Many people feel unworthy to pray; they would prefer 'professionals' to pray for them.  Others feel incompetent in prayer: why should God respond to their clumsy requests?  Still others feel that as earlier prayers seem to have been unanswered, there is no point in persisting.  The same was true in Jesus' day.  So, after He had given the disciples a pattern-prayer (which we know as the Lord's Prayer in Luke 11:1-4; Matthew 6:5-15), He told this story to give them an idea of the dynamic in prayer.

Basically put, God does not hear us because we are morally perfect, socially skilled, and able to tick all the right spiritual boxes.  God hears those who are desperate enough to know that only His answer will meet the need and save the day.  Psalm 130:1-8 is a classic example of a person who is in the deepest trouble, weighed down with sins and feeling utterly unworthy.  Yet that person goes to God, despite His anger being aroused by the sins, because there is nowhere else to find forgiveness and hope.

Perhaps some of our attitudes to prayer have also been shaped by formalised religion which demands that only the minister is holy enough to pray for us.  Such professionalism is not owned by Jesus.  Indeed, He spoke against those who pretended to be God’s gatekeeper but kept people away from a personal relationship with Him (Luke 11:52).  Yet it seems strange to some that people who apparently have fewer spiritual 'qualifications' than us, can dare to approach God and find Him only too willing to respond.  They are the desperate ones, who know that He is their only hope; and if He cannot or will not answer, then they have no future.  They are casting everything onto Him (Psalm 142:1-7).

Boldness is the result of confident single mindedness (Matthew 6:22-24).  To pray with boldness requires a conviction that God is willing to be approached, and that only He can deal with the matter.  All other possible solutions or obstructions become irrelevant as the fire of faith burns into prayer.  Alas, our diversion-ridden world wants to allow space for every possibility; but the man or woman of faith knows that the matter will only be settled by the Lord of all.  Today is a good day to review your prayer life; ask the question, ‘Am I really desperate to see God's answer, and am I confident that He has the power to do the right thing at the right time?’