HoHum:
It was a dark night. The traveler had a flat tire on a seldom used road. To complicate matters, he could not find his tire jack. The only solution lay in appealing to someone in the dark farm house down the road. As he approached the house, the traveler thought to himself, “I’m sure that the farmer will be angry if I wake him and he will probably respond angrily to me. If he gives me anything at all, it will probably be out of total annoyance.” The sleepy farmer came to the door and asked the traveler, “What can I do for you?” “Keep your old tire jack,” growled the traveler, “I didn’t want it anyway!” He stomped off, leaving the farmer scratching his head. The traveler’s approach only brought him frustration, not satisfaction. Sadly, many Christians have the same results with their prayer lives.
WBTU:
Two weeks ago we talked about how Jesus was always praying in solitude to His Father. “But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” Luke 5:16, NIV.
We talked how Jesus’ prayer time reminded him of who he was, the beloved of God. Jesus started with prayer and from prayer was able to be in his community and minister to others (from Luke 6:12-19). Started with prayer. In a similar way, our prayer time with God the Father should remind and reassure us of who we are, the children of God.
As we go into our community, whether that be our immediate family or church family, we need to be reminded in prayer of who we are. Community is messy and sometimes our families hurt us and cause us to forget who we are. We need constant loving reminders that, as Christians, Jesus died for us. Because he died for us we are beloved of God and people of value and worth.
Without those reminders we want our community to give us the love that only God can give. With the assurance that God is for us and not against us, we have a strong and stable foundation that can withstand any attack or heartbreak from our community.
As we move into ministry among those who are hurting or those who are far away from God, we need this reminder even more.
Gaithers- I said if You knew You wouldn't want me; My scars are hidden by the face I wear; He said my child My scars go deeper; and It was love for you that put them there; I am loved, I am loved; I can risk loving you; For the One who knows me best; Loves me most; I am loved you are loved; Won't you please take my hand; We are free to love each other; We are loved
A few Sunday nights ago I said that leaders in the church need to be filled to overflowing with God. Need to be so filled that the overflow blesses others. Prayer is a big part of this.
Vs. 1- Jesus knows a lot about prayer through personal experience. One day Jesus’ disciples caught him doing what he often did, praying. After he finished, the disciples want Jesus to teach them about prayer. In vs. 2- 4 Jesus gives them the Model prayer, good stuff here. Jesus continues his teaching on prayer after this (vs. 5-13) with a parable to motivate us to freely approach God in prayer. This parable is meant to teach us to not be hesitant in approaching God because God is our Father.
Thesis: Pray shamelessly, pray persistently, pray expectantly
For instances:
1. God invites us to pray shamelessly (5-8)
Jesus starts with question, ‘Who would go to a neighbor at midnight and wake him up to get some bread for unexpected visitor?’ The answer is no one wants to be in this awkward situation.
In our day if someone knocked on our door at midnight we would meet them with a gun or at least a baseball bat. Also to ask for bread would be ridiculous, "Just go down to the 24 hour gas station or 24 hour Wal Mart. Asking for bread in the middle of the night, get out of here before I blow your head off!"
Let me give you some insight into the Ancient Near East. It was common to travel at night to avoid the heat of the day. Bread was made daily so it would not get stale in the desert heat. It was a custom in that day that house doors would open in the morning and remain open all day. If the door was shut, it was a sign that the family did not wish to be disturbed. A poorer house consisted of one room with one little window. In one corner a stove burned all night with the family huddled around it sleeping on mats to keep warm. On top of that, it was common to bring their animals and livestock into the house at night. For the friend to get up would wake up both the family and the animals. Yet the one seeking bread was not deterred. He kept on asking; he kept on seeking; he kept on knocking. Because of the shamelessness of the one asking, the friend gives him what he needs. The word translated boldness or persistence means boldness over a long period of time but it also means shameless, almost audacious. Think about the situation. It is not acceptable to knock on the neighbor’s door when it is shut, it is in the middle of the night, the whole house will wake up yet the guy won’t give up. The point is that the one who is shameless in approaching God is the one who will get answers to prayer.
An important difference, however, is that God the Father is not answering from a locked house. “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Hebrews 4:16, NIV.
2. God invites us to pray persistently (9-10)
Jesus gives them three commands: keeping asking and you will receive, keep seeking and you will find, keep knocking, and the door will be opened. The first, ask, is an invitation to pray. He is inviting us to pray when we do not have what we need. James tells us that we do not have because we do not ask (James 4:2); we have to ask to receive. His point is that since this man asked his reluctant neighbor and received you can be sure that when you ask God, who is generous and gracious and loving, you will receive. The second command, seek, is an invitation to seek God and his kingdom. This word is commonly used of seeking God. The thought is that if you will seek God you will find him and he will pour out his blessing on you. Seek and do not give up. The third word, knock, is an invitation to gain entrance into God’s presence. Again, God is not behind a locked door for the Christian. All three words are present active commands, meaning we are to continue asking, continue seeking, and continue knocking. “pray continually;” 1 Thessalonians 5:17, NIV. “Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.” Luke 18:1, NIV.
How many blessings are withheld because we fail to be persistent in prayer?
3. God invites us to pray expectantly (11-13)
Jesus not only invites us to pray boldly and shamelessly; he not only invites us to pray persistently; Jesus also invites us to pray expectantly. ‘If earthly fathers know how to give good gifts to their children, how much more will God give you good gifts to those who ask.’ Father God, who is loving and gracious, only gives good gifts. Jesus is challenging us to be followers of Christ filled with faith. This whole passage is to get us to be radical prayers. It is to get us to pray shamelessly, persistently and expectantly. Don’t just pray once and give up or don’t just pray and be passive. Pray and go for it, believing God will answer you.
Leaders in the church often grow frustrated with the lack of growth. Because we get things backwards and pray as a last resort, we are like the traveler in our prayers: “Keep your old tire jack,” growled the traveler, “I didn’t want it anyway!”
Michael Mack says this:
“I recently had a conversation with Bob, a small group leader at our church. Bob has a very intimate relationship with Christ that exudes from him. He told me about his frustrations with some of his group members. As Bob shared this with me, tears welled up in his eyes. Bob wants so much more for them, and his heart aches that they don’t seem to be growing- or even want to. I shared with Bob that as leaders we often need to move from expectations to expectancy. Our expectations can lead to judgment. We need to move to expectancy, which means we accept people as they are, but we pray that they will grow closer to God. Expectations are about me. I expect them to live up to my standards. Expectancy is based on trusting God to do what only God can do in a person’s life. This means I will be praying for that person constantly. Jesus does not force his way into our lives to make us grow. He stands at the door and knocks (Revelation 3:20). And then he waits for us to respond to his voice and to open the door for him to come in. There is no judgment here. There is simply an invitation and an expectancy that we will respond to him. Now people we minister with often appear uncommitted to Christ. Our job is not to answer the knock on the door for them. Neither are we to push this person to the door. We are to lovingly encourage this person to answer the door and keep on praying until they do.”
“A minister should never complain about his congregation, certainly never to other people, but also not to God. A congregation has not been entrusted to him in order that he should become its accuser before God and men.”- Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Satan is our accuser, heaven forbid we play his role. Spend as much time praying for people as complaining about them and see how God will “do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine...” Ephesians 3:20, NIV.
So what?
End of vs. 13- Give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him. Luke frequently stresses the Holy Spirit in his Gospel. This, of course, is a reminder that our greatest needs are not material or physical, but our greatest needs are spiritual. The greatest gift the Christian has is the Holy Spirit who lives within him. The Holy Spirit helps us pray. “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.” Romans 8:26, NIV.
How can I receive the Holy Spirit? “and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?” “John’s baptism,” they replied.” “On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.” Acts 19:2, 3, 5
Acts 2:38
