The Friend at Midnight.
I. The success of prayer is conditioned by the character of the suppliant. Not every kind of asking is acceptable prayer. That which men desire simply for the gratification of malice, or the pampering of appetite, or the satisfying of ambition, or the aggrandising of selfishness, God has nowhere promised to bestow; and unless there be in us the spirit to subordinate everything to the honour of Jehovah, we have no warrant to expect an answer.
II. That which we ask must be in accordance with God's will. Beneath every genuine supplication there is the spirit of resignation breathed by Jesus Himself in His Gethsemane anguish, "not as I will, but as Thou wilt." God is no mere blind indulgent Father, who gives His children everything they ask. He is wise and kind, and has, withal, the discrimination of omniscience; so He gives only that which will be best; and if we were to view the matter rightly, we should see as much reason to be thankful to Him for a refusal as for an answer to the letter of our prayers.
III. But this condition, connecting itself with the nature of the thing asked, is nearly akin to the third class of conditions which spring out of the purpose and prerogative of God Himself. This is a view of the case which has not been sufficiently attended to by Christians. The Hearer of prayer is not the only relation in which God stands to His people. He is their Father as well; and He is, besides, the moral Governor of the intelligent universe. Therefore He uses His prerogative in answering prayer for moral purposes; and the action which He takes on the petitions of His children is a portion of that discipline to which He subjects them, and by which He trains them into strength and holiness of character.
W. M. Taylor, The Parables of Our Saviour,p. 243.
References: Luke 11:9. Outlines Sermons to Children,p. 159; E. W. Shalders, Christian World Pulpit,vol. xxiv., p. 61.Luke 11:9; Luke 11:10. Spurgeon, Sermons,vol. xix., No. 1091; W. Wilson, Christ setting His Face to go to Jerusalem,p. 364.Luke 11:10. R. Case, Short Practical Sermons,p. 32.Luke 11:11-13. Spurgeon, Sermons,vol. xvi., No. 959.