Don’t bargain with God. Be direct!

Luke 11:5-13

Then Jesus said, “Imagine what would happen if you went to a friend in the middle of the night and said, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread. An old friend traveling through just showed up, and I don’t have a thing on hand.’ “The friend answers from his bed, ‘Don’t bother me. The door’s locked; my children are all down for the night; I can’t get up to give you anything.’ “But let me tell you, even if he won’t get up because he’s a friend, if you stand your ground, knocking and waking all the neighbors, he’ll finally get up and get you whatever you need. “Here’s what I’m saying: Ask and you’ll get; Seek and you’ll find; Knock and the door will open. Don’t bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need. This is not a cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game we’re in. If your little boy asks for a serving of fish, do you scare him with a live snake on his plate? If your little girl asks for an egg, do you trick her with a spider? As bad as you are, you wouldn’t think of such a thing—you’re at least decent to your own children. And don’t you think the Father who conceived you in love will give the Holy Spirit when you ask him?”

Food for thought!

Since the beginning of the week, Jesus is in the business of telling us, better, teaching us secret of prayer. He started with Mary and Martha. Then Jesus went to a certain place to pray. And when he finished, one of his disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray. Note this very well: The disciples don’t ask to be taught better behavior — no petition Jesus for a course on ethics. They don’t ask to be taught to think more accurately about God — no request him for a seminar in theology. They don’t ask for a course in strategic planning for bringing in the kingdom.

No. They have been living with Jesus for something like three years, watching what he does and listening to what he says. Somehow they have come to the realization that following him does not mean imitating what he does nor repeating what he says. It means cultivating a relation with God the way they observe Jesus doing it. They want to do well what Jesus does best. So they say to him: “Teach us to pray.”

I wonder what YOU would ask Jesus to teach you! They ask to be taught to pray. They have sifted through the possibilities of what they want from Jesus. They have narrowed the options down to this one request, teach us to pray. They have arrived at the heart of the matter, Jesus' secret, and are motivated to engage in this central action that undergirds and shapes and motivates Jesus’ life. This is Jesus' secret for life and living. This is what they ask for.

After teaching us HOW to pray (yesterday), today he teaches WHY we pray: because we have a listening Father, who loves us and is ready to give. And because God loves us, Jesus gives us a tip: Ask and you’ll get; Seek and you’ll find; Knock and the door will open. Don’t bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need. This is not a cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game we’re in. Keep on asking and you will keep on getting; keep on looking and you will keep on finding the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit is God’s way of being personally with us in all our listening and speaking and acting.