Luke 11:1-13
“Lord, Teach Us to Pray”
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. Amen.” (Ephesians 1:3)
Man A woke up late for work. He was late by a lot. It didn’t help that he got pulled over for speeding and got a ticket on the way to work. As he squeamishly walked by his boss’s office, he heard the blaring demand that he enter immediately. His boss said that he needs the project done today, that Man A was irresponsible, and that this definitely was going to be taken into consideration in the employee evaluations later this week. Finally arriving at his lunch break, and relieved to finally get something to eat for the day, the man gets an alarming phone call from his wife. His daughter was in an accident, is in critical condition, and might not make it. He rushes to the hospital without thinking, understanding he could very well lose his job. He spends the rest of the day there with her in a coma, his life on hold, his stomach in knots, tears in his eyes.
Man B woke up as he always did, after two pushes of the snooze button. He took a shower, got dressed, had some cereal. He kissed his wife of 16 years goodbye and went off to his job of 20 years. Nothing abnormal. It was a Wednesday. When he got home, he sat down for dinner with his family. They talked about their days over some meatloaf. He read the paper, watched a documentary on sharks on the Discovery Channel, and went to bed.
Man C had the day to end all days. It was his birthday, and he woke up before his alarm went off with an enthusiasm only saved for special occasions. His boss had been waiting for this day to let him know about his promotion that he had worked so hard for. New opportunities, increased pay, and the corner office. When he got home the family went out to celebrate at his favorite restaurant. As he looked around at his beautiful family laughing, time seemed to stand still for a moment. “This is as good as it gets,” he thought. “Life is good.”
Most of us, depending on the day you asked us, would probably be able to relate to one of these three men. You notice that the personalities of the men aren’t the things that change from story to story, but rather the circumstances. My question to you today is a simple one – which of these three Christian men needs prayer the most? Maybe that question is too transparent? They all need to pray, right? God doesn’t just tell us to “call upon him in the day of trouble” (Psalm 50:15), but also to “pray continually” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). But do we really believe that? Do we really practice that? Do we really value God’s gift of prayer and understand what its role needs to be in our lives? Do we know what to pray for? Do we know how we should pray? These are the real questions that a Christian needs to address. Today we say along with the disciples in our lesson:
“Lord, Teach Us to Pray”
I. for the proper things
II. in the proper manner
Our lesson for today begins: “One day Jesus was praying in a certain place.” The exact time and the exact place are really not important. It’s not often that you’ll hear me say that about a biblical account. The context in which God inspires an account to be written is generally always important. But these words are intentionally vague. And that’s the beauty of it. Sure there are times when we see Jesus pray in particular situations. But it’s also important for us to see him praying here on some day, any day. He’s teaching us to pray on every day. Jesus was undoubtedly a busy guy, in high demand during the course of his 3 year ministry here on earth. But he was never, ever too busy to consult his Father in heaven in prayer.
When Jesus’ disciples heard Jesus pray, they probably became conscious of how imperfect their own prayers were in comparison, so they naturally asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. I’m sure you might be tempted to think, “Well I thought any prayer was pleasing in God’s sight. Isn’t it just important that we do pray?” Not exactly. It depends on the heart that is offering up such prayer. When we selfishly demand from God that we receive what we want when we want it, that’s not a God pleasing prayer. When we pray and negotiate with God, as though we could possibly hold some bargaining chip to wager with the Almighty, that’s not God pleasing prayer. When we pray merely out of obligation, like paying our taxes or doing our chores, that’s not a God pleasing prayer. When we pray with a heart that doubts God’s ability to hear, answer, and grant our prayers, you may as well not do it, that’s not God pleasing prayer. Yes, sin can even taint God’s tremendous gift of prayer. Prayer can be motivated by sin. Prayer can be executed with a sinful attitude. The disciples knew that. They wanted to become better at prayer, which needs to become a goal of ours as well. So along with the disciples, today we say, “Lord, teach us to pray”.
Always in the business of granting spiritual growth, Jesus was undoubtedly pleased by his disciples’ request. He taught them to pray for the proper things. 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 beautiful prayer. A perfect prayer given from a perfect heart. But does it sound a bit short to you? If later on in the service I was leading in the Lord’s Prayer and used these exact words, you’d probably say the Vicar messed up….again. That’s because this isn’t the version of the Lord’s Prayer that we use. The version that we use is closer to the version we find in Matthew 6:9-13. The version here is two petitions shorter. Two different versions, both inspired by the Holy Spirit, seems to indicate two different lessons that Jesus is trying to teach. Jesus seems to be indicating to us here that he is intending to provide his disciples with a pattern for praying rather than with a set form for memorization and recitation, as he does in Matthew’s gospel.
What is he teaching us to pray for here? We can’t give each petition the due justice it deserves in one sermon, so we look at what Jesus is requesting here in a more general way. First he makes requests for spiritual blessings for all men. Then he makes requests for material blessings for all men. Lastly, he makes requests for spiritual blessings for the people of God. There you have it. Perfect prayer is dominated by spiritual things – our Catechism students learn that only one of the petitions of the Lord’s Prayer really deals with material things. Perfect prayer is not selfish – it seeks blessings for others, and not just those whom we are close to, but even for our enemies. Perfect prayer has God and his will at the center of it – it seeks the spread of his kingdom in this world, not ours. These are the proper things for which to pray. And we pray today that we grow in our spiritual maturity and sanctified lives that we understand better the proper things to pray for. The amazing thing is that God promises that when we do this, he will bless every aspect of our lives. “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33) So bring to God whatever is on your heart. Do this with the understanding that God wants to hear all things great and small from his children, you and I. “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7) But desire his kingdom first, not yours, and you are guaranteed to pray for the proper things.
Jesus’ lesson wasn’t over at this point though – once he had taught his disciples the proper things for which to pray. He then went on to educate them how to pray in the proper manner. First Jesus teaches his disciples to pray with boldness and persistence, because of their relationship to their God in heaven. He illustrates that relationship with a story. He tells his disciples to imagine one friend going to another friend’s house in the middle of the night and asking for some food. The friend who is sleeping says he can’t get up because it’s too late. You have to understand a couple of items from that day and age to understand Jesus’ point. First of all, due to the daytime temperatures in the Middle East, it was common for people to travel at night in those days. So this man wasn’t going over to his friend’s house simply at an inconvenient time because he was inconsiderate. He went over because he had an unexpected guest who had arrived at night. The other cultural nuance to keep in mind is with the friend, the head of the house, who didn’t want to get up. It wasn’t because he was lazy or tired, but because in those days the entire family slept in the same room and he didn’t want to wake everyone up. As long as we understand that neither party is doing anything wrong, we can understand the point of Jesus’ parable. Jesus explains the point when he says, “I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man’s boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs.”
The neighbor was willing to help his friend in need not just because he was a friend, but because his requesting friend was bold in his knowledge of what friendship meant – friendship is a willingness to help a person at any hour with any need, regardless of the circumstance. That is what God is to us. Boldly bring your requests to God. God will answer in his own way, when the time is right. Jesus says, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” What does God have in store for our lives? What tremendous blessings could we be missing out on? What hardships in life could have possibly been prevented had we simply come to the Lord in prayer? If we are lacking in any way in life right now, especially spiritually, why is it that we don’t have? Because we haven’t asked. Don’t do it once. Don’t do it twice. Keep on praying. The verbs used in this section are imperatives that indicate this is supposed to be an ongoing action. Jesus wants us to pray regularly, persistently, faithfully.
Prayer is a product of faith that can help to indicate the health of faith. You show me a faithful Christian and I will show you someone with a healthy, active prayer life. They are inseparable. Today we ask God to make us more faithful in prayer. And then we boldly come to him with all requests, trusting that he will hear, knowing that he loves to answer. In this we have confidence because of the promises he gives us.
Jesus teaches of the confidence we should have in bringing our requests to our Heavenly Father with another illustration. He says if a child comes to his father and asks for something good and necessary like food (in this instance fish or an egg), what father on the planet instead is going to give his child something bad (in this instance a snake or a scorpion). No one would. From the most faithful of Christians to the most pagan of heathens, no father in his right mind would ever do that to his adoring child. Jesus then makes the argument from the lesser to the greater. He says, “If you then, though you are evil (sinful), 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!” Even sinful human beings grant the requests of those they love. Our perfect Father in heaven will by all means hear and answer every request we bring before him. Bring it with unwavering confidence. Jesus’ brother James has this to say about prayer in his book: “But when a man asks (prays), he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord.” (James 1:6-7) Praying to God and then doubting his desire to answer is a slap in his face. It is making a mockery of the powerful tool that God has blessed us with in prayer. As humans we’re naturally tempted to look at track records and statistics to plan for the future. Unfortunately we’re tempted to do that with our prayer lives too. As humans, we are inclined to think, “Okay, God has answered 3 out of my last 10 prayers. That means that my next prayer really has about a 30% chance of being answered.” That is not the attitude that God desires. With every prayer that you offer up to your Lord, trust 100% that it is going to be granted.
When you pray that God give you strength to resist temptation, know that he will provide it. When struggling with financial anxiety, pray that your family’s needs be met and know that God will take care of you. We just took on a nearly million dollar building project here at Messiah. I don’t have to have a crystal ball to say there’s probably going to be some sleep lost, some tense meetings, and some second-guessing over the next year or so regarding it. We can’t ever stop praying to God, thanking him for such an opportunity and knowing that he will continue to bless us. When you are struggling with one of the most difficult decisions of your life and that fork in the road troubles you beyond what you think you can bear, pray about it, and know that God will guide you down the path and bless your journey. Pray with confidence to the God who created all things and loves you more than anything. And if he doesn’t answer your prayer in precisely the way you want it, it is all the more reason to give thanks. Because the God who knew what’s best for you didn’t allow something that he knew would hurt you. What love from our Father!
Never underestimate the power of prayer. A poll was conducted several years ago of pastors, asking them what the average amount of time they spent in prayer was per day. The average answer – 10 minutes. That includes everything: prayer before meals, prayer in the morning, afternoon, and evening. That’s roughly a half of a percent of a day spent dialoguing to God about what is on our hearts in a survey conducted only on spiritual leaders. Now, we can’t label a specific amount of time as the minimum time spent in prayer that is pleasing to God. But, my point in sharing this is that I think we all at times have forsaken God’s gift of prayer. So the first thing we need to do is pray for forgiveness for this. And we hear God’s free forgiveness in the gospel of the final words of today’s lesson, which I will read again: “How much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” God freely forgives the sins and answers the prayers of those who have faith – faith in Jesus Christ, our Savior. Our Heavenly Father loves to hold that blessing of forgiveness out to us, his children, whenever we ask for it. Nothing delights him more than his children coming to him with their greatest need, the need of forgiveness, and freely giving it to them that they may live with him forever. Our prayers rising to our Lord are now like a sweet aroma to him, because Christ has removed our sin.
God didn’t have to give us prayer – the ability to come to him through Jesus Christ – but he did it because he loves us. Could we live without it? If God had made it that way. But why would we ever want to? I can honestly say I wouldn’t be standing here in this pulpit before you today if it wasn’t for God’s gift of prayer. I can honestly say I might not be standing here on this earth if it wasn’t for God’s gift of prayer. The devastation of my sin, the trials of life, and the feelings of loneliness I believe would have been too much to bear. But God has been with me every step of the way and he’s let me pour my heart out to him, speaking to me through his Holy Word and promising that he’s hearing and answering all of my cries for mercy.
Today we boldly and confidently say along with the disciples, “Lord, teach us to pray.” Every day let us appreciate more and more the spiritual blessing and powerful tool that prayer is. Tell God how much you respect and adore him. Confess to him the transgressions that trouble your heart and thank him for washing them away forever and rejoice. With persistence and confidence tell your Father of your needs and know without a doubt that he will provide. He has taken care of our greatest need – a Savior from our sins. He will take care of the rest as well. Amen.
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work with us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20-21)