In this lesson, Andrew Murray explores the friendship aspect of prayer: friendship with God and friendship with the poor and needy (both physically and spiritually) around us. “God’s friendship to us and ours to others go hand-in-hand…The one thing by which man can honour and enjoy his God is faith. Intercession is part of Faith‘s training-school. There our friendship with men and with God is tested…” Sometimes in the school of “answer delayed.” When the Friend in Heaven (who is actually so much more ready to give us what we need than the sleepy friend in Luke 11:5-8) tries to educate and train us into greater perseverance by delaying our answers, how do we respond? Do we set ourselves to it in determination and perseverance, or do we back out and assume God must not be such a great friend after all? The friend who came begging for bread at midnight had at least two obstacles: 1.his request was an inconvenience, 2.his friend said no the first time. Mr. Murray insists that: “It is when we give ourselves to be a blessing that we can specially count on the blessing of God. It is when we draw near to God as the friend of the poor and the perishing that we may count on His friendliness; the righteous man who is the friend of the poor is very specially the friend of God.” So let’s take God at His Word and believe that it is not Him who will be inconvenienced by our requests, but that it is we who need to grow in our perseverance in order to see the glory of God shine through in our efforts of love and generosity toward others.