Luke 11:5-8
Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is
already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and
give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.
“See the man at midnight [described in Luke 11:5-8]. Imitate that
man. Act it all alone at midnight. Hear his loud cry, and cry it after
him. He needed three loaves. What is your need? Name it. Name it
out loud. Let your own ears hear it. . . . The shameful things you have
to ask for. The disgraceful, the incredible things you have to admit
and confess. The life you have lived. The way you have spent your days
and nights. And what all that has brought you to. It kills you to
have to say such things even with your door shut. Yes, but better say
all these things in closets than have them all proclaimed from the
housetops of the day of judgment. Knock, man! Knock for the love of
God! Knock as they knock to get into heaven after the door is shut!
Knock, as they knock to get out of hell!”
-----Alexander Whyte, “The Man Who Knocked At Midnight,” in
Lord, Teach Us To Pray
Bob, thanks for the post...it made me think about the power of words.
ReplyDeleteWe both deal with them everyday. It sounds to me as if this is saying that words spoken out loud have more power than the words we think but hold inside us. I am going to have to ponder on this.
What do you think?