ASKING BREAD FOR SINNERS | Real Conversion

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A parable is a story that illustrates a spiritual truth. This parable is a very simple story. One of the Disciples said, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1). Jesus gave them the Lord’s Prayer (the Our Father). It’s a prayer that I have prayed at least once a day all my life. But then Jesus gave them this little story, this simple parable.

Christ spoke of a man whose friend came to his house at midnight, but the man had no bread. So he went to his neighbor’s house and asked him for three loaves of bread. He said to his neighbor that a friend had come to his house from a long journey. “And I have nothing to set before him.” The neighbor told him to go away. He and his children were already in bed. Yet the man outside continued to knock on the door. Finally the neighbor opened the door and gave him the bread he needed.

Then Jesus gave the key to this parable; what people used to call the “moral” of the story, the reason for telling it:

“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” (Luke 11:9).

The language in the original Greek involves a continued asking, seeking, knocking. Dr. John R. Rice said that the verse could be translated, “Keep on asking, and it shall be given to you; keep on knocking, and it shall be opened unto you” (Prayer: Asking and Receiving, Sword of the Lord Publishers, 1970 edition, p. 94).

Then there is a second key to the parable. The man was asking for “bread” when he knocked on the door. What is this “bread”? Verse thirteen gives the answer, “How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” I know that there are other applications, but I am convinced that the main point is this – we must ask, seek, and knock for God to give the Holy Spirit to sinners, to illuminate them, to convict them of sin, to draw them to Christ. Thus, I believe that the “bread” in the parable speaks of the Holy Spirit. In verse six the man asking for bread said, “A friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.” Without the presence of the Holy Spirit, we have nothing for the lost sinners who come to our services.

I remember times when I have prepared a sermon carefully. But when I went to the pulpit it seemed like I was just blowing air out of my mouth! The sermon had good points, and could have helped lost sinners. But there was no power in it. No one was blest. Some preachers in the last days have no idea what I’m talking about. They never experience any difference when they preach. This is sad, because it means they are totally unaware of the Holy Spirit. They cannot even tell whether the Spirit of God is present when they preach.

I once took my lost father to hear a sermon from a famous preacher from Bourbon Street in New Orleans. People had told me that this man could reach my father because he told jokes that caused middle-aged men to listen – and respond to the Gospel. It was the only time I went to church alone with my father. The preacher from Bourbon Street stood up and started telling jokes. He was very good at doing that. Very good indeed! At the end of his talk he said a word or two about being saved. Then he gave the invitation – to come forward and be saved. My father didn’t move. When we were in the car a few minutes later I asked him what he thought. My Dad said, “He’s not as good as Bob Hope.” (For you who are younger – Bob Hope was a famous comedian who told jokes). Dad just said, “He’s not as good as Bob Hope.”

The congregation had laughed all the way through the Bourbon Street preacher’s message. I’m sure he thought it was a great success. But the Holy Spirit was not there! Not at all! I knew it then, and I know it now. My father had come because I pleaded with him. Yes, Dad had come – but the Holy Spirit had not come! My father was a lost sinner – but there was no “bread” for him in that church, which was out near Downey.