Luke 11 v 1-13 Jesus teaches about prayer
Opening prayer
Gracious God, thank you for the gift of prayer. Help us by your Holy Spirit to hear and apply what you’re wanting to teach us today. Amen.
We’re going to be thinking of Jesus’ teaching on prayer – the Lord’s prayer as we know it - from our gospel reading.
Let me begin by asking how you’re getting on in your prayer-life. Do you find prayer easy? Is it something that comes naturally to you? Or is it a struggle? Well, I don’t know about you, but I often find it hard-going. Sure, there are days and times when I can sit and spend time in prayer and feel a real sense of God’s presence. But there are also times when things get in the way; when it feels as though my prayers are bouncing off the wall. Sometimes I find I don’t know how to pray, what to pray for and I get distracted easily. Perhaps you can relate to these experiences. If so, you’re in good company.
In our reading from Luke’s gospel Jesus gave his disciples, and us, a template or model if you like of how to pray. Let’s be clear, this is not the only way to pray. But, it’s a very helpful roadmap if I can put it like that, to guide us in our prayers. And that’s what I want to consider this morning. So let’s take a closer look.
The first thing to notice is that prayer was an absolute priority for Jesus. As you read the gospels you will see Jesus spending a lot of time in prayer. Jesus prayed at his baptism, before choosing the twelve disciples, when the crowds kept following him, at his transfiguration, when he multiplied the bread and fish and fed more than 5000 people. Jesus often withdrew by himself to pray alone. Jesus, the perfect Son of God, had to depend on prayer during his earthly life. Prayer kept him connected to God the Father and enabled him to fulfil his ministry on earth. If prayer was such a priority for Jesus, then surely it must be for us too. The disciples realised this.
Jesus was praying when the disciples asked him to teach them to pray. In verses 2-4 he gives them a pattern for prayer.
But first: … a 3-year-old was overheard saying the Lord's prayer as follows: "Our Father, who does art in heaven, Harold is His name…"
I bet the Lord smiled listening to this 3-year-old.
From our reading, notice what Jesus says about how we should approach God in prayer. Jesus first praised God and then made his requests.
He says when you pray, say Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. I don’t know about you, but often in prayer, I rush in with a long list of things!
Jesus says praise first, petitions next. Praising God helps us to focus on him and what he has done for us. It puts us in the right frame of mind as we remind ourselves of God’s character – his unfailing love, his abundant grace, his infinite mercy, his faithfulness and loving kindness. It helps us to begin to view things from God’s viewpoint instead of ours, shifting our priorities so that they are aligned with God’s priorities.
Instead of prayer becoming a long shopping list, it becomes a conversation in which we address God as our Father. It is the language of intimacy, of family, of a father-child relationship, of friendship, deeply personal and deeply loving.
When I’m stuck for words or don’t know how to start prayers of praise, I turn to the Psalms. The Psalms are a great source of prayers – all sorts of prayers, not just praise. They are real, honest and heartfelt prayers, expressing a whole range of emotions, giving us language to express our thoughts when we don’t know how to. A good chunk of them are Psalms of praise. A few of my go-to Psalms are 34, 103, 113, 121, 139. I find them really helpful. Can I encourage you to read them and memorise a few verses to help you praise God?
Next, we bring our requests to God. We can ask him to provide for our needs (not our greeds!), both physical and spiritual. Did you notice how Jesus prays for today’s need – our daily bread. Not bread for tomorrow or next week. But for today. I don’t think it means we can’t or shouldn’t pray for future needs. However, we need to trust God for his care and provision of us and not get so caught up living in the future that we miss the present! We have a generous God who lovingly provides all that we need. He tells us not to worry about tomorrow because worry robs us of joy; causes us to doubt God’s loving faithfulness to us.
Along with physical needs, Jesus says we should also pray for our spiritual needs and God’s forgiveness. Why? Because forgiveness is at the heart of our relationship with God and each other. We all make mistakes, we all let ourselves down and others too. We all face all sorts of temptations. In all this we need God’s grace, his forgiveness and protection of us. All of this is available to us in and through Jesus.
Let me share two more children’s prayers:
A little boy was overheard saying the Lord's prayer at church: “And forgive us our trash baskets as we forgive those who put trash in our baskets.”
And, a little girl who had been memorising the Lord's prayer, was overheard saying: “Lead us not in to temptation,” “but deliver us some E-mail!”
The good news is the Lord loves to get rid of our trash baskets. Every time we ask for forgiveness, he wipes the slate clean. We in turn are to forgive others. Show them the same love that God our Father shows us.
And then Jesus gives us two illustrations or stories to encourage us in our prayer life and show God’s incredible faithfulness to us.
In verses 5-10 we are encouraged to persist in prayer. Ask, seek and knock says Jesus. Keep asking, keep seeking and keep knocking just like the man who went to his friend at midnight. Jesus is not saying God is like a grouchy neighbour. Quite the opposite. If a tired, selfish neighbour finally gives in and meets the need of a bothersome friend, how much more will our loving Father meet the needs of his children.
Persistence in prayer is not about trying to twist God’s hand. Rather, it helps us to rely on God more and more, it shows our dependence on him. It shows that what we are praying about really matters. And God in his grace and wisdom will answer. Sometimes the answer can be a long time coming. In the meantime, we keep asking, we keep seeking and we keep knocking, in full assurance that our Father hears us.
In verses 11-13 Jesus is showing us the Father-heart of God who gives good gifts to his children. As parents we love to give good things to our children. We love to hear their requests. Yes, often we get things wrong, but we always want to treat them well and give them good things. And there are times when we know better than our children what is good for them. And so, we might say no or not yet to a request.
If we, with our all our failings know how to treat our children and give them good gifts, how much more so will our perfect heavenly Father treat us and give us all that we need.
God delights in giving us good gifts. His arm is not too short and his supplies not limited. He knows how to meet our needs. He knows what’s good for us. He is concerned about every area of our lives and promises to never leave us or forsake us. He is committed to us in love and faithfulness. He delights to, wants to bless us. The greatest blessing and gift given to us is his Holy Spirit who brings assurance to hearts that we are God’s beloved children – loved beyond all measure; the apple of God’s eye. He longs to bless us with good things for our good and his glory.
So may this prayer and Jesus’ teaching serve as a template or guide to help us in our prayers, draw us closer to the heart of God and remind us of his incredible love, care, provision and protection of us.
Amen