n, and pleaded at his neighbor's door
as though asking for himself. The neighbor was loath to leave his
comfortable bed and disturb his household to accommodate another; but,
finding that the man at the door was importunate, he at last arose and
gave him what he asked, so as to get rid of him and be able to sleep in
peace. The Master added by way of comment and instruction: "_Ask, and it
shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be
opened unto you._"

The hospitable man in the parable had refused to be repulsed; he kept on
knocking until the door was opened; and as a result received what he
wanted, found what he had set out to obtain. The parable is regarded by
some as a difficult one to apply, since it deals with the selfish and
comfort-loving element of human nature, and apparently uses this to
symbolize God's deliberate delay. The explanation, however, is clear
when the context is duly considered. The Lord's lesson was, that if man,
with all his selfishness and disinclination to give, will nevertheless
grant what his neighbor with proper purpose asks and continues to ask in
spite of objection and temporary refusal, with assured certainty will
God grant what is persistently asked in faith and with righteous intent.
No parallelism lies between man's selfish refusal and God's wise and
beneficent waiting. There must be a consciousness of real need for
prayer, and real trust in God, to make prayer effective; and in mercy
the Father sometimes delays the granting that the asking may be more
fervent. But in the words of Jesus: "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?"

Sometime later Jesus spake another parable, the moral of which is so
closely akin to that of the story of the midnight visitor, as to suggest
the study of the later lesson here. It is known as the _Parable of the
Unjust Judge_, or of the _Importunate Widow_:

"There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither
regarded man: And there was a widow in that city; and she came
unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. And he would not
for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear
not God, nor regard man; Yet because this widow troubleth me, I
will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary
me."[918]

The judge was of wicked character; he denied justice to th