Luke 11:5-9

This last weekend we listened to General Conference on our TV on Saturday and Sunday. (For those who aren't familiar with what General Conference is in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, here is a link where you can learn more about it.) As I was listening to Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf's talk, I realized that even though my idea for a scripture sharing social site has been held-up, the basic idea didn't have to wait. I could try to recreate the most important element using this blog space. So from time to time, I plan to post some of my thoughts as I study the scriptures and try to apply them to my life. Then I am creating a new page in the header of my blog that I can share with others showing a compilation of how I try to study the scriptures and what they mean to me.

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In Luke, after he gives an account of the Savior teaching the Lord's prayer, Luke also includes an interesting parable that amounts to verses 5-9 in Chapter 11. I don't remember ever having read this parable before, but it struck me as odd when I was studying this chapter recently.

The story is of a man who asks a friend to provide the ingredients needed for breakfast, as an unexpected visitor has arrived that night. Okay, sounds like prayer. As I was casually reading through these verses, the part that caught me off guard and caused me to read through the entire parable more closely was this verse:

8 I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.

At first I was thinking, "Wait! That doesn't sound like my understanding of the character of God. Doesn't He consider us to be friends when we come to Him in prayer?"

But then I went back and read all the details. This man knocked on "his friend's" door, AT MIDNIGHT, while the rest of the house was clearly asleep, because this man WASN'T PREPARED. Seriously?! I would be questioning the friendship too, in that case.

Sure, I have a couple friends who despite how often we talk or how much time we spend together, if they called me in the middle of the night to ask for an emergency favor, I would run to their aid because of my love for them... not to mention that I know they would only ever call me in the middle of the night if it was an emergency. However, if I had a friend like the man in this parable, who took advantage of our friendship and crossed some boundaries, I too would only consider helping if he was too darn persistent that my best option was to give in just to get him to stop.

This parable made me reevaluate how I am using prayer. Am I working to study out and solve my own problems before going to the Lord? Or even better, am I prepared enough to go to the Lord for advice well in advance of my problem due dates? Am I the kind of friend with God that we have an established relationship of love and mutual respect based on many previous conversations and reciprocating help? Or am I frequently bumming off His good graces?

Note to self: Try being a better friend with Heavenly Father.

I love how reading the scriptures and listening to General Conference cause me to ponder on my areas of weakness and commit to improve.