On a certain day the disciples asked Jesus how to pray. He not only gave them a model prayer but also taught them through a parable to seek God—as a friend at midnight—with “importunity” (Luke 11:8). The verb importune means “to request with urgency; to press with solicitation; to urge with frequent or unceasing application”.
Jesus’ story relates how a guest dropped in on a man in the middle of the night, and the man, realizing he had no food to offer his guest at that hour, attempted to wake up his sleeping neighbor to borrow three loafs of bread. Though a friend, the neighbor was reluctant to arise at that hour but finally, because of the persistence of the would-be borrower—got up to answer the need.
The point of the parable is the importance of importuning—persisting in imploring for what we want from God. The parable is followed by the frequent injunction: “Knock and it shall be opened unto you and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened” (Luke 11:9-10). God wants us to pray, plea, importune—specifically, frequently, and sincerely. He wants us to plead with Him in humility for what we need. In the Joseph Smith Translation, the parable of the friend at midnight begins with a simple but powerful promise: “Your Heavenly Father will not fail to give unto you whatsoever ye ask of him” (JST, Luke 11:5; emphasis added). The message is, “Don’t give up or despair; keep asking: In this case the repetition is not vain repetition. As the Prophet Joseph Smith said, “Come to God [and] weary him until he blesses you.” (Ehat and Cook, Words of Joseph Smith, 15.) ~D. Kelly Ogden, A Year of Powerful Prayer Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2013) p.106-07
