5 And he said unto ihenr, Which of you shall have a Mend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friendj lend me three loaves ;
6 For a friend of mine in his jour- ney is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him ?
7 And he from within shall answer and say. Trouble me not : the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed ; I cannot rise and give thee.
8. I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his impor- tunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.
9 And I say unto you. Ask, and it shall be given you ; seek, and ye shall
find ; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
10 For every one that asketh re- ceiveth ; and he that seeketh findeth ; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
11 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone } or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent ?
12 Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion ?
13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children : how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him ?
In these verses our Lord Jesus Christ instructs us about prayer. The subject is one which can never be too strongly impressed on our attention. Prayer Kes at the very root of our practical Christianity. It is part of the daily business of our religious life. We have reason to thank God, that upon no point has our Lord Jesus Christ spoken so fully and ifrequently as upon prayer.
We learn for one thing, from these verses, the impor- iance of perseverance tn prayer. This lesson is conveyed to us in the simple parable, commonly called the "Friend at Midnight." We are there reminded what man can obtain fiom man by dint of in^ortunity. Selfish and indolent as we naturally are, we are capable of being roused to exertion by continued asking. The man who would not give three loaves at midnight for friendship's sake, at length gave them to save himself the trouble of being further entreated. The application of the parable is dear and plain. If importunity succeeds so well