So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened ~ Luke 11:9-10
Jesus had just finished telling “The Parable of the Persistent Friend.” In the parable, a man goes to his friend’s house at midnight and bangs on his door. When no one comes to the door, he yells, “Friend, lend me three loaves.” But the friend, probably a little annoyed at the late-night interruption of his sleep, yells back, “Go away, I’m sleeping, my children are sleeping, my family is sleeping, I’m not opening my door for you!”
But instead of taking no for an answer, he continues banging and asking, probably even begging, because he is a desperate man in need. He needs his three loaves. Jesus concludes His parable by saying that the friend of the man will not get up and open his door and give him what he needs or asks for, just because he is his friend, but because of his persistent, continuous banging on the door, and his relentless asking to borrow the three loaves. He will not leave until he gets what he came for.
Here is the thing. Far too often, we Christians miss out on a blessing or on an answered prayer because there is no answer, and we drop our heads, turn around, and walk away, leaving the answer behind.
Now, I want you to notice that the man had a friend but asked for three loaves. If it is one friend, why not one loaf? But he asks for three loaves. Why? It’s a parable about our consistency in prayer and our doggedness in asking. We are offered a three-strand cord according to Isaiah 53:5.
5 But He was pierced for our transgressions;
He was crushed for our iniquities;
upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with His wounds we are healed.
Here we see that because of His redemptive and atoning work, Jesus offers us Salvation, Peace of Mind, and Healing for our bodies.
This is Jesus’ three-strand sacrifice that we can have; all we have to do is ask. We don’t need to be sick and harassed in our minds. We don’t need to be condemned to eternal punishment. We have salvation, peace, and healing.
Father, thank You for sending Your Son, Jesus Christ, to suffer and die for us, and then raising Him from the dead as a sign. Thank You, LORD Jesus, for being willing to suffer and die so that we might have life and life more abundantly. In Jesus’ Name, I pray, amen.