The Lord's Great Lessons On Prayer

The Lord's Great Lessons on Prayer

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon by Rick Crandall

(Prepared June 17, 2023)

(Revised July 19, 2023 to correct the timing of the Sermon on the Mount)

BACKGROUND:

*Do you ever wish you could learn how to pray better? You are not the only one. In Luke 11:1, one of the disciples saw Jesus praying, and when the Lord finished praying, that disciple said, "Lord, teach us to pray." Jesus replied by giving them a prayer very similar to the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13. There Jesus said:

9. "In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.

10. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

11. Give us this day our daily bread.

12. And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.

13. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil (or the evil one). for Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen."

*Here in Luke 11:2-4 Jesus said to them:

2. . . "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.

3. Give us day by day our daily bread.

4. and forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.''

*These two prayers are so similar that for years I thought Luke 11 was a different report on the same event. But I was wrong. The Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6 was given about a year into Jesus's 3 1/2 year ministry. But the prayer in Luke 11 was given just a few months before the cross.

*John Gill explained that "though the prayer in Luke 11 is similar, the prayer in Matthew 6 was given at another time and in another place. In Matthew 6, Jesus was in Galilee. The Luke prayer was given in Judea. The Matthew instructions were given as part of the Sermon on the Mount. But in Luke, the instructions came after a request from one of the disciples who saw Jesus praying." (1)

*And the thing that stands out to me, is that after following Jesus for maybe over two years, this disciple was still hungry to learn more about prayer. Now, God wants us to have that same kind of hunger. He wants us to know more about prayer, so our prayer life will grow stronger than ever before. That's why we are about to study one of the Lord's great parables about prayer. But in today's Scripture, Jesus also gave some great prayer promises, and a great picture to help us pray. Let's get started by reading Luke 11:1-13.

MESSAGE:

*Many of the best things that have ever happened in this world, have happened in answer to prayer. I know this is true in my life, and Christians, I am quite sure it's true in your lives too. But how should we pray? The Lord wants us to know. And starting with today's parable, Jesus gives us 4 great lessons on prayer.

1. FIRST, HE GIVES US THE LESSON OF A PERSISTENT FRIEND.

*When it comes to prayer, the Lord wants us to have the same kind of determination that we see in vs. 5-8. Here Jesus said:

5. "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.

*That man at the door had great persistence in his asking. There was great energy and determination in his request. James 5:16 tells us that the energized prayer of a righteous man does great things. And that's the kind of energy this man had when he was knocking on that door.

*Hebrews 4:16 tells Christians to "come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." That's the kind of boldness this man had when he went to his friend for help. He had the determination to come, even though he had to come at the worst possible time. It was midnight in vs. 5. That was the time when his friend was bound to 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!"