaning is, that Jesus would teach us in this way what we are learning in many other ways — that the best things in the Divine life, as in the natural, will not come to us merely for the asking; that true prayer is the whole strength of the whole man going out after his needs, and the real secret of getting what you want in heaven, as on earth, lies in the fact that you give your whole heart for it, or you cannot adequately value it when you get it. So, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you," means — "Put out all your energies, as if you had to waken heaven out of a midnight slumber, or an indifference like that of the unjust judge." (R. Collyer.) Parallel Verses KJV: 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; |
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