There is a knock at your door in the middle of the night; not a quiet knock, but an urgent one that has woken you up. It’s followed by shouting and more knocking. You grab the nearest blunt instrument for protection and make your way to the door, with your other hand holding your mobile ready to dial 999. Nearing the door, you recognise a voice – it’s Bert from next door. ‘What on earth does he want at this time?’ you think to yourself as you unlatch the door, leaving it on the safety chain just in case. Bert needs some bread. ‘A friend has suddenly dropped in on me,’ he explains, ‘but I’m out of bread so I need to borrow three loaves to feed him.’ You try to fob him off but he keeps on kicking up a fuss asking for this bread.
You might be kinder than me, but I imagine I would find it hard to be so favourable in this scenario. However, if my neighbour kept knocking and asking, without giving up, I might give him some bread just to get rid of him!
I’ve recently been reminded of this story that Jesus told. Jesus is making the point that our heavenly Father is not like the person in the story who only reluctantly gives the bread because of the ‘shameless audacity’ of the one knocking (Luke 11:8). Rather, by nature, God is kind and generous, giving us all that we need, even though we often don’t know what is best for us.
We see this most supremely in Jesus’ act of salvation. He gave his life freely and generously to meet our greatest needs: forgiveness and union with God. This good news centres us as Christians. It is the ground, not only for prayer, but for every other aspect of our lives as his people. We have a kind and generous God who has welcomed us into his presence.
Likewise, this magazine is grounded in this good news of a generous God who welcomes us to himself. We hope that this edition serves to remind you of the God we have trusted in and increases your faith in him. Before you turn the page, why not stop and pray a moment, asking God to provide generously for you as you read on?