Persistent Prayer
JCC 10.01.10 am (session 3 Prayer)
Luke 11: 5-13
This comes straight after ‘Lord teach us to pray’ and the ‘Lord’s Prayer’
Prayer was never intended to be an instrument for the accomplishing of man's will upon the earth, but the instrument for the accomplishing of God's will upon the earth
This is the only recorded parable in the gospels of this story
This is not a reflection of us going to God
Jesus wasn’t saying God was like this, but we are; meaning if we would act in this manner, how much more will our Father in heaven deal ‘more’ graciously with us
Food was not as readily available as it is today
There wasn’t a 24 hour Tesco or Asda
Only enough bread was baked each day for their needs
Also, hospitality was held in high regard and was seen almost as a duty
Visitors were welcomed and cared for, regardless of the hour they arrived
People often travelled in the evening to avoid the midday heat
A traveller arriving near midnight was not an uncommon event
Families slept in one room, most times with their animals too
Climbing over to get to the door, wake the children
This parable shows a dilemma and the solving of that dilemma
We come times in our lives when we are face with a dilemma
We don’t always know ‘how’ to solve them
Many times we too will go to a friend and share our dilemma hoping that maybe they could advise or help us through the situation
This poor unprepared host has a late guest who is hungry after a long and exhausting journey
It is his duty as host to provide a meal, but he has no bread
Not to provide for his guest’s needs would not only bring shame upon him and his family, but to the village as well
He gave the bread just to shut him up
We have convinced ourselves that we must keep beating on God‘s door until we overcome God’s unwillingness to act
But is that what v 8 is teaching us about prayer, of course not The meaning of the Greek word (anaideian) translated “importunity” (KJV, RSV) and as “persistence” (NKJV, NIV) is the key to understanding the lesson that Jesus is teaching here
Highlight this word in your Bible
It is the only time this word appears in the entire New Testament
The Greek word carries the idea of “shamelessness,” the question is which of the men in this story is shameless?
Some say the neighbour who got up and gave his friend bread, saying that he did so to avoid bringing shame to the village by breaking the rules of hospitality
Or, does it point to the man who came making the request?
It’s suggested he was shameless in his persistence, continuing his pleading until his friend responded
This type of prayer sorts out what is important to us
Ask a child what they want and they will give you a long list (Christmas)
But listen what is spoken of most and you will know what they really want
Illustration: Billy Graham’s wife Ruth said she was glad God didn’t answer what she asked for otherwise she would have married 5 men before Billy
It’s like God says, ‘come back tomorrow and we’ll talk about it again’
Come let us reason together, though your sins be scarlet, they shall be white as snow Isaiah 1:18
We don’t have to twist God’s arm
But what gives us the right to come boldly or shamelessly to God with our needs?
Illustration: Roman history tells the story of a Roman emperor in his chariot partaking in a parade; Cheering people lined the streets while the legionnaires were stationed to keep people at a safe distance. The emperor’s family sat on a platform to watch him go by in all the pride of his position. As the emperor came near to the place where his family was sitting, a young boy jumped from the platform, hedged his way through the crowd, and tried to evade a legionnaire so he could run to the emperor’s chariot. The soldier stopped him and said, “You cannot go near the emperor.” The boy laughed, and said; “He may be your emperor but he is my father.” Then he ran into his father’s open arms.” [Martin Wiles. “Jesus on Prayer.” (Sermon Central.)
Hebrew reminds us as believer’s that because our high priest Jesus Christ is seated at the right hand of the father in heaven, we can “ come boldly before the throne of grace” Heb 4:16
We have no need to fear because we are children of the king
We can pray boldly and passionately
"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.”
Each of the three actions, asking, seeking and knocking occurs in the present tense in the original Greek language
It’s literally; “Keep Asking, Keep Seeking and Keep Knocking.”
A S K acrostic poem
There is progression in this persistence
A beginning, a middle and an end
Mark these three levels of prayer in your Bible, Ask, Seek, Knock
Consider their meanings:
Asking means making a simple request
Seeking implies a stronger desire and a more definite kind of request
It is something that takes time, implying a greater sense of urgency
Knocking shows determination to get an answer.” [The Complete Biblical Library. The New Testament Study Bible – Luke. Vol. 4 (Springfield, Missouri: The Complete Biblical Library, 1988) p. 351]
Jesus is saying that there are some situations that require more than just asking for something
Seeking cannot then be a simple act, but a process, or a series of acts
Then, knocking is not a single tap, but a series of taps
Most of us have chipped away at someone so they give in to us
A request for access, repeated if necessary, and it suggest situations where we seek an entrance or an opportunity
In v 10 we are told, “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”
The answer to each of the actions is also in the present tense:
Ask=receive
Seek=find
Knock =opened
Think of it as a mathematical formula P = A; nothing can stop the calculation being incorrect (Pray = Answer)
All three principles are necessary
Our heavenly Father not only hears our prayers but promises to answer each and every prayer
In his time
To is honour and credit
By continued practice of asking, seeking and knocking we break the habit where prayer is just an option or an emergency use only
Don’t just come to God with your midnight emergencies
Always keep a line of communication open with the Father
The truth behind this persistence is that we will not continue to ask if we do not really feel a need or if we believe we can do it own our own
Illustration: A great example of persistence in prayer is seen in the life of George Muller. “George Muller, the founder of the great Christian orphanage work in England in the nineteenth century; he was a man of prayer. He knew the importance of praying even when the answer seemed to be delayed.
When he was young he began to pray that two of his friends might be converted. He prayed for them every day for more than sixty years. One of the men was converted shortly before his death at what was probably the last service that Mueller held. The other was converted within a year of his death.
We, too, need to pray and not give up. We need to be like George Mueller.” [James Montgomery Boice. “The Parables of Jesus.” (Chicago: Moody, 1983) p. 158]
But there is more being taught here than repetition of the same request over and over again
As we keep on asking we are to keep on seeking and a part of this seeking is seeking to discover what the will of God is in this matter
God cannot put things into our hands until he first prepares our hearts
Quote: Someone has said it this way, the greatest blessing of prayer is not just getting an answer but being the kind of person that God can trust with the answer
But we need to be expectant 11-13
“If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? (12) Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?
From the first illustration we learn that God does answer prayer
From the second analogy we learn that his answers are always good ones
God is a good God, a loving heavenly father
He can be expected not only to answer our prayers, but in answering them, it is for our highest good
The summing up of the whole matter is now given in v 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!"
Do you as a parent ever worry about the answers that you give to your child?
When I say yes and give them what they want, am I spoiling them?
Or when I say no, was my denial; was I selfish or short-sighted?
We do the best we can, but sometimes our best is just not good enough
But our heavenly father knows no such limits
God never says no because he is distracted, exhausted or irritable
The “… heavenly Father (will) give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"
Some people have been lead to believe by their interpretation of this passage to feel that it is possible to be a Christian and not have the Holy Spirit
That this is a promise of a “second blessing,” which is to be prayed for and comes at a later time to saved believers
But that is not what the meaning of this passage is at all
I believe context reveals to us rather that it speaks to the fact that God’s love for his children is to develop the habit of asking for His help
Like I said last week, we just start with baby talk
Here, are a few children’s prayers:
Dear God, why are all the things you said in ‘red’
Dear God, do you really mean, ‘do unto others as they do unto you?’ If so, I’m going to fix my brother
Dear God, thank you for my baby brother, but I asked for a puppy
Dear God, please me a pony, I never asked for anything before
Dear God, maybe Cain wouldn’t have killed Able if they had their own rooms
Dear God, I bet you find it hard to love everybody in the world. I only have 4 in my family and I find it hard
Dear God, we read in school that Thomas Edison made light, so I bet he stole your idea
Dear God, I’m doing my best. Frank
And a classic in our house at meal times used to be, ‘Dear God, please make this food better’
Jesus was saying, ‘you know how to ask a friend, now ask like a child’
He does not leave us trapped by our own limited perception of the situation but makes the Holy Spirit available to present our needs to the Father
This may have been what Paul had in mind when he says in letter to the Rom 8:26 “And the Holy Spirit helps us in our distress. For we don’t always (even) know what we should pray for, nor how we should pray. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groaning that cannot be expressed in words.” (NLT).
God is eager to respond to his children who unashamedly ask, persistently seek and expectantly knock at His door with their needs and requests
The time or hour is neither here nor there
We don’t book an appointment with our spouse or parent to talk to them
The unexpected guest in this parable represents the unexpected problems, unexpected sickness, unexpected burdens, and unexpected disaster
There are some things that may come upon us at an unexpected hour when we least expect it
And the hour midnight may represent your darkest hour, your darkest moment, or your lowest time in your life
But it shows us that when this man realized that he had nothing in his own cupboard to feed his friend, he could go to his friend’s house, asking him to give him some bread so he could feed his friend who arrived at his house unexpectedly
And this man’s friend represents Jesus Christ, for He is a friend who stick closer than any brother
When we are hit with an unexpected disaster, we can call on Jesus to help us out
When we are hit with an unexpected sickness, we can call on Jesus to heal us
When we are hit with an unexpected dilemma, we can call on Jesus to straighten out the problem
When we are hit with an unexpected storm, we can call on Jesus to be our shelter in the time of storm
No matter what the problem is, no matter what day or time it may be, we can call on Jesus for help and He is more than able to provide
Conclusion
An unknown poet said it this way in a poem entitled “Into the Day.”
I got up this morning
And rushed into the day;
I had so much to accomplish
I didn’t have time to pray
Troubles just tumbled about me
And heavier came each task.
Why doesn’t God help me I wondered,
He answered, “You didn’t ask.”
I tried to come into God’s presence,
I used all my keys at the lock,
God gently and lovingly chided
“Why child, you didn’t knock.”
I wanted to see joy and beauty,
But the day toiled on gray and bleak,
I called on the Lord for the reason,
He said, “You did not seek.”
I woke up early this morning
And I paused before entering the day.
I had so much to accomplish
That I had to take time to pray.
