Knock

Luke 11:8 NIV: “…yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.”

I haven’t been able to get the phrase “shameless audacity” out of my mind since reading this passage on prayer in the book of Luke. In the original Greek, it’s a single word: anaideia, and this is the only instance of it recorded in the entire Bible. When Jesus spoke this word, I believe he was being deliberately provocative. 

Anaideia literally means “without shame,” but its meaning is far greater. In this ancient culture, to do something without shame meant violating a social boundary by pushing a request beyond what was polite. In a shame/honor society like this, you would not press someone who had already declined, or you risked shaming yourself and them, which was social and economic suicide. 

The parable in which this word appears is a story Jesus told in response to the disciples’ question about how to pray.  The desperate middle-of-the-night banging on a neighbor’s door is to request bread to entertain a visiting friend.  This is, in itself, a social crisis. Hospitality went hand in hand with honor, and it would be mortifying not to be able to feed a guest.  This man is frantic and won’t leave until this neighbor opens the door and gives him some bread. 

That, Jesus says, is how we should pray.  We shouldn’t worry about whether it’s appropriate or the right time of day.  If we don’t hear the answer we expected, he says to keep pounding on the door despite the social consequences.  

In the very next verse, Jesus continues, “So I tell you: Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.” Suddenly, the image I’ve had in my mind of a timid, polite knock on the door, meekly asking God to help me with something, is thrown out the window.  

How much do I want a specific need met? Do I really want inner wholeness, or do I want that person transformed? Is my desire strong enough that I’m willing to keep pounding, raising my voice until that door opens and the light cascades outward as my prayer is answered? 

Hopefully, this image will reignite in you a reason to pray shamelessly. 

I changed the style of this artwork, wanting the thick, loose strokes to represent the shameless audacity of prayer. The red door reminds us that it is through Christ’s blood that we can boldly approach him to ask for anything. Finally, the light, uncontained and spilling outward, symbolizes what happens when God responds to a prayer that refuses to be silenced.