Click this link to hear an audio version of the below text narrated by SOTH member Jerry Rhinehart:
Luke 11:5-13 (NIV)
5 Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; 6 a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ 7 And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need. 9 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Recently I wanted to cut back the grass growing onto the sidewalks in front of my house. I knew my neighbor had a motorized edger, but instead of asking him to borrow it I bought a manual one and started hacking away. Eventually, that same neighbor saw me, came over and offer to let me use his motorized one. I should have just asked in the first place! In the same way, are you laboring through life on your own? Are you carrying burdens or working through problems while God sits on the sidelines waiting for you to realize that He wants to help? God desires that we bother Him with requests because He loves us more than we will ever know. So bother God with your prayers. He wants to hear from you over and over again.