“I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”
Luke 11:8-9 ESV
Through the Bible: Luke 11
A good teacher makes the abstract concrete. And Jesus, the greatest teacher who ever lived, is a master at this.
When His disciples asked Him to teach them to pray, He answered with a story about an obnoxious neighbor banging on a friend’s door at midnight (Luke 11:5–8). Later, in Luke 18, He would describe prayer through the persistence of a powerless widow (Luke 18:1–7).
At first, these stories can confuse us. Is Jesus comparing God to an annoyed homeowner or an unjust judge? Not at all. Notice how He ends the first parable:
If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:13)
These are parables of contrast, not comparison.
Jesus isn’t saying God is like an irritated neighbor—He’s saying God is nothing like that.
Pray With Impudence and Shamelessness… Really?
I love the phrase in verse 8: in the ESV, it reads, “Because of [the neighbor’s] impudence, he [the homeowner] will rise and give him whatever he needs.” The word “impudence” is also translated “shameless audacity,” “shamelessness,” “shameless boldness,” and “persistence.” It’s the Greek word anaideia, and it literally means without shame or honor.
Far from being a negative descriptor, let’s take a minute to meditate on what a gift it is to be able to approach our Heavenly Father without shame! We are told in Romans 8:1 that “there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” And Psalm 34:5 says that “those who look to Him are radiant, and their faces are never covered with shame.”
We forget that the pre-Fall state of humanity was shamelessness. Genesis 2:25. “Naked and unashamed” didn’t just describe how Adam and Eve felt about not having any clothes on. It also describes how Adam and Eve related to one another. And I believe it describes how they related to God. There were no barriers between themselves and their Heavenly Father. They were completely vulnerable, completely exposed, completely safe, and completely loved.
Today, we use the phrase “Have you no shame?” to shame people. That’s messed up. How I would have loved to hear the Genesis 2 Adam and Eve answer that question:
“Have you no shame?” the accuser would thunder.
“Shame? What is that?” the children of the Garden would reply.
When my sons were small, they asked for things with no sense of shame—especially in the cereal aisle or the toy department. “Can I have that?” “I want that!”
I’m sorry to admit I was the one who taught them to be ashamed of asking.
- “You already have plenty.” “You don’t need more.”
- “Be content with what you have.”
- “You haven’t finished the last cereal I bought for you.”
- “You have a closet full of toys you never play with.”
Our earthly fathers, even the good ones, often teach us restraint.
Our Heavenly Father invites us to boldness.
He tells us to ask, seek, and knock—to come to Him without fear of rejection.
Hebrews 4:16 says,
“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
Beloved, be shameless when you approach the Father today. He is waiting with open hands.
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