I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything out of friendship, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs. 

(Luke 11:8)

When I was about fourteen or fifteen - long before I became a Christian I should emphasise - I was going through that period boys go through when the hormones kick in. There was this girl in my class at school that I really fancied. At about the same time I was reading a lot of stuff on traditional folklore and I found this charm that was supposed to make someone you fancied fancy you back. So I tied two needles together with a strand of her hair and put it under my pillow. I went to sleep and the next day at school…nothing. Absolutely nothing. Because there’s no such thing as magic. The idea of magic springs from humanity’s desire to be in control - to be able to shape the world and bend reality around their wants, their needs, their desires. And things just don’t work like that.

Sometimes people get the idea that prayer is like that. Especially if they’re not religious themselves. They’ll grab verses like our text and rip it out of its context, wave it triumphantly and say, “See? Your book says if you pray for something God will make it happen. Go on then! Pray to win the lottery.” And to be fair there is a strand of thought in the the Old Testament that does seem to suggest that if you’re well in with God - if you obey the rules -then God will reward you with camels and stuff. There are also Christians who punt what they call the ‘Prosperity Gospel’; if you’re a good Christian and you pray hard enough - if you’re persistent as it says in our text - you’ll be rich and famous and all those other things our culture calls us to crave.

That effectively turns prayer into a kind of magic spell, little different to the charm under my pillow. Worse it turns God into a kind of cosmic vending machine: put in the prayers and he’ll give you what you want. But hang on. Suppose I pray for a win on the lottery and I pray really really hard. But so do all the millions of Christians in the UK. Even if it’s a rollover, if we all win we’re going to win tuppence ha’penny. That’s why context is important. This story of the grumpy neighbour comes straight after Christ teaches the Lord’s Prayer and the only material thing he suggests we pray for is ‘our daily bread’. Not a lottery win. Not a Maserati. Not that job I want or that girl I fancied: our daily bread - just what we need to live. 

Of course there are things we might pray for that are less selfish. We might pray for healing for someone we care about, or for those who are sick in general. And that’s right and it’s good, especially if we offer ourselves to be part of the way that God brings healing in this world. But again we have to be careful about this and not fall into the trap of thinking that God, like the grumpy neighbour, will jump at our command and it is cruel beyond measure to suggest to anyone that someone they cared for suffered and died because you didn’t pray hard enough.

So why pray at all? First of all let me clear, I’m not saying that our prayers are unheard, or that God isn’t interested in them or doesn’t care. Far from it. God answers every prayer. But sometimes the answer is ‘no’. Maybe the problem is the way we think about prayer. Or more likely the way the world often suggests we think about prayer. When you were a kid did you ever write a letter to Santa with a list of presents you wanted? Well prayer’s not like that, at least that’s what I take from this passage.

In what I call the parable of the grumpy friend Jesus takes us through three stages; from the friend who grudgingly gets up and opens the door, to the parent who wants to give their kid good things but sometimes messes up, to God - the God who is there for us whenever we need him. “Knock,” says Jesus, “and the door will be opened to you.” So unlike the grumpy friend God is there and ready to open the door for us when we come to him in prayer. Ready to listen to us and be there for us. “Seek,” says Jesus, “and you will find.” Look for God in prayer and you’ll find him because he wants to be found - that’s the whole point of him coming into the world in the life of Christ and his coming in the Holy Spirit.

Maybe  God wants what every parent wants - for his kids to drop in and visit and talk with them; to knock and find that the door is open for them; to look for him and find him and spend time with him talking to him. Talking to him about the things that matter to us - our hopes and our fears, our triumphs and our failures, our hurts and our joys, our temptations and disappointments.

Maybe God wants what every parent wants - for his kids to listen to his advice and guidance. This is what the gift: spending time with God and listening for him in our lives. Spending time with the source of all kindness and letting that kindness infect us. Spending time with the source of all justice and letting that justice strengthen us to action. Spending time with the source of all hope and letting that hope fill us. Spending time with the source of all love and letting that love flow out into the world around us. Spending time in the presence of our father and letting that transform us as children of God

Father we knock. Open the door for us. Father we seek you. May we find you. Father we ask for the gifts of the Spirit - love, kindness, generosity, truth, a sense of justice and forgiving hearts. Grant our prayer in this

Preached at Annan URC

Complete Service