A reflection on Luke 11:5–13 for Thursday of the 27th Week in Ordinary Time
A man arrives at his friend’s house at midnight asking for bread. The door is shut, and the children are asleep. If you’ve finally settled a household for the night, you can understand the answer from inside: please go away. It’s an inconvenient visit. A hungry guest has arrived at the man’s home, though, and he has nothing to feed him. He keeps asking.
He has a hungry person to take care of. . When someone we love needs help, I can feel in my heart why he keeps asking. A child’s struggles stay with us through the day. A friend says she cannot manage another day, and we don’t know what to do for her. We ask again because they still need help.
Jesus tells us to ask, seek, and knock. Many of us have done that faithfully and are still living with what we asked God to prevent. The illness continued. We watched a relationship end, or someone we loved kept making choices that frightened us. Hearing that prayer always gets results can hurt when we remember exactly what we prayed for.
Jesus names the Father’s gift at the end of the reading: the Holy Spirit. I ask God for what I want, even beg Him for what my heart desires. He promises his presence within what we’re facing. I would like the Holy Spirit to help me understand it right now. If someone offers help, should I accept it?
Sometimes we want a clear solution. I am tired of waiting for help. I want an answer now. I can also tell God about how tired I am, admit my discouragement, and even bring our anger into the prayer. We must pray as we are. Jesus invites us to approach the Father again, even after asking the same thing so often that we have nothing new to say.
The man at the door also makes me think of people who keep asking for ordinary necessities. A woman calls again about housing. A family is waiting for food assistance, while someone else is trying to get an appointment or a hearing. Even getting a fair answer can take repeated requests. I am comfortable at home. Stop bothering me! But the person asking may have no other option left.
I can call on the Holy Spirit to watch over those whom I feel inadequate to help. Even though I don’t know what to do, maybe there is some way to help. I’ve asked God to help someone I love, then realized I could at least call her and listen. There may be a meal train to organize or a promise we’ve forgotten to keep. There may be an offer to watch the kids or a promise we’ve forgotten to keep.
I still don’t understand why someone remains ill after so many prayers. When I ask again, that question is part of the prayer, too. I can think about the need that keeps me awake and ask for the Spirit’s help. And I can listen for someone who needs our help, too. When I ask again, that question is part of the prayer, too
Journaling Questions
- What request do I keep bringing to God? How do I feel when I pray about it now?
- Where do I need the Holy Spirit’s help while I wait for an answer?
- Whose repeated request have I begun to find inconvenient? What could I do to help?
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