And he said unto them,

Which of you shall have a friend and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.

Hey listeners, this is Nick from Scripture Central, and today's podcast addresses the question,

What do the parables of the impotuning friend and widow teach us about prayer?

The Gospel of Luke records that after Jesus had finished praying, one of his disciples said unto him,

Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. In response to this

earnest plea, Jesus taught this disciple a form of the Lord's prayer. Jesus went on explaining

not only how to pray, but also how this prayer would be received by God the Father. Concerning

Jesus' intent, John and Jeannie Welch have noted, most of all he wants

us to know with assurance that God will hear and answer our prayers. This is made especially clear

in the Joseph Smith translation of this chapter, which adds the following statement,

Your Heavenly Father will not fail to give unto you whatsoever ye ask of him.

It is in this context that Jesus offered a parable regarding an impotuning friend at midnight.

Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, friend?

Lend me three loaves.

For a friend of mine in his journey has come to me, and I have nothing

to set before him. And he from within shall answer and say, trouble me not. The door is now shut,

and my children are with me in bed. I cannot rise and give thee. 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. As Kent Brown points out that

the awkward friend's answer is completely out of character in the ancient Orient, which placed

a high value on hospitality. Perhaps recognizing his lack of courtesy, the awakened friend

...