Hello, friend, and thank you again for joining me for this Thursday edition of the Our Daily Bread

Devotional. I'm Sheridan Voisey, and I wrote today's reading titled Confident Prayer.

Having tried for years to have a child, Richard and Susan were elated when Susan became pregnant.

Her health problems, however, posed a risk to the baby, and so Richard lay awake each night praying for his wife and child.

One night, Richard sensed he didn't need to pray so hard that God had promised to take care of things. But a week later, Susan miscarried.

Richard was devastated.

He wondered, had they lost the baby because he hadn't prayed hard enough.

On first reading, we might think today's parable from Luke

Chapter 11 suggests so. In the story, a neighbor might think today's parable from Luke chapter 11 suggests so.

In the story, a neighbor, sometimes thought to represent God, only gets out of bed to help

the friend because of the friend's annoying persistence.

Read this way, the parable suggests that God will give us what we need only if we badger

him.

And if we don't pray hard enough, maybe God

won't help us. But biblical commentators like Klein Snodgrass believe this misunderstands the parable.

It's real point being that if neighbors might help us for selfish reasons, how much more will our

unselfish father? We can therefore ask confidently,

knowing that God is greater than flawed human beings. He isn't the neighbor in the parable,

but the opposite of him. I don't know why you lost your baby, I told Richard,

but I know it wasn't because you didn't pray hard enough.

God isn't like that.

Today's scripture reading is from Luke chapter 11, verses 5 to 13.

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