By Sheridan Voysey
Having tried for years to have a child, Richard and Susan were elated when Susan became pregnant. Her health problems, however, posed a risk to the baby, and so Richard lay awake each night praying for his wife and child. One night, Richard sensed he didn’t need to pray so hard, that God had promised to take care of things. But a week later Susan miscarried. Richard was devastated. He wondered, had they lost the baby because he hadn’t prayed hard enough?
On first reading, we might think today’s parable suggests so. In the story, a neighbor (sometimes thought to represent God) only gets out of bed to help the friend because of the friend’s annoying persistence (Luke 11:5–8). Read this way, the parable suggests that God will give us what we need only if we badger Him. And if we don’t pray hard enough, maybe God won’t help us.
But biblical commentators like Klyne Snodgrass believe this misunderstands the parable—its real point being that if neighbors might help us for selfish reasons, how much more will our unselfish Father. We can therefore ask confidently (vv. 9–10), knowing that God is greater than flawed human beings (vv. 11–13). He isn’t the neighbor in the parable, but the opposite of him.
“I don’t know why you lost your baby,” I told Richard, “But I know it wasn’t because you didn’t pray ‘hard’ enough. God isn’t like that.”
If the neighbor in the parable represents God, what does it suggest God is like? If verses 11–13 clarify the parable, what then is God like?
Some believers in Christ struggle with the apparent promises of Luke 11:9–10. It seems that Jesus is offering a blank check that we present to God in prayer, assuming He must grant our requests. Christ’s words, however, may be a hyperbole—an extreme exaggeration to prove a point. Jesus clarifies the point He’s making when He describes the heart of His Father (vv. 11–13). The heavenly Father loves us deeply and desires the very best for us—which must be defined by Him and not by us. This means that when we go to God in prayer, we can be assured His responses will always be trustworthy.
哪位父親，如果你的兒子要一條魚，會給他一條蛇？路加福音 11:11
他們多年來一直希望有個孩子。當蘇珊懷孕時，理查和蘇珊都很高興。然而，蘇珊的健康狀況對嬰兒的成長構成了一些危險的因素，因此理查每天晚上睡覺前，都不斷為妻子和孩子祈禱。一天晚上，理查覺得他不需要那麼努力地祈禱，因為上帝已經承諾會照顧好一切。但一周後，蘇珊流產了。理查十分痛苦。他想知道，他們失去孩子是因為他沒有足夠努力地祈禱嗎？
初讀這段經文時，我們可能會認為經文的比喻暗示了這一點。在這個故事中，一位鄰居（有時被認為代表上帝）只是因為朋友堅持的懇求才起床幫助朋友（路加福音 11：5-8）。以這種方式閱讀，這個比喻表明，只有當我們不停地求告時，上帝才會給我們需要的東西。如果我們禱告不夠努力，也許上帝不會幫助我們。
但是像 Klyne Snodgrass 這樣的聖經評論家認為這誤解了這個比喻——它的真正意義在於，如果鄰居可能出於自私的原因幫助我們，那麼我們無私的父親會更願意幫助我們。因此，我們可以充滿信心地求告（第 9-10 節），知道上帝比有缺陷的人更偉大（第 11-13 節）。祂不是比喻中的鄰居，而是他的對立，祂比那個隣居更愛我們。
“我不知道你為什麼失去了你的孩子，”我告訴理查，“但我知道這不是因為你沒有足夠‘努力’地祈禱。上帝不是這樣的。”
如果比喻中的鄰舍代表上帝，它暗示上帝是什麼樣的？如果 11-13 節闡明了這個比喻，那麼上帝是什麼樣的？
一些基督信徒與〈路加福音〉 11：9-10 明顯的應許角力。 似乎耶穌提供了一張空白支票，我們在祈禱時將其交給上帝，假設祂無論在怎樣的情況下，都必須滿足我們的要求。 然而，基督的話為了證明一個觀點，有可能極度地強調，使人能夠明白。 耶穌在描述天父的心時闡明了祂的觀點（第 11-13 節）： 天父深深地愛我們，並希望我們得到最好的——這必須由祂而不是我們來定義。 這意味著當我們向上帝禱告時，我們可以確信祂的回應永遠是值得信賴的。
