FOUR KEY TEACHINGS ABOUT PRAYER
Luke 11:1-13
Introduction
"Preaching about prayer is like falling into the ocean. We cannot touch the ocean floor; we are overwhelmed by the vast sea around us. We come up to stay afloat. No matter how hard we try, we cannot reach the depth and breadth of prayer, but we can continue to be buoyed by prayer even as we explore its mysteries." - Lewis F. Galloway
Today we turn our attention to Luke 11 and listen as Jesus teaches us about prayer. When we go to the school of prayer with Rabbi Jesus as the teacher, there are some things we must remember:
-Whatever we understand about prayer, it is elementary.
-Whatever we believe about prayer, it must be tempered by the truth that comes from Jesus.
-Whatever our practice of prayer, it needs improvement.
-Whatever the content of our prayers, God sees the heart.
We acknowledge the mystery of prayer. “Prayer doesn’t work for me”. “How can I ask, seek, knock in a way that results in answers?” How do I get the answers I want to my prayers? We all have a mixed experience with prayer because God is not a genie in a bottle. No matter how righteous our prayers may be, the answer we seek may not be evident. But what can we know about prayer? Let’s go to the school of prayer and listen to our teacher, Jesus of Nazareth.
1. Jesus Believed in and Practiced Prayer
(Luke 11:1 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”)
Jesus was a man of prayer.
-Jesus prayed at his baptism (Luke 3:21)
-Before the choosing of the 12 disciples (6:12)
-At the time of Peter’s confession (9:18–20)
-On the Mount of Transfiguration (9:28, 29)
-As a motivation for cleansing the temple (19:45, 46)
-During his agony in the garden (22:41).
No wonder disciples asked him to teach them to pray! This is the only record of a a request that Jesus teach someone how to pray. “No doubt they noticed his prayers differed greatly from their own. Something bout His words, His motivation, His attitude, or His expectations provoked the disciples to become dissatisfied with their own manner of prayer and to seek a different way of communicating with God.” (Swindoll)
2. Jesus Gave Disciples a Model Prayer
(Luke 11:2-4 He said to them, “When you pray, say: “‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.’”)
A prayer to the “Father” - Abba - Intimate Relationship.
A prayer of Recognition - “Hallowed be your name” - Holy is your name - we submit ourselves to His holiness- in comparison to our sinfulness.
A prayer of submission - “Your kingdom come” - The kingdom is here, but not in its fullness. We desire God’s kingdom, God’s reign in our lives, in our world. NIV footnote has the third petition: “may your will be done on earth as it is heaven.” God’s will be carried out in all things, in our lives.
A prayer of trust - “Give us each day our daily bread.” Many in the first century - and today - live each day not knowing where the daily essentials will come. Trusting God for food, for clothing, for shelter, for health—for everything we need daily.
A prayer of accountability. “Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.” As we ask God to forgive us - we seek to maintain relationship with Him, which requires grace. As we seek to maintain relationship, we must forgive others as we have been forgiven.
A prayer seeking deliverance. “And lead us not into temptation.’ ” Some see this as testing or trials. NIV footnote: “but deliver us from the evil one”.
This model prayer places our lives in our Abba’s hands, submitting to Him in trust, being accountable to him, and seeking His help in delivering us from temptation.
3. Jesus Taught Us To Ask Audaciously
(Luke 11:5–8 Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; 6 a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ 7 And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity[e] he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.)
Just as a child knows no boundaries in asking a parent for the desires of their heart, we should ask God boldly!
Wright: What counts is persistence. …he is encouraging a kind of holy boldness, a sharp knocking on the door, an insistent asking, a search that refuses to give up. That’s what our prayer should be like. Prayer is a laying bare of the heart before God … our needs. Prayer that is persistent and personal is powerful in God’s eyes.
Persistence in prayer is not effective because we somehow wear God down …
Persistence in prayer is a test for us, not for him.
(Luke 11:9-10 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.)
4. Jesus Teaches the Father’s Good Will
(Luke 11:11-13 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”)
God desires to give good gifts to His children.
Barclay: If we do not receive what we pray for, it is not because God grudgingly refuses to give it to us, but because He has some better thing for us. There is no such thing as unanswered prayer. The answer given may not be the answer we desired or expected. Even when it is the refusal of our wishes it is the answer of the love and the wisdom of God.”
Nicky Gumble: Prayer like a traffic light.
He says God will give us His Holy Spirit!
Conclusion
When we go to the School of Prayer we hear from our Teacher Jesus that He believes in prayer, that He has given us a model prayer, that He desires us to ask audaciously, and He teaches us that our Father views us in His good will.
Learning to pray is a central part of being a disciple of Jesus Christ. God is a giving God, but we are to ask in prayer. “You do not have because you do not ask God” (James 4:2).
There is a mystery to prayer - we do not control our God through prayer, we submit to our Abba Father. It is His Kingdom that must come, His will must be done. Whatever we do not understand or in whatever ways we have lost hope, we should keep our trust strong in the Lord!
If Jesus believed in prayer, so should we!
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Thank you!
