Last time we tried to come to grips with what it means to know God. It is, however, one thing to define it; it is quite something else to experience it. Let us then consider a number of pointers or guidelines to help us forward on this road of the highest of human callings.
1. I must realise that I have no greater calling than the pursuit of the knowledge of God.
Micah 6:8: "He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God" (remember our emphasis last time on the personal relationship with God).
Phil 3:8-10: "... I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord ... I want to know Christ ..."
The Westminster Shorter Catechism: "What is the chief end of man? Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever" (Q&A 1).
2. Let me embrace this fact with both arms: It is God's will to reveal Himself to me and walk in fellowship with me.
This is what lies at the heart of His promises for the New Covenant (Hos 2:18-19; Jer 31:31-34). This is what it is all about: that we shall be His people and that He shall be our God.
3. My focus must be God personally - in other words, the Giver and not the gifts!
Can there be a greater insult than to show an interest in somebody only for what you can get out of him?
4. God can only be known in and through Christ.
This is vital! It can never be overemphasised!
The incarnate Word is God's supreme, perfect and final revelation to us (Jn 1:14; 14:8-9). It is impossible to have a proper knowledge of God without looking continuously and intensely at our Lord Jesus Christ. "The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being..." (Hb 1:3). Christ is the clearest window through whom we see who God really is (2Cor 4:6).
Moreover, Christ is the one and only Mediator between God and man. Without Him there is no fellowship with God (Jn 14:6; Acts 4:12; 1Tm 2:5).
5. This revelation comes to us through the Word and the Spirit.
It is so that God's eternal power and deity is evident from nature - His general revelation (Rm 1:20). But this is not sufficient to lead us to a saving and personal knowledge of God. For this we are dependant on His special self-revelation in Christ - as recorded in the Bible. Without the Word we can never know the living God as we should.
This does not mean that I need simply to study the Bible as I would any other book. God's revelation, especially the deep truths of the New Covenant, remains hidden unless we are enlightened by the Holy Spirit. The responsibility to seek the knowledge of God is mine, but I will only make any progress if I do so in prayerful dependence on the Spirit's work (1Cor 2:6-16).
6. Without regular, disciplined and persistent prayer we will not progress one millimetre along this road of the highest calling.
It is after all in prayer that we experience the most intimate fellowship with God.
Question and answer 116 of the Heidelberg Catechism puts it like this: Why is prayer necessary for Christians? Because it is the chief part of the thankfulness which God requires of us, and because God will give His grace and Holy Spirit to those only who with hearty sighing unceasingly beg them of Him and thank Him for them.
7. The knowledge of God will always bring about a measure of emotional experience.
Can there ever be a love relationship without emotion? But here too the norm for all genuine Christian experience applies: it can only be trusted as authentic if it is rooted in Biblical truth.
8. God reveals Himself only to a faith that is childlike and utterly dependant.
Never are we more dependant, and never do we need more faith than when we concern ourselves with His self-revelation. Augustine said, "If you do not believe, you will not understand". it is as simple as that. The old Puritan Thomas Watson said, "Faith is the main artery of the soul".
In this connection Hb 11:6 is of the utmost importance: "And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him" (NASB). Man can accomplish much without faith, but nothing that will please God.
Without faith there can be no salvation. But more than that, faith lies at the heart of our daily walk with the Lord. By faith the unseen becomes visible, the inconceivable becomes possible. Faith is the hand with which I take hold of His gifts.
9. God reveals Himself only to the humble.
Do not expect to progress in the knowledge of God if you are a proud and choosy know-all. That is why the Lord Jesus says in Mt 11:25-27: "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure ... No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him."
10. The knowledge of God is not for casual and double-minded seekers.
The knowledge of God is something to which we must "press on" in a resolute, disciplined and persistent manner (Hos 6:3). "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart" (Jer 29:13).
All the men and women of God throughout the ages, in Biblical times and thereafter, have pursued the knowledge of God with a holy hunger.
This was the case with Moses. Exodus 32-34 make for thrilling reading! Already in 33:11 we read that God spoke to Moses "face to face as a man speaks with his friend". Then Moses comes to a full realisation of the seriousness of his calling to lead his people and he prays, "If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favour with you" (13).
To this God then replies, "I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name" (17).
But, while Moses is duly thankful that the Lord has granted his request, he is afraid that he may merely have received the ability to know God's ways and to lead the people correctly. Wonderful as this is, there is something that he desires above all else, something without which he cannot live and which he is afraid God will stop short of. What holy boldness he has: "Now show me your glory" (18)!
God responds positively, but not without qualification: yes, He will pass before Moses in all His majesty, but Moses must realise that there are limits. No-one may see God in all His glory and live. Therefore He will cover his servant with His own hand in the cleft of a rock until He has passed by. He will then take away His hand so that Moses may see His back (19-23).
The fulfilment we find in Ex 34:5-7: "Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, 'The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation'".
Afterwards, when Moses begged the Lord to remain Israel's God, in spite of their sinfulness, He renewed the covenant with them (10).
Nothing pleases the Lord more than a desire such as the one expressed by Moses. And if we persist in our prayers, the Holy Spirit will increase our capacity to know Him, intensify our longing for Him, and fulfil our desires more and more.
11. Those who are zealous to live a holy life and serve Him in loving devotion, are the ones who progress in the knowledge of God.
Man was created in God's image. That image was seriously marred by the Fall. But this is being restored as part of the redeeming work of Christ. Those of us who are united to Christ are being transformed into His likeness (Eph 4:23-24; Col 3:10). That is why we are commanded to be holy as God is holy (1Pt 1:15-16), and to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect (Mt 5:48).
It stands to reason that not all of God's attributes will be reflected in man. Some, however, can come to expression, such as His goodness, mercy and love. And we will be able to develop these traits to the extent that we learn to recognise, admire and worship them in Him.
In this connection the promise of the Lord Jesus in Jn 14:21-23 is of the utmost importance: "Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him ... If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him."
12. The knowledge of God is for those who have worshipping hearts.
God created and re-created us so that we may worship and glorify Him. This is one of the reasons why the Holy Spirit wants to lead us into an ever deepening knowledge of God. But worship is not only the fruit of this knowledge, it is also a root of it. Why would the Spirit lead us ever higher if we do not show our gratitude and awe by richer worship? Truly, worship and the knowledge of God always walk hand in hand.
13. Those who are serious about the knowledge of God must be content to receive not only good things from Him, but also His discipline (Hb 12).
We come to the knowledge of God not so much on the peaks as in the valleys. We know this not only from the lives of the saints through the ages, but from personal experience.
14. Last but not least, I myself have to walk the mountain track to the peaks of the knowledge of God.
Of course it will help to link arms with my brothers and sisters who have the same passion burning in their hearts. True Christian experience is often corporate by nature. But in the final analysis everybody must carry his or her own pack. There are in any case long stretches of the climb where the ledges can only be negotiated by one person at a time - and increasingly so the higher we progress.
Nico van der Walt
Saturday, May 18, 2013
EE 31 - JOHN 17:3 : THE ESSENCE OF ETERNAL LIFE [1]
In the process of becoming a mature Christian I must master many Biblical truths. What is more, my priorities must undergo many adjustments. But the calling above all others, is the unspeakable privilege of growing in the knowledge of God. As the Lord Jesus says here in His high priestly prayer, it is the essence of eternal life. More than anything else it will dominate for all eternity the life of everyone who is savingly united to Christ.
Over and over again the Bible emphasises the importance of the knowledge of God.
In Jer 9:23-24 the Lord says, "Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight."
Hosea often deals with this subject. In Hos 2:19-20 (ESV) the Lord promises, "And I will betroth you to me for ever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord." The prophet then goes on to mourn the fact that his people are "destroyed for lack of knowledge" (4:6). What is the knowledge he is talking about? He provides the answer a few verses earlier in 4:1: "Hear the word of the Lord, O children of Israel, for the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land. There is no faithfulness or steadfast love, and no knowledge of God in the land ..." Finally Hosea makes a passionate appeal to his countrymen in 6:3: "Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord." He then backs the call with an assurance from the Lord: "For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings" (6:6).
There are several similar pronouncements elsewhere in the Bible, e.g. Prov 9:10; Ex 33:13 et seq; 2Pt 1:2-3; 1Jn 2:3-4; 4:7-8.
What is this knowledge of God?
❏ To start off, two qualifications.
Firstly, in both Hebrew and Greek the word "to know" carries the idea of knowledge resulting from observation, contemplation and experience. It therefore implies both objective insight and subjective experience. It often carries the meaning of an intimate relationship and intimacy between people. We read, for instance in Gn 4:1 that Adam "knew his wife and she conceived..." (ASV, ESV).
Secondly, if we look at the way knowledge of God is described in the Bible, it is noticeable how often it is tied to an understanding and experience of His attributes and the excellence of His character (comp. Jer 9:24 and Hos 2:18-19, already quoted).
❏ The knowledge of God has three distinguishable but inseparable elements. The extent to which these components are a reality in my life, is the extent to which I know God.
The knowledge of God is
an understanding of that which the Triune God has revealed about Himself,
which hangs together with
an ongoing, conscious and personal walk with Him,
which brings about
an insight into His will and ways.
❏ The first element has to do with understanding that which God has revealed about Himself in Scripture. It is concerned with thought and study. The apostle writes: "And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know Him ..." (1Jn 5:20, ESV).
Because knowledge of God involves much more than mere knowledge of various facts about Him, some think that they can get by without it - a fatal mistake! Why, after all, has God revealed so much about Himself to us?
Without disciplined, thoughtful and prayerful study of what God has revealed about Himself in Scripture one can easily lapse into a quagmire of subjective and one-sided arbitrariness. And the outcome is inevitable: you are misled into creating a god after your own image - leading in effect to idolatry, and all the twisted outcomes in one's life.
He who serves an imaginary God will have to accept imaginary salvation one day!
J.I. Packer has this to say about the study of God's character: “No topic is greater, grander, or more important, and by the same token none is more demanding. It is the theological Mount Everest, and no one ever masters it or does it full justice.”
❏ The second element of the knowledge of God is our personal relationship or fellowship with God. "Enoch walked with God" - like all godly men and women through the ages (Gen 5:22, 24).
My personal relationship with God finds expression in two ways:
on the one hand in my believing identification, my grateful experience, and my reverent recognition of His attributes operating in my life,
and
on the other hand in my believing trust in His promises, my loving commitment to His glory, and my grateful obedience to His commands.
We may never concern ourselves with the theological aspects only. God did not reveal Himself to man merely for the sake of the intellectual and the speculative. No, He revealed Himself to us so that we may worship, love and serve Him accordingly. That is why the Bible, when speaking of God, does not limit itself to abstract statements about Him, but time and again boils it down to experiencing His attributes in personal and ordinary human terms.
The Bible never regards a truth as truly known until it controls the life of the learner. And nowhere is this more apparent than in its teaching about the knowledge of God.
This emphasis helps us to steer clear of lapsing into a mere cerebral and scholastic view about God - a view which may be doctrinally sound but emotionally and spiritually dead.
But then it is also equally important to note that fellowship with God does not consist of having a mere subjective and mystical dialogue with Him.
On the one hand I live in fellowship with God when in faith I view my entire life through the spectacles of the Word and so come to recognise His intimate involvement in all my circumstances and the whole course of my life.
On the other hand I live in fellowship with the Lord when in faith I apply in my life the practical implications of what He has revealed about Himself and his will. In other words, it is my response to His saving initiatives, His ongoing loving faithfulness and His sovereign rule over my life.
In this way the covenant of grace, namely that the Lord shall be a Father to me and that I shall be His child, becomes an everyday experimental reality.
The life of David serves as a beautiful illustration. Take for instance Psalm 139, where he speaks of God's lofty attributes - His omniscience, omnipotence and omnipresence. He however does not do so in abstract terms, but as he himself has experienced them. He mentions the name of the Lord six times in the Psalm, and uses personal pronouns that refer to Him approximately thirty times. He also refers to himself about fifty times. Therefore, in David's innermost experience of his faith there are only two persons involved, the Lord and he himself. That is why he does not talk of "He", but of "you", and not of "people" or "man", but of "I".
❏ The third element has to do with insight into God's will and His ways.
In Ex 33:13 (NIV) Moses pleads with the Lord, "If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favour with you"; and in Ps 103:7 we find the statement, "He made known His ways to Moses, His deeds to the people of Israel."
This is about wisdom and ongoing renewal in my way of thinking, which help me to discern clearly my own role in effecting God's will for my life. Nowhere is this principle put more clearly than in Rm 12:2: "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will."
However, we are concerned here with more than our personal obedience. What is also involved is insight into how God normally deals with this world, His church and His people. It involves an understanding of His precepts, and how His universal principles are to be applied; what are His preferences and dislikes; what pleases Him or raises His anger.
What do we learn from all this?
This is as far as we go with our theme for the present. Actually we have only put a few foundation stones into place. I propose to talk about the practical guidelines for our pursuit of the knowledge of God next time.
In conclusion I would like to make a single appeal to you: Take time to reflect in all honesty and in detail on everything we have been considering.
Ask yourself whether you are really walking with the Lord in a balanced and Scriptural manner. Are all three elements required for a genuine knowledge of God present in your life? Do you really have a personal relationship with the Lord? Are His fingerprints to be seen in your daily existence? Is He really involved with you personally? Can you recognise it? Is your lifestyle marked by trust in God, by loving dedication to Him, by principled and uncompromising obedience to Him?
Why are these questions so important? I think I have a Scriptural mandate to tell you that if you are a stranger to them, you probably have not received eternal life yet.
Do not simply argue that you have always been a good churchgoer and a believer. Many of us come from backgrounds where lopsided thinking about these matters have been the norm rather than the exception. Often there is either a one-sided emphasis on the purely intellectual, or an over-reaction manifesting itself in emotionalism.
No! No! Examine yourself to ensure that your faith is true and authentic (2Cor 13:5). This is vitally important, because the Bible frequently warns us against false doctrine, self-deception and an expectation about eternal salvation that may prove to be in vain.
And if you fail the test? Then you go to the Lord in humility and plead for His mercy. And persevere until He answers you. He has promised his grace in Christ to people who approach Him like this.
May the Lord in His mercy and through His Spirit grant us the ability to carry out this self-evaluation in a sober, honest and mature way!
Nico van der Walt
Over and over again the Bible emphasises the importance of the knowledge of God.
In Jer 9:23-24 the Lord says, "Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight."
Hosea often deals with this subject. In Hos 2:19-20 (ESV) the Lord promises, "And I will betroth you to me for ever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord." The prophet then goes on to mourn the fact that his people are "destroyed for lack of knowledge" (4:6). What is the knowledge he is talking about? He provides the answer a few verses earlier in 4:1: "Hear the word of the Lord, O children of Israel, for the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land. There is no faithfulness or steadfast love, and no knowledge of God in the land ..." Finally Hosea makes a passionate appeal to his countrymen in 6:3: "Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord." He then backs the call with an assurance from the Lord: "For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings" (6:6).
There are several similar pronouncements elsewhere in the Bible, e.g. Prov 9:10; Ex 33:13 et seq; 2Pt 1:2-3; 1Jn 2:3-4; 4:7-8.
What is this knowledge of God?
❏ To start off, two qualifications.
Firstly, in both Hebrew and Greek the word "to know" carries the idea of knowledge resulting from observation, contemplation and experience. It therefore implies both objective insight and subjective experience. It often carries the meaning of an intimate relationship and intimacy between people. We read, for instance in Gn 4:1 that Adam "knew his wife and she conceived..." (ASV, ESV).
Secondly, if we look at the way knowledge of God is described in the Bible, it is noticeable how often it is tied to an understanding and experience of His attributes and the excellence of His character (comp. Jer 9:24 and Hos 2:18-19, already quoted).
❏ The knowledge of God has three distinguishable but inseparable elements. The extent to which these components are a reality in my life, is the extent to which I know God.
The knowledge of God is
an understanding of that which the Triune God has revealed about Himself,
which hangs together with
an ongoing, conscious and personal walk with Him,
which brings about
an insight into His will and ways.
❏ The first element has to do with understanding that which God has revealed about Himself in Scripture. It is concerned with thought and study. The apostle writes: "And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know Him ..." (1Jn 5:20, ESV).
Because knowledge of God involves much more than mere knowledge of various facts about Him, some think that they can get by without it - a fatal mistake! Why, after all, has God revealed so much about Himself to us?
Without disciplined, thoughtful and prayerful study of what God has revealed about Himself in Scripture one can easily lapse into a quagmire of subjective and one-sided arbitrariness. And the outcome is inevitable: you are misled into creating a god after your own image - leading in effect to idolatry, and all the twisted outcomes in one's life.
He who serves an imaginary God will have to accept imaginary salvation one day!
J.I. Packer has this to say about the study of God's character: “No topic is greater, grander, or more important, and by the same token none is more demanding. It is the theological Mount Everest, and no one ever masters it or does it full justice.”
❏ The second element of the knowledge of God is our personal relationship or fellowship with God. "Enoch walked with God" - like all godly men and women through the ages (Gen 5:22, 24).
My personal relationship with God finds expression in two ways:
on the one hand in my believing identification, my grateful experience, and my reverent recognition of His attributes operating in my life,
and
on the other hand in my believing trust in His promises, my loving commitment to His glory, and my grateful obedience to His commands.
We may never concern ourselves with the theological aspects only. God did not reveal Himself to man merely for the sake of the intellectual and the speculative. No, He revealed Himself to us so that we may worship, love and serve Him accordingly. That is why the Bible, when speaking of God, does not limit itself to abstract statements about Him, but time and again boils it down to experiencing His attributes in personal and ordinary human terms.
The Bible never regards a truth as truly known until it controls the life of the learner. And nowhere is this more apparent than in its teaching about the knowledge of God.
This emphasis helps us to steer clear of lapsing into a mere cerebral and scholastic view about God - a view which may be doctrinally sound but emotionally and spiritually dead.
But then it is also equally important to note that fellowship with God does not consist of having a mere subjective and mystical dialogue with Him.
On the one hand I live in fellowship with God when in faith I view my entire life through the spectacles of the Word and so come to recognise His intimate involvement in all my circumstances and the whole course of my life.
On the other hand I live in fellowship with the Lord when in faith I apply in my life the practical implications of what He has revealed about Himself and his will. In other words, it is my response to His saving initiatives, His ongoing loving faithfulness and His sovereign rule over my life.
In this way the covenant of grace, namely that the Lord shall be a Father to me and that I shall be His child, becomes an everyday experimental reality.
The life of David serves as a beautiful illustration. Take for instance Psalm 139, where he speaks of God's lofty attributes - His omniscience, omnipotence and omnipresence. He however does not do so in abstract terms, but as he himself has experienced them. He mentions the name of the Lord six times in the Psalm, and uses personal pronouns that refer to Him approximately thirty times. He also refers to himself about fifty times. Therefore, in David's innermost experience of his faith there are only two persons involved, the Lord and he himself. That is why he does not talk of "He", but of "you", and not of "people" or "man", but of "I".
❏ The third element has to do with insight into God's will and His ways.
In Ex 33:13 (NIV) Moses pleads with the Lord, "If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favour with you"; and in Ps 103:7 we find the statement, "He made known His ways to Moses, His deeds to the people of Israel."
This is about wisdom and ongoing renewal in my way of thinking, which help me to discern clearly my own role in effecting God's will for my life. Nowhere is this principle put more clearly than in Rm 12:2: "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will."
However, we are concerned here with more than our personal obedience. What is also involved is insight into how God normally deals with this world, His church and His people. It involves an understanding of His precepts, and how His universal principles are to be applied; what are His preferences and dislikes; what pleases Him or raises His anger.
What do we learn from all this?
This is as far as we go with our theme for the present. Actually we have only put a few foundation stones into place. I propose to talk about the practical guidelines for our pursuit of the knowledge of God next time.
In conclusion I would like to make a single appeal to you: Take time to reflect in all honesty and in detail on everything we have been considering.
Ask yourself whether you are really walking with the Lord in a balanced and Scriptural manner. Are all three elements required for a genuine knowledge of God present in your life? Do you really have a personal relationship with the Lord? Are His fingerprints to be seen in your daily existence? Is He really involved with you personally? Can you recognise it? Is your lifestyle marked by trust in God, by loving dedication to Him, by principled and uncompromising obedience to Him?
Why are these questions so important? I think I have a Scriptural mandate to tell you that if you are a stranger to them, you probably have not received eternal life yet.
Do not simply argue that you have always been a good churchgoer and a believer. Many of us come from backgrounds where lopsided thinking about these matters have been the norm rather than the exception. Often there is either a one-sided emphasis on the purely intellectual, or an over-reaction manifesting itself in emotionalism.
No! No! Examine yourself to ensure that your faith is true and authentic (2Cor 13:5). This is vitally important, because the Bible frequently warns us against false doctrine, self-deception and an expectation about eternal salvation that may prove to be in vain.
And if you fail the test? Then you go to the Lord in humility and plead for His mercy. And persevere until He answers you. He has promised his grace in Christ to people who approach Him like this.
May the Lord in His mercy and through His Spirit grant us the ability to carry out this self-evaluation in a sober, honest and mature way!
Nico van der Walt
EE 30 - LK 11:5-13 : THE GENEROUS FATHER
Most Christians wrestle with guilty feelings over the fact that they do not pray enough. Sermons and books about prayer are so challenging that one becomes discouraged before you even start praying.
But this is not the Lord Jesus' approach. Lk 11:5-13, following as it does right after the Lord's Prayer, is wonderfully encouraging. We are invited to approach the Father's throne of mercy with boldness and to do so again and again.
What we are taught here should govern our life of prayer as well as our walk with the Lord. Many of our problems with prayer can be attributed to the fact that we are to some extent ignorant of the truths in this teaching.
A rhetorical question (5-8)
In the original the Lord begins with one long rhetorical question which presupposes the reply: Certainly not! (5-7).
It may be paraphrased as follows: Can any one of you imagine having a friend - to whom you go at midnight to borrow bread, because you have an unexpected guest - who would refuse to get out of bed, sending you away with a number of silly excuses?
This was unthinkable in a culture in which hospitality and good neighbourliness was valued much more highly than today!
In v. 8 Jesus then comes to the conclusion: In view of their friendship the man will of course get out of bed! But even if their friendship were insufficient motivation (what a silly idea!) the petitioner's shameless boldness (Greek) would compel the man in bed to assist him. Undoubtedly the midnight-host will get his bread!
Application (9-10)
In v.9 our Lord issues three injunctions in succession: Ask! Seek! Knock! This is of course really one and the same command, only worded in three different ways.
Each of the injunctions is followed by the assurance that obedience to it will not be in vain. Ask, and you will receive! Seek, and you will find! Knock, and the door will be opened!
In the case of all three verbs the tense used in the Greek text indicates ongoing action. This can be interpreted in one of two ways. Jesus either emphasises that we should keep on praying, or that we should always pray. In the former case the idea would be that we should keep on, persist, and not give up. In the latter He would mean that we should pray always, and not be timid - that we should go again and again to the throne of grace!
All this may look like splitting hairs, but the way in which we interpret these injunctions holds far-reaching implications. The first interpretation would convey the message that prayer is not easy, but that perseverance will ultimately be rewarded. The second would constitute a hearty invitation to ask again and again, with the utmost boldness. Which is the correct interpretation? The answer can be found in the very next verse.
Verse 10 starts with the causal conjunction "for". Jesus is thereby indicating that He is about to explain what He meant in the previous verse.
In the original language the words "ask", "seek" and "knock" are present participles. The idea is therefore that while asking, we receive; while searching, we find; while knocking, the door is opened to us.
What the Lord is therefore saying, is not that we will eventually receive after we have prayed for a long time, but that we will receive while praying. So it's clear. Verse 9 is a hearty invitation and an encouraging assurance: make continual prayer part of your way of life and answered prayers will be a daily reality. The Lord is therefore giving us the assurance that any disciple of his will always be welcome at the throne of grace. He is assuring us of the goodwill and generosity of His Father. This is the main point of the parable.
However, Jesus does not want to give his hearers the wrong impression. He is not suggesting that prayer is a superficial exercise. It is not just a matter of asking at your heart's content. He knows that prayer is sometimes a demanding battle, and that persistence is often essential. This is, in fact, what He teaches in Lk 18:1-8. And here in Lk 11 His careful choice of words balances the encouraging invitation above.
What He is saying, as it were, is, "When you pray, you will sometimes get the feeling that your Father is not there. But seek Him purposely and you will find Him. At other times you may get the feeling that He is ignoring you, but knock with determination, and the door will be opened."
This is exactly the way in which a neighbour will assure you of his goodwill: "If you need me, don't hesitate to call on me - night or day. Just remember, I am sometimes in the back garden, so just come and get me there. And I am a tight sleeper, so don't hesitate to hammer on the door!"
Driving it home (1-13)
Our Lord clearly does not wish us to miss this invitation to pray. Again He uses two rhetorical questions to strengthen his point. Will a father give his son a snake when he asks for a fish, or a scorpion when he asks for an egg? Of course not! Pray therefore, it pleases your Father. Pray! Your prayers will be answered! Pray! It is never in vain!
A final rhetorical question drives the conclusion home. Again the answer is crystal clear: If sinful parents know to give only the best to their children, all the more our heavenly Father!
The Father's great gift
In verse 13 the Lord Jesus gives an unexpected twist to His teaching. Contrary to what may be expected from what He has been saying, He does not promise a general answering of prayers, but specifically the gift of the Holy Spirit.
The promise Jesus makes in Mt 7:7-11 is verbally almost the same, but with a more easily understandable ending: the Father gives good gifts to those who ask Him.
Taking all of the above into consideration, we arrive at three very important truths.
Firstly, the Holy Spirit, in fact only He, is God's great gift to Christ's New Testament church. If we have Him, we do not really need anything else. Whatever God and our calling demand of us, we find in Him.
Secondly, believers know that they receive nothing from the Father except on the grounds of Christ's merit. However, we forget only too readily that we also receive nothing of eternal value save through the working of the Holy Spirit. Every good gift that we receive from heaven is, as it were, delivered by the Holy Spirit.
Thirdly, we receive from the Father only that which the Holy Spirit will deliver. He is holy and will bring nothing that is in conflict with His character. He brings only good gifts. We need to keep this in mind when we pray, or else we may end up asking for something that is in conflict with God's will - and of course not receive it.
Four practical implications
1. Jesus encourages us to pray with boldness, not with presumptuous rashness.
These two attitudes differ like day and night.
To be bold in prayer means to appear before the holy God in trusting faith and expectation, in spite of your remaining sin, solely on the basis of the perfect mediatorship of His Son. It means praying in His Name - without hesitance, timidity or fear, but freely and with assurance. It means to pour out your heart before your Father's throne.
On the other hand, presumption in prayer has to do with an attitude of smug self-assurance and self-centeredness, which knows very little of the fear of the Lord, or one's own unworthiness.
2. Our heavenly Father does not wish us merely to pray, but to pray boldly.
While the danger of presumption in prayer is ever present, the absence of boldness is probably a bigger and more general problem. That is why the Bible encourages boldness more often than it warns against presumptuousness in prayer.
Here in Lk 11 Jesus assures us repeatedly of the Father's benevolence towards His children - ten times over. There is hardly another promise that receives greater emphasis in the Bible.
3. Knowledge of God and His promises is the key to boldness and persistence in prayer.
Although the emphasis in Lk 11 is not primarily on perseverance in prayer, it so happens that we can and will persevere because we are convinced of our Father's generosity. After all, the very reason why you keep on hammering on your neighbour's door until he wakes up, is because you are assured of his goodwill. You would only hesitantly knock on the door of an unfriendly neighbour - and only once or twice - before turning away.
Nothing is of greater importance to our prayer life than true knowledge of God - more particularly His goodness, love, grace and covenant faithfulness towards those who are in Christ. It is because we know God in truth that we pray as we ought to - with boldness.
4. Only white-hot prayers reach heaven; cold prayers freeze before they get there.
This saying of the old Puritans is confirmed by many prayers in the Bible, especially in the Old Testament. Quite often we come across prayers full of holy impatience - almost to the point of blasphemy. Can you imagine praying like this? "Awake, O Lord! Why do you sleep? Rouse yourself! Do not reject us for ever. Why do you hide your face and forget our misery and oppression?" (Ps 44:23-24). "O Lord, where is your former great love, which in your faithfulness you swore to David?" (Ps 89:49). "O Hope of Israel, its Saviour in times of distress, why are you like a stranger in the land, like a traveller who stays only a night? Why are you like a man taken by surprise, like a warrior powerless to save? ... do not forsake us! (Jer 14:8-9)
Surely prayers like these would have been blasphemous had they not sprung from hearts aglow with passion for God's honour. But exactly here lies the secret. Nothing pleases God more than a burning zeal for His glory (Num 25:7-13).
How do we get this intensity of zeal for the Lord and His honour. What leads to prayers like those above? There is only one answer: my heart will burn with love and zeal for the Lord to the extent that I know Him! And the higher the flame of love and zeal burns in my heart, the more will I pray boldly - simply because I can not tolerate the dishonouring of His name.
And of course, the man or woman with a white-hot zeal for God can hardly pray a self-centred and presumptuous prayer!
Nico van der Walt
But this is not the Lord Jesus' approach. Lk 11:5-13, following as it does right after the Lord's Prayer, is wonderfully encouraging. We are invited to approach the Father's throne of mercy with boldness and to do so again and again.
What we are taught here should govern our life of prayer as well as our walk with the Lord. Many of our problems with prayer can be attributed to the fact that we are to some extent ignorant of the truths in this teaching.
A rhetorical question (5-8)
In the original the Lord begins with one long rhetorical question which presupposes the reply: Certainly not! (5-7).
It may be paraphrased as follows: Can any one of you imagine having a friend - to whom you go at midnight to borrow bread, because you have an unexpected guest - who would refuse to get out of bed, sending you away with a number of silly excuses?
This was unthinkable in a culture in which hospitality and good neighbourliness was valued much more highly than today!
In v. 8 Jesus then comes to the conclusion: In view of their friendship the man will of course get out of bed! But even if their friendship were insufficient motivation (what a silly idea!) the petitioner's shameless boldness (Greek) would compel the man in bed to assist him. Undoubtedly the midnight-host will get his bread!
Application (9-10)
In v.9 our Lord issues three injunctions in succession: Ask! Seek! Knock! This is of course really one and the same command, only worded in three different ways.
Each of the injunctions is followed by the assurance that obedience to it will not be in vain. Ask, and you will receive! Seek, and you will find! Knock, and the door will be opened!
In the case of all three verbs the tense used in the Greek text indicates ongoing action. This can be interpreted in one of two ways. Jesus either emphasises that we should keep on praying, or that we should always pray. In the former case the idea would be that we should keep on, persist, and not give up. In the latter He would mean that we should pray always, and not be timid - that we should go again and again to the throne of grace!
All this may look like splitting hairs, but the way in which we interpret these injunctions holds far-reaching implications. The first interpretation would convey the message that prayer is not easy, but that perseverance will ultimately be rewarded. The second would constitute a hearty invitation to ask again and again, with the utmost boldness. Which is the correct interpretation? The answer can be found in the very next verse.
Verse 10 starts with the causal conjunction "for". Jesus is thereby indicating that He is about to explain what He meant in the previous verse.
In the original language the words "ask", "seek" and "knock" are present participles. The idea is therefore that while asking, we receive; while searching, we find; while knocking, the door is opened to us.
What the Lord is therefore saying, is not that we will eventually receive after we have prayed for a long time, but that we will receive while praying. So it's clear. Verse 9 is a hearty invitation and an encouraging assurance: make continual prayer part of your way of life and answered prayers will be a daily reality. The Lord is therefore giving us the assurance that any disciple of his will always be welcome at the throne of grace. He is assuring us of the goodwill and generosity of His Father. This is the main point of the parable.
However, Jesus does not want to give his hearers the wrong impression. He is not suggesting that prayer is a superficial exercise. It is not just a matter of asking at your heart's content. He knows that prayer is sometimes a demanding battle, and that persistence is often essential. This is, in fact, what He teaches in Lk 18:1-8. And here in Lk 11 His careful choice of words balances the encouraging invitation above.
What He is saying, as it were, is, "When you pray, you will sometimes get the feeling that your Father is not there. But seek Him purposely and you will find Him. At other times you may get the feeling that He is ignoring you, but knock with determination, and the door will be opened."
This is exactly the way in which a neighbour will assure you of his goodwill: "If you need me, don't hesitate to call on me - night or day. Just remember, I am sometimes in the back garden, so just come and get me there. And I am a tight sleeper, so don't hesitate to hammer on the door!"
Driving it home (1-13)
Our Lord clearly does not wish us to miss this invitation to pray. Again He uses two rhetorical questions to strengthen his point. Will a father give his son a snake when he asks for a fish, or a scorpion when he asks for an egg? Of course not! Pray therefore, it pleases your Father. Pray! Your prayers will be answered! Pray! It is never in vain!
A final rhetorical question drives the conclusion home. Again the answer is crystal clear: If sinful parents know to give only the best to their children, all the more our heavenly Father!
The Father's great gift
In verse 13 the Lord Jesus gives an unexpected twist to His teaching. Contrary to what may be expected from what He has been saying, He does not promise a general answering of prayers, but specifically the gift of the Holy Spirit.
The promise Jesus makes in Mt 7:7-11 is verbally almost the same, but with a more easily understandable ending: the Father gives good gifts to those who ask Him.
Taking all of the above into consideration, we arrive at three very important truths.
Firstly, the Holy Spirit, in fact only He, is God's great gift to Christ's New Testament church. If we have Him, we do not really need anything else. Whatever God and our calling demand of us, we find in Him.
Secondly, believers know that they receive nothing from the Father except on the grounds of Christ's merit. However, we forget only too readily that we also receive nothing of eternal value save through the working of the Holy Spirit. Every good gift that we receive from heaven is, as it were, delivered by the Holy Spirit.
Thirdly, we receive from the Father only that which the Holy Spirit will deliver. He is holy and will bring nothing that is in conflict with His character. He brings only good gifts. We need to keep this in mind when we pray, or else we may end up asking for something that is in conflict with God's will - and of course not receive it.
Four practical implications
1. Jesus encourages us to pray with boldness, not with presumptuous rashness.
These two attitudes differ like day and night.
To be bold in prayer means to appear before the holy God in trusting faith and expectation, in spite of your remaining sin, solely on the basis of the perfect mediatorship of His Son. It means praying in His Name - without hesitance, timidity or fear, but freely and with assurance. It means to pour out your heart before your Father's throne.
On the other hand, presumption in prayer has to do with an attitude of smug self-assurance and self-centeredness, which knows very little of the fear of the Lord, or one's own unworthiness.
2. Our heavenly Father does not wish us merely to pray, but to pray boldly.
While the danger of presumption in prayer is ever present, the absence of boldness is probably a bigger and more general problem. That is why the Bible encourages boldness more often than it warns against presumptuousness in prayer.
Here in Lk 11 Jesus assures us repeatedly of the Father's benevolence towards His children - ten times over. There is hardly another promise that receives greater emphasis in the Bible.
3. Knowledge of God and His promises is the key to boldness and persistence in prayer.
Although the emphasis in Lk 11 is not primarily on perseverance in prayer, it so happens that we can and will persevere because we are convinced of our Father's generosity. After all, the very reason why you keep on hammering on your neighbour's door until he wakes up, is because you are assured of his goodwill. You would only hesitantly knock on the door of an unfriendly neighbour - and only once or twice - before turning away.
Nothing is of greater importance to our prayer life than true knowledge of God - more particularly His goodness, love, grace and covenant faithfulness towards those who are in Christ. It is because we know God in truth that we pray as we ought to - with boldness.
4. Only white-hot prayers reach heaven; cold prayers freeze before they get there.
This saying of the old Puritans is confirmed by many prayers in the Bible, especially in the Old Testament. Quite often we come across prayers full of holy impatience - almost to the point of blasphemy. Can you imagine praying like this? "Awake, O Lord! Why do you sleep? Rouse yourself! Do not reject us for ever. Why do you hide your face and forget our misery and oppression?" (Ps 44:23-24). "O Lord, where is your former great love, which in your faithfulness you swore to David?" (Ps 89:49). "O Hope of Israel, its Saviour in times of distress, why are you like a stranger in the land, like a traveller who stays only a night? Why are you like a man taken by surprise, like a warrior powerless to save? ... do not forsake us! (Jer 14:8-9)
Surely prayers like these would have been blasphemous had they not sprung from hearts aglow with passion for God's honour. But exactly here lies the secret. Nothing pleases God more than a burning zeal for His glory (Num 25:7-13).
How do we get this intensity of zeal for the Lord and His honour. What leads to prayers like those above? There is only one answer: my heart will burn with love and zeal for the Lord to the extent that I know Him! And the higher the flame of love and zeal burns in my heart, the more will I pray boldly - simply because I can not tolerate the dishonouring of His name.
And of course, the man or woman with a white-hot zeal for God can hardly pray a self-centred and presumptuous prayer!
Nico van der Walt
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