Tenacious Prayer

How tenaciously do we pray? May we ask for personal needs? Are we waiting to be worthy? Let’s learn to pray unceasingly. We’ll look at Luke 11:1-13 verse by verse and some of what Jesus taught on how to pray.

When Not If You Pray

Luke 11:1-2a Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.” So He said to them, “When you [pl] pray, say, …

When teaching his disciples to pray, the first words from Jesus were, “When ye pray...” Modern English has lost the plural you word ye and substituted you for both singular and plural. Does plural you indicate a group prayer? The first words are “Our” not “my” Father, a unifying prayer.

Luke 11:2b So He said to them, “When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven…

God is ours, not for me alone. God does not describe himself with the metaphor of Father to cause offense, but wants us to understand perfect fatherhood through him. Father means one who “imparts life” not to all humanity, but certainly to those in "intimate connection and relationship" with him.

Luke 11:2 So He said to them, “When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.

The positive of the commandment, “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain” is “hallowed be your name.” Hallowed means "to make holy, consecrate, sanctify; to dedicate, separate." Prayer includes praise. All churches are polluted by sin. God is not. Let us glorify his name.

Luke 11:4a And forgive us our sins, For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us…

When we sin we miss the mark, which is what the word sin in Luke’s version of the Our Father means. Sin creates a debt of injustice. Forgiveness releases others from that debt, giving up the right to justice. And so we can rightly ask God to forgive our debts.

Luke 11:4b … And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.”

This can mean either sore trial or temptation. We live in a world where there are many enticements to miss the mark of right living. We want to stay faithful, not misuse God’s name, take rest days, honor parents, not kill, remain faithful in marriage, not steal, lie or covet.

Bold and Audacious Prayer (vs 5-13)

Luke 11:5 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’; 7 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.

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 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? 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!”

We could translate verse 9 as, “So I say to y’all, Y’all ask and it will be given to y’all; y’all seek and y’all will find; y’all knock and the door will be opened to y’all.” God encourages us to persist in bold and audacious prayer, like the midnight visitor.

Let’s not be afraid to pray, hiding from God like Adam and Eve. God knows our sins and still encourages us to come to him boldly and often. He wants to hear from us and is ready this minute to forgive and give us what we need.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.