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Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Luke 11:9

And (or, therefore) I say unto you, Ask - Be importunate with God, not so much to prevail on him to save you, as to get yourselves brought into a proper disposition to receive that mercy which he is ever disposed to give. He who is not importunate for the salvation of his soul does not feel the need of being saved; and were God to communicate his mercy to such they could not be expected to be grateful for it, as favors are only prized and esteemed in proportion to the sense men have of their... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Luke 11:5

Verse 5 Luke 11:5.Which of you shall have a friend, Luke adds this comparison, which is not mentioned by Matthew. The general instruction conveyed by it is this: Believers ought not to be discouraged, if they do not immediately obtain their desires, or if they find them difficult to be obtained: for if, among men, importunity of asking extorts what a person would not willingly do, we have no reason to doubt that God will listen to us, if we persevere constantly in prayer, and if our minds do... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Luke 11:1-13

The Lord ' s teaching on the subject of prayer. Again the scene is far away from Jerusalem; no special note of time or place enables us to fix the scene or date with any exactness. Somewhere in the course of the last journeyings towards Jerusalem, related especially in this Gospel, did this scene and its teaching take place. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Luke 11:1-13

Christ teaching his disciples to pray. "He was praying in a certain place." Might not he have dispensed with the special season and act of prayer? Was not his whole life one continuous act of prayer? Did he not always realize that communion with the Father to which praying is the means? Yes; but even he needed the time and the place of prayer. "Made in all things like to his brethren," he, too, required to recruit the energy; he, too, for power with God and men, must lift up his eyes to... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Luke 11:1-13

Lessons on prayer. Luke takes us from "the one thing needful," which Mary's loving waiting on her Lord illustrates, to a kindred subject, viz. the lessons on prayer which Jesus gave his disciples. He had been enjoying what we should now call a " retreat " with them, and had himself led the devotions of the little band. Struck by the beauty of his petitions, one of his disciples asked him to teach them to pray, as John had taught his disciples. To this appeal Jesus responds at once, and... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Luke 11:5

And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves. This whole passage follows naturally the Lord's own formula of prayer. The teaching contained in Luke 11:1-13 may be well summarized as the Master's lesson on prayer. The disciples, when they heard Jesus pray, asked him to instruct them in the holy art. The Lord then suggested to them a series of short subjects for constant prayer, and... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Luke 11:5-10

Continuance in prayer. These words of our Lord are not intended to present God to us as one that is reluctant to respond to our prayer, and that, consequently, has to be besought and entreated with growing energy and ardor, as Baal's prophets imagined to be the case with the deity they worshipped ( 1 Kings 18:1-46 .). Rather should we think of him as of a Divine Father who, for our sake , delays his answer to our prayer, in order that we may be disciplined in devotion, and in order... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Luke 11:5-13

Prayer continued. The wisdom of perseverance in prayer is pressed. The Lord introduces his argument by the short parable of the selfish neighbor. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Luke 11:8

Because of his importunity, he will rise . The one idea left upon the minds of the hearers of this little quaint homely parable is— importunity is completely successful. The borrower had only need to keep on knocking to get all he wanted. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Luke 11:9-10

And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall he opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Then the Lord—taking advantage of the state of mind into which his strange words had brought his hearers—made, as Professor Bruce well points out, the solemn declaration on which, and not on the parable, he desired the tried soul to lay the stress of its faith: "And... read more

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