After giving His disciples a brief word of instruction concerning prayer, the Lord went on to give an illustration of praying persistently. He said to them, “Who among you shall have a friend, and shall go to him at midnight and say to him, Friend, lend me three loaves, since a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him; and that one, from inside, shall answer and say, Do not trouble me; the door has already been shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise up and give you anything?” (vv. 5-7). The Greek words rendered, “Do not trouble me” may also be translated, “Do not cause me trouble.” Regarding the children with the man in bed, Thomson in The Land and The Book says, “A whole family—parents, children, and servants—sleep in the same room.”
In verse 8 the Lord continues the illustration, “I tell you, even though he will not rise up and give him anything because he is his friend, surely because of his persistence, he will rise and give him as much as he needs.” Eventually, the one in need receives the three loaves. These loaves, of course, are for feeding and nourishing.
In verses 9 and 10 the Lord continues, “And I say to you, Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it shall be opened.” In these verses we have asking, seeking, and knocking. To ask is to pray in a common way, to seek is to supplicate in a specific way, and to knock is to reach the door in the closest way.
In verses 11 through 13 the Lord goes on to say that a father will not give his son a snake instead of a fish, or a scorpion instead of an egg. Furthermore, the Lord says that the Father will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him. In figure, a snake signifies Satan and his angels, and a scorpion signifies Satan’s demons.
The Lord’s word in 11:11-13 indicates that our intention in prayer should be to seek the life supply, to seek loaves, fish, and eggs. Loaves represent the riches of the land; fish, the riches of the sea; and eggs the riches of something both in the air and on the earth. Therefore, loaves, fish, and eggs represent the riches of the land, the water, and the air; that is, these represent different kinds of riches. In verse 13 we see that the Holy Spirit is the totality of these riches. The Holy Spirit is the totality of the loaves, the fish, and the egg.
In this message we have seen that to pray is to pray ourselves into God. After we have prayed ourselves into God, then, as those in God, we receive the life supply as indicated by the loaves, the fish, and the egg. The totality of these riches—the riches of the earth, the water, and the air—is the Holy Spirit. This means that the Holy Spirit is the life supply. When we pray ourselves into God, we should remain in God to receive the Holy Spirit as our life supply.
Have you ever heard before that to pray is to pray ourselves into God so that we may remain in Him continually to receive the Holy Spirit as our life supply? This life supply, signified by the loaves, the fish, and the egg, nourishes not only ourselves but also those under our care. Some may think that in this message I have been allegorizing the Scriptures too much. Actually, I am not allegorizing; instead, I am seeking to open the Word and interpret it properly so that we may see what, according to 11:1-13, it means to pray.
We have strongly emphasized the fact that to pray is to pray ourselves into God. Whenever our prayer does not bring us into God, it is wrong. We should not continue to pray in that way. The governing principle of our prayer should be that prayer always brings us into God.
Do not pray if your prayer does not bring you into God. This does not mean that you should not ask the Lord to heal you if you are sick. The point is that when you pray for healing you should observe the governing principle of prayer and pray yourself into God. If your way of praying distracts you from the Lord and does not bring you into Him, you should change your way of praying. Seek to pray in such a way that you are brought into God. The prayer that brings us into God is the right kind of prayer.
We know from our experience with the Lord that often we have prayed properly and have prayed ourselves into God. As we remain in Him, we receive His riches, the riches that are embodied in His Spirit. When we receive the Holy Spirit as our life supply signified by the loaves, the fish, and the egg, we can feed ourselves, and we can also feed all those under our care.