Luke 11:1-13

Luke 11:1-13

1 It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.” 2 And He said to them, “When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. 3 ‘Give us each day our daily bread. 4 ‘And forgive us our sins, For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.’”

5 Then He said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; 6 for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and from inside he answers and says, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ 8 “I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

9 “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 “For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened. 11 “Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? 12 “Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? 13 “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”

The information in this week’s text is not new.  We saw it in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6.  There are few subtle differences here, but the basic content is very similar.  Some would ask why Matthew and Luke describe the same teaching in different contexts?  Which of the two are correct?  The answer is that they are both correct.  The reason they record a little different content in vastly different settings is that Jesus gave the same basic message on different occasions to His disciples.  This speaks to the importance of the content that follows.  Prayer is a vital part of the disciple’s life and we must remember these truths.  Jesus teaches us what to pray, how to pray and why we should pray.

WHAT WE SHOULD PRAY: The content of the prayer Jesus taught His disciples focuses on two subjects, the will of God and the work of God.  God’s will is for His glory and His kingdom to be spread across the earth.  When we pray “hallowed be thy name”, we are praising the Lord and worshiping Him.  His name is being lifted up and His attributes are being admired.  This is what we were created to do and it is a vital part of what prayer is all about.  When we pray for His kingdom to come, we are asking that His perfect will be realized on the earth.  There are two aspects to the coming of Christ’s kingdom.  The first aspect is the spread of Christ’s kingdom through missions and evangelism.  The second aspect is the culmination of Christ’s kingdom at His coming.  Both aspects should fill our prayer lives.  We must pray for the advance of the Gospel and anticipate the return of Christ as our main source of hope.  God’s work is to provide for both our physical and spiritual needs.  When we pray for bread we are acknowledging that He is the one who provides for our meals each day.  Too often we want to have a provision that is for more than the day and for more than bread.  God is generous, but we must learn to be content with His basic provision each day.  Our greatest need is not one of provision of physical needs but of pardon from sin which meets our spiritual need.  As believes, we are called to forgive those who sin against us which should be very easy for us to do since we have been so graciously forgiven by Him.

HOW WE SHOULD PRAY: The main principle Jesus teaches about prayer is persistence.  He uses a parable to describe a friend who asks another friend for bread to serve at midnight.  The neighbor may say no and give excuses, but in the face of persistence, the neighbor will eventually give in, not because he is a friend but because of the persistence.  God does not sleep and is not lazy in granting our requests.  We should be ready to persevere in prayer even when it seems like God is not hearing us.  God may have a reason for not answering our prayers right away, but He is honored when we continue to take our cares to Him.  We should not give up on prayer just because the initial answer seems to be different than we expect.

WHY WE SHOULD PRAY: Jesus gives two basic reasons that we should pray.  First, we should pray because God has the power to answer prayer.  Jesus instructs us to ask God for the things that we don’t have.  We lack the power to meet our own needs, but God has the power to meet the needs of all people.  When we fail to pray, we are trusting in our own strength and telling God that we don’t need His.  Second, we should pray because God has the desire to answer prayer.  God loves us perfectly and He knows our needs perfectly.  There are times we will ask for things that are not good for us, but since God has perfect love for us, and desires what is best for us; He will answer our prayers in accordance with His perfect love and knowledge.  As parents, we want what is best for our children and take great delight when we are able to provide for them in some way.  God loves us so much more than we love our children.  We can pray to Him with great confidence in His power and love.

APPLICATION: Pray for the will and work of God to move forward in this world.  Worship God and trust in His provision and the forgiveness of sin He offers us.  Do not be discouraged in prayer when we don’t receive the answers we want.  Persist in your prayers.  Trust in the power and love of God to answer our prayers in the best way possible.