The Risk of Prayer
THE RISK OF PRAYER Luke 11.5-13
Rev. Dr. Warner M. Bailey
No one likes to get a telephone call in the middle of the night. In the parable about the unexpected guest, you are jolted out of bed by a friend who arrives at your door, bleary eyed and starving from 16 hours on the road. He needs a place to crash and something to eat. But your cupboard is bare, so while you have him wash up, you dash across the yard to bang on your neighbor’s back door.
Now get the scene. In the neighbor’s bedroom, the entire family is sleeping on one bed, side-by-side, like sardines, from the youngest to the oldest with mother and father on the two outside edges. All of a sudden, a sharp knocking at the door would have shattered the stillness of the house and a rough whisper would have jolted you awake. “Friend, wake up. My friend has just arrived from a journey. I must feed him, but have no bread. Lend me three loaves, and I will repay you by sunrise.”Read More »The Risk of Prayer