The journal. (Caldwell, Ohio) 1934-1961, 1947-01-02


Luke 11:6.
The setting for this parable of
the embarrassed host is that of the
disciples turning a bend in noun
tain path, suddenly coming upon
the Master Unexpectedly. They find
Him in prayer. They are doubtless
talking in noisy fashion, perhaps
engaged in the argument as to
which of their number was the
greatest in the Kingdom. But when
they on this occasion suddenly see
the Master upon his knees, silence
falls upon them and a sudden awe
of reverence fills their hearts. They
feel that here is reality. They feel
that here is One who is dealing with
real and lasting values. Here is One
who is letting down his net in the
deepest of waters. While they had
been accustomed to hearing and
seeing men pray. They had even
seen men stand in the market place
in an attitude of prayer. But this
was something different. This pray
er of the Christs was not something
which was just form, just so many
words, but here was living dyn-
annie force. It strikes them as being
something really and truly worth
while. Here was something not only
different but it was beyond compre-
hension. They must know the secret
Therefore they made the request
IIord, teach us how to pray" In
response and in such a setting Jesus
tells them this wonderfully human
story. 1t is a simple story but full
of truth. A free rendering of the
story is this: Here is certain man
who had an unexpected guest II
seems that this guest had arrived
at very inopportune time. A time
when there were no provisions In
the house and to make the matters
worse, the hour in which the unex-
pected guest came was midnight
there was no chance to provide the
necessary food by visiting the mark
ct. AS result we have a host who
was very much embarrassed. TC
send the guest to bed without re-
freshment would be a breach OF
etiquette which was not to be con-
sidered. Yet to provide that refresh
ment seemed next to an impossible
ity. Then all of a sudden he has
happy thought. Though I have
been surprised, caught without the
necessary food, am not absolutely
destitute for | have friend, | will
90 to him, tell him my troubles,
am sure he will help me-" So he
hurries out into the dark and bold
ly knocks upon the door of the
friends house. What is it you
want?" growls sleeply voice from
within. Give unto me three loaVes
of bread, an unexpected guest has
come and / have nothing to set be-
fore him." "Be gone, don't pestel
me My children are with me and
/ don't care to disturb them by get
ting up at this unheard of hour. You
have come too late" A very dis
couragaing answer, it almost made
him feel that he had not known
his friend. But since he did know
him, he refused to leave. He
knocked harder than before. At last
he hears the foot tread of the friend
The door is unbarred, ample sup
plies were thrust into his hands anc
ne returns joyfully home. Thus
Jesus teaches us for what and how
to pray.
We find many things in this par
able concerning prayer which are
worthy of our further study. First
it gives us the fundamental reason
why men should pray. This embar-
rassed host prayed because he had
come face to face with a situation
with which he could not cope. Had
he already possessed the supplies to
entertain his friend, this trip
through the dark, the knock on the
door of friend at midnight would
have been an absurdity and an i'm
pertinence. For him to have taken
this method when it would have
been possible to have bought the
bread in the market place would
have been little less unreasonable,
The nature of the situation made il
necessary to send out an SOS, an
urgent call for help to someone. To
whom should he call but upon his
friend. He dared to knock on the
door of a friend, even at midnight
for the simple reason that his plight
was desperate, here was a situation
which was such that without assist
ance, he could not cope. His prayer
therefore was born out of deep sense
of need.
That same things is true of all
prayer which is real. Complacent and
self satisfied people may say pray
.ers, but they never really pray. Any
Pharisee can enter the temple, they
may allow words of prayer to come
from their lips. They may even cat
alogue their virtues before the Al.
mighty and congratulate God Him
self for having such a worthy anc
excellent servant. But all this is
mockery of what prayer really is
1t is not until man arrives at the
end of his resources when self-suf
ficiency and self-righteousness ha:
become dead within him, and he
feels a deep sense for help beyond
himself, will man really pray. The
Publican really prayed, there wa:
no praise in him, he knows that he
not only has done wrong, but tha'