Luke 11:7-8

This unfriendly behavior of this "friend" is understandable since in the typical one-room Palestinian home the whole family, and even often the household animals, all slept near each other. In the parable the sleeping neighbor’s desire to avoid shame in the eyes of the knocking host, and probably in the eyes of all his neighbors once his inhospitable behavior became known, led him to get up and give his neighbor bread. The Greek word anaideia means shameless, or avoidance of shame, not persistence. [Note: See Alan F. Johnson, "Assurance for Man: The Fallacy of Translating Anaideia by ’Persistence’ in Luke 11:5-8," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 22:2 (June 1979):123-31.]

Jesus was contrasting, not comparing, God’s attitude with the friend’s attitude (Luke 11:9-13). [Note: See Kenneth E. Bailey, Poet and Peasant: A Literary-Cultural Approach to the Parables in Luke, pp. 125-33.] God’s attitude toward His children is the opposite of the attitude of the friend toward his knocking neighbor. God will not grant answers to prayer to avoid shame, as this man did. He will grant them unselfishly and lovingly. Jesus’ point was that if shame was effective with such a friend how much more eagerly shall the heavenly Father respond when His children make requests of Him. God is more than the friend of disciples; He is their father.