Luke 11:9-10

Jesus has just used a parable to encourage his disciples to prayHe is about to illustrate a condition of prayer with another parable- but between the two parables, he does something unusual• Jesus tells them how to respond to these parablesAnd I tell you could be translated So I tell you or Likewise, I tell you◦ Jesus connects the statement in verses 9-10 to the parable that came before• most of the time, he lets the parables speak for themselves◦ he would teased their minds with a mystery and then send them home◦ in this instance, however, he solves the riddle for them- there are two lessons to learn from this passage (vv. 5-13); one is about God (his reliable goodness)• the other lesson is about doing things with prayer• there are ways we can use prayer to move closer to God