Friday after Exaudi
Posted on May 21, 2021 by under
Scripture: St. Luke 11:5-13 (NKJV)
11:5 And He said to them, “Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; 6 for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and he will answer from within and say, ‘Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you’? 8 I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs.
9 “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
11 If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
Devotion
False teachers have used today’s passage of Scripture to push a teaching which states that it is our prayers that make the Lord give us what we want. This is a blatant error. As the Small Catechism says “God gives daily bread, even without our prayer…”
What our Lord teaches us in this passage is that He gives good things to those who seek Him. That does not mean that our lives will be perfect and we will have a nice new car in the garage. What it does mean is that the more we understand and seek the Lord, especially in His Word and Sacraments, we will be more and more conformed to the likeness of Christ.
When we have needs or troubles, we look to the Lord who has conquered death to give us hope. When we struggle with doubt or sin, we look to the perfect Word and gifts the Lord has given us in the Church. When we are tempted to despair, our gracious heavenly Father knows the good things we need to know Him by faith in Jesus.
Prayer: Almighty, Everlasting God, make us to have always a devout will toward Thee and to serve Thy Majesty with a pure heart; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
