Jesus taught His disciples to pray in Luke 11. He then told a parable about somebody who asked for bread from his friend in the middle of the night. First and foremost, why serve the meal in the middle of the night? Why not wait until the morning? To understand this parable, we need to know the culture of the Jew during that time. The Jewish custom required him to host anyone who comes to seek shelter. The host must bring the guest in, wash his feet, and offer something for the guest to eat. It was like our Chinese custom that we give a red packet to anyone single when they visit you during the Chinese new year. It is a shameful thing if one fails to do that. That person who had no bread must be a poor man. He must have bothered his friend ample times as his friend was reluctant to wake and help him. If he was a close friend, it is likely that the person he seeks will rise to open the door. Jesus stressed the fact that the poor man got what he needed not because of friendship but because he was shamelessly persistent. How many times we pray a prayer and it matter not to us if the prayer has been answered? No wonder there are few answered prayers. We do not ask with shameless audacity. We do not want it enough.

May we learn to approach God persistently. May we learn to ask shamelessly. May our minds fill with requests each day and never cease to ask of the Lord till blessings fall from above.