A Study of the Book of Luke
Sermon # 29
“Persistent Prayer”
Luke 11: 5-13
Do you ever feel impatient with God? Does He seem late in answering your requests or meeting your needs? Certainly all of us as believer’s have had questions concerning prayer at some point in our Christian life. Why are we to continue to pray for something after if we have already prayed and we are believing God for the answer? Isn’t that unbelief? What about those times when we pray and we are certain of an answer, and yet no answer is forthcoming? We are confident that it is God’s will but nothing happens. What are we to do?
In Luke 11:1-4 in answer to the disciples request “Lord teach us to pray,” Jesus gave a prayer that is sometimes called “The Lord’s Prayer.” This prayer was more than just a prayer to be repeated it was to serve as a blueprint of all prayer that would be acceptable to God. While it is not wrong to recite the prayer, it is more important to understand its principles.
Now having given the disciples a pattern for prayer, the Lord continues his instruction by telling a story. But why does he give us this parable? In the text we are going to see three principles about prayer.
1. WE ARE TO PRAY BOLDLY vv. 5-8
”And He said to them, "Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, "Friend, lend me three loaves; (6) for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him’….”
In order to understand this parable we need to understand a few things about first century culture. First of all, food was not as readily available as it is today. There were of course, no 24 hour 7-11 convenience food stores on each corner. Therefore enough bread was baked each day for the needs of that day.
Secondly, hospitality was held in high regard and was seen almost as a duty. A visitor was welcomed and cared for, regardless of the hour of his arrival. In order to avoid the intense midday heat, people often traveled in the evening. A traveler arriving near midnight was not uncommon. Here is the dilemma. The poor unprepared host has a late arriving guest who is hungry after a long and exhausting journey and 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 himself and his family but to the village as a whole. But what is he to do? Though this man cannot supply the need himself he knows of another who can and will supply this need. So he goes to his friend’s house regardless of the lateness of the hour and to ask for his help.
Jesus is asking each of his listeners, “which of you has the nerve to wake up his friend (and possible his family as well) in the middle of the night to ask for bread?” The rest of the story speaks of this tension, as Jesus continues the story in verse seven, “… and he will answer from within and say, "Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you’? (8) I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs.”
Even today it is easy to understand this man’s reluctance to provide for his friend’s need. Anyone who has ever wrestled to get children into bed, understands this man’s unwillingness to do anything to arouse his children. But since the whole family slept in the same room, and even the smaller livestock was brought into the house (chicken, goats etc), to get up and meet this man’s needs meant considerable inconvenience. The man inside the house initial refused the request; friendship alone was not a sufficient reason to upset the whole household. Jesus is saying to His listeners, “Can you imagine a friend who would react in such a way?” and of course in so doing, he expected a negative reply. “No of course not!” Ultimately, the reluctant friend got up and gave his neighbor what he needed, for one reason only, the persistence of the man making the request.
Jesus is not comparing God to an sleepy, selfish and angry neighbor. He is contrasting the two; He is telling the disciples that if a neighbor can on the basis of friendship and social etiquette, be persuaded to met the needs of a friend, how much more will your father in heaven meet the needs of his children.
Yet sometimes we think that the reason for our failure in prayer is that we have not been persistent enough. We say at least to ourselves, “I know that if I had prayed more, more things would happen,” that is because we have convinced ourselves that we must keep beating on God ‘s door until we overcome God’s unwillingness to act. Is that what verse eight is teaching 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. Cirlcle this word in your Bible. This 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 point to the neighbor who arose and gave his friend bread, saying that he did so to avoid bringing shame to the village by breaking the rules of hospitality.
The context seems to suggest that it refers to the man who came making the request. He was shameless in his persistence, continuing his pleading until his friend responded.
But what gives us the right to come boldly or shamelessly come to God with our needs. “From Roman history comes the story of a Roman emperor in his chariot as a part of a parade, Cheering people lined the streets while the legionnaires were stationed to keep the people at a safe distance. The emperor’s family sat on a platform to watch him go by in al the pride of his position. As the emperor came near the place where his family was stationed, a young boy jumped from the platform, burrowed through the crowd, and tried to dodge a legionnaire so he could run to the emperor’s chariot. The soldier stopped him and said, “You cannot go near him.” The boy laughed, then said; “He may be your emperor but he is my father.” Then he ran into his fathers open arms.” [Martin Wiles. “Jesus on Prayer.” (Sermon Central.)
The writer of 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 are to pray boldly and
2. WE ARE TO PRAY PASSIONATELY vv. 9-10
"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 thus literally; “Keep Asking, Keep Seeking and Keep Knocking.”
There is a progression in this persistence, asking, seeking and knocking. Mark these three levels of prayer in your Bible, Ask, Seek, Knock. Now let’s consider there meaning, “asking means making a simple request. Seeking implies a stronger desire and a more definite kind of request. It is something that takes time. It implies 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 merely asking for something. Seeking then is not a simple act, it is a process, a series of acts. This knocking is not a single rap, it is a series of raps. It is a request for admission, repeated if necessary, and it suggest situations where we seek an entrance or an opportunity.
In verse ten 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 noted in the present tense, ask- receive, seek-find, and knocks-opened. All three of these principles are imperatives; in which our heavenly Father not only hears our prayers but promises to answer each and every prayer, in his time, to his honor and to our joy and amazement.
By a continued practice of asking, seeking and knocking we break the habit where prayer is just an option, or is for emergency use only. Don’t just come to God with just your midnight emergencies keep an open line of communication with your 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. 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, was a man of prayer. He knew the importance of keeping at a prayer 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 more is being taught here than a mere 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. 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.
We Are to pray passionately and
3. WE ARE TO PRAY EXPECTANTLY vv. 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 story we learned that God does answer prayer, and from this second analogy we learn that his answers are always good ones. Because God is a good God, a loving heavenly father, He can be expected not only to answer our prayers, but in answer them in such a way that it is for our highest good. The bottom line of the whole matter is now given in verse thirteen, “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 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 selfish or shortsighted. 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.
I want to just briefly touch on the matter indicated by the promise found in the latter part of verse thirteen, that 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 believer’s? But that is not what the meaning of this passage at all. I believe context reveals to us rather that it speaks to the fact that God loves for his children to develop the habit of asking His help, but 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. I think this may have been what Paul had in mind when he says in letter to the Romans (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 can not be expressed in words.” (NLT).
Conclusion
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 great Christian writer C.S. Lewis reminds us of the challenge we face each day. “The moment you wake up each morning, all your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists in shoving it all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other, larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in.” [C.S. Lewis. Sermon Illustrations. com]. An unknown poet said 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.
Those of us who are parents do our best to provide for our children. We pay for there housing and upkeep, we finance their education; we gladly pay all the expenses necessary for them to live. But the one thing that we cannot give our children unless they want it is a relationship. So it is with God, he desires a relationship with you, he extends an invitation for a relationship, but it is up to you to accept his invitation or not.
If you lack the courage to come to God as your Father, he has provided a way to take care of that. If you will accept his son, Jesus as your personal Savior, you become a part of God’s family.
