Importunity- Huh? Luke 11

There is a story that Jesus tells in Luke Chapter 11, vs. 5-13. Many of us overlook all but the 9th verse. We want to skip right where it says "Ask, and it shall be given you, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened." That sounds pretty good. 

However, the verses before and after verse 9 are significant to the meaning behind the story. 

In the Bible, context is very important.  We need to understand what is being said, who it is being said to, why and by whom.

In this case, Jesus had been off praying by himself and the disciples came to him asking to be taught how to pray. Jesus gives them a beautiful, respectful way to pray which becomes what we call the Lord's Prayer. He teaches them to pray for God's kingdom, His will to be done, our daily needs, and forgiveness.  All of these come from the Holy Spirit. Then He goes on with this story.

[5] 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;[6] For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him?

[7] "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" 

[8] I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give (to) him, because he is his (a) friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth"

I'm using the KJV because it uses the word 'importunity'. 

In modern day language, the word 'importunity' leans more toward making a demand. It is a somewhat negative term.  However, in the bible, the word means persistence, being unrelenting and consistent, maybe even to the point of annoyance.  Do you see the difference?

Christ continues with Verse 9, Ask and it shall be given you, Seek and ye shall find, knock and the door will be opened. He wants us to be persistent in our prayers. He wants us to talk to Him regularly about everything.  He wants us to seek His will. 

He is not saying that God will give us whatever we want because we annoyed Him, but that if we continually and persistently seek His will, He will answer and give us as much as we need. 

Here is the rest of the story. 

11 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? 12 Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13 if ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children; how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

He gives us what we NEED by His Holy Spirit when we continually and persistently pray for the things of God in our lives. 

A few days ago, I posted the "I don't know" prayer.  As humans we often don't know what to say when we pray. It is ok to persistently pray the "I don't know" prayer because you are acknowledging that only God through His Holy Spirit can and will work in your situation. God will give you the Holy Spirit to lead and guide you in all things. Your needs will be met because of importunity.