To Whom do we Pray? (Luke 11:5-13)

Introduction

If you have your Bible, please turn it to Luke 11:5-13.

Now, I do have to start by issuing an apology. This series on prayer was meant to be a 4-week series, but due to a scheduling error on my part, we’re going to have to trim it down to a 3-week series—however, we’re still going to answer all four questions originally posited, I’ll just have to speak a little quicker.

So, we’re on week 2 of our now 3-week series through the theology and practice of prayer. Last week, we spent some time just answering the question what is prayer? I explained that often when that question is asked, we’re either given a very hyper-spiritual or overly metaphysical answer or we’re given nothing (i.e., it’s assumed that we can’t really define what prayer is). So, we took a look at the very first instance of prayer recorded in the Bible because in it, we find a very simple, easy to remember definition of what prayer actually is, which is essentially our effort to speak to God because we love Him and we don’t walk with Him face-to-face, yet.

This morning, we’re dealing with another issue and it’s that of who we pray to. As in, who ought we direct our prayers to? Now, if you’ve always been a part of a protestant church, you probably haven’t really asked this question at length, but if you have background in a Roman Catholic or maybe an Orthodox (capital O) church, where it’s common to direct your prayers to a saint or through Mary, you might’ve asked this question before. At the very least, you might’ve asked, “do I pray to God the Father? Or to Jesus? Or to the Holy Spirit?” Who do we actually pray to?

And there are a number of different ways that we could answer this question (note that the answer is actually the same regardless of how you answer the question), but I want us to look at one particular passage that I think answers the question while dealing with a handful of other issues in conjunction with it.

So, again, we’re in Luke 11:5-13, let me explain where we are in the text, we’ll then read the text, and jump right in.

At this point in Jesus’ life, his ministry has already been going for quite some time and He’s facing significant opposition from the Sadducees and Pharisees who are just about to accuse Him of being of the devil and just before that instance, in ch. 11, we find Him praying and after He prays, His disciples ask Him to teach them how to pray in v. 1. We then see Luke’s record of the Lord’s Prayer before Jesus offers up something that seems to be almost parable-like, but really could just be an entertaining illustration of God’s willingness to help His children.

Let’s read Luke 11:5-13 together.

Luke 11:5–13 ESV

5 And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, 6 for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? 8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. 9 And I tell 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 the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

As we study this passage, we’re going to break it into two parts: (1) Making Petitions (5-9) and (2) The Goodness of God in Answering Prayer (10-13). In working through this text, we find ourselves in a situation in which Jesus affirms the importance of prayer and even that of expectation—to expect God to answer prayer favorably. Now, you might wonder how exactly this text answers today’s question. to whom should we pray? But I suggest the answer is found in the concept of the heavenly Father who gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask. As we work through this text, we are going to deal with a few other issues in conjunction with this question, but we’ll get to that a little bit later.

The whole goal is for you to see clearly in not just this passage, but other passages as well, that we pray to God, the Father through Jesus Christ while being empowered by the Holy Spirit. We only pray to God through Jesus while empowered by the Spirit, we don’t pray to anyone else or through anyone else with the understanding that God is a Father to His children and He cares for us in that light.

Prayer for Illumination

Making Petitions (5-9)

After explaining to the disciples how they ought to pray, Jesus then continues the conversation with vv. 5-8, and in it, He considers how even human people react and respond and treat one another.

Jesus poses a question in v. 5, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’?”

He offers up a situation in which you happen to have friends who stop by unexpectedly while they’re traveling through and, of course, since you weren’t expecting your friends, you don’t have any food.

Jesus suggests that most people who see you in need like this, would offer up some food or try to help in some way—of course, that’s not always the case, but Jesus is driving at a specific point—that someone who sees someone else in need will typically help if possible.

It would be unusual for someone to absolutely refuse to help if they have the means to help.

And Jesus emphasizes this point in v. 8, “I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs.”

Even if the person doesn’t necessarily want to help, Jesus states that because of you asking, your neighbor will get up and help.

This is where—probably the most well-known verse—of this text then comes in, “And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”

I think often, however, when it’s read or quoted, it’s actually misunderstood to mean that if you simply ask for whatever you want to ask for, God will give them to you, but that’s not actually what the verse is saying.

In fact, Jesus points out what exactly he’s talking about in v. 13, and it concerns praying for the Father to give them the Holy Spirit because at that time the Holy Spirit didn’t indwell every believer permenantly.

V. 9 isn’t a statement that whatever you ask for will be given to you, but it is an exhortation to pray.

Jesus is encouraging them to ask, seek, and knock and each idea given have typically been tied to prayer in Jewish thinking.

To ask doesn’t necessarily imply a command, but rather a condition—it is an invitation into prayer—to not hesitate, but to jump into prayer. If you just ask, you will receive; what? again, check the context concerning the Holy Spirit.

To seek fits several Old Testament passages that speak of seeking God—e.g., Deuteronomy 4:29 “29 But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.” and Isaiah 55:6 “6 “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near;” If you just seek, you will find, what will you find? You’ll find God Himself.

To knock fits an idea from the Jewish Talmud in that the one who prays is like the person who knocks on the gates of mercy for help. If you just knock, it’ll be opened; what will be opened? The gates in which to find mercy.

Again, the idea isn’t that you’ll receive everything that you ever want if you just pray—the idea is that if you pray, God will answer. If you seek, God will show Himself to you. If you knock, you will receive mercy.

Now, that could sound too good to be true and we could think that there’s something inherently good in prayer, but I’d argue that the goodness itself is really found in God and His answering of prayer. Or, in other words, we see God’s goodness as He answers prayer, as He shows Himself to us, and as He gives us more mercy. Let’s look at vv. 10-13 again.

The Goodness of God in Answering Prayer (10-13)

Luke 11:10–13 ESV

10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Again, this isn’t a blanket statement claiming that whatever you ask for will come to you, but rather an invitation.

It’s an invitation for you to actually come and pray, it’s an invitation for you to seek for God. It’s an invitation for you to simply knock on the door or the gate.

I think it might help if we look at this from a different perspective—God is there, He is waiting for you to cry out, He’s waiting for you to seek Him, He’s waiting for you to simply knock.

To the extent that Jesus is clear that everyone who asks receives, the person who seeks finds, and for the one who knocks, the gate or the door will be opened.

It’s just a matter of us taking the initiative to do these things.

And it isn’t just an encouragement from Jesus to do these things, but it’s been a reoccurring idea throughout Scripture—as seen in Deuteronomy and Isaiah earlier, but even later in the book of Hebrews (particularly Hebrews 10:21-22)

Which says, Hebrews 10:21–22 “21 since we have a great priest over the house of God [a high priest who made a way for us to be in the presence of God through His own flesh], 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”

Jesus has already made the way—we just have to go in. Jesus has already enabled us to pray, we just need to pray. Jesus has already enabled us to seek after God, we just have to seek. Jesus has already enabled us to knock, we just have to knock.

And before any type of doubt that God would answer or fear that He would give us something we wouldn’t need comes in, Jesus says in vv. 11-12, “What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?” There are two ideas of particular note in these two verses:

First, note the comparison of God with a father—this comparison with God as a father is all over Scripture and there are numerous reasons for that. I’d say the most pertinent reason for that comparison with this text is the relationship aspect.

That God treats His people as His own children—He cares for them, He helps them, He gives to them—He is the one who answer when asked, He is the one who reveals Himself when sought for, He is the one who opens the door or gate when

Second, also note that God only gives good, but let me add a caveat, it’s what He considers to be good, not necessarily what you consider to be good.

And this is an important distinction to make because often Christians today assume that what they think is good is actually good, but that’s not what the Bible teaches and the simplest way to clear that misconception up is to consider Romans 8:28–29

Rom 8:28-29 makes this statement “28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.”

v. 28 states that everything that happens in your life will someone turn out for your good because God works all things out for your good. v. 29 clarifies what God means by good—that everything in your life is working out in such a way that you are going to be conformed to the image of his Son.

Or, in other words, what God considers good is for you to be sanctified, for you to grow in holiness, for you to be like Jesus—that’s what God considers to be good.

And ultimately, James 1:17 does confirm that regardless of what we consider good—everything that actually is good comes from God Himself—“17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”

Now, there’s one final verse in this passage and it actually reveals two things: (1) it contrasts how good God actually is with human goodness and (2) it tells us what they’re actually supposed to be praying for in this situation.

v. 13 makes this statement, “If you then, who are evil [or wicked], know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Remember, He is speaking to HIs disciples, so when He says evil or wicked, He’s speaking to people who are already following Him, which gives us insight into what all He means.

When he refers to them as wicked or evil, He’s speaking to them in light of their human nature—we are evil or wicked because of our sinfulness.

Yet, Jesus says that even the wicked give good gifts to their children—we see that even in our modern era. Often, one of the mindsets of parents is to provide for their children in a way that they’re better off in life than they were—this isn’t unique to Christian parents, this is a common conception for most parents.

And Jesus’ idea is really simple, if even those who are actually wicked go out of their way to give good gifts to their children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask?

When considering that the heavenly Father is only ever good—that there is no evil or wickedness in Him whatsoever, it should then astound us as to what all He would do for His people through prayer.

Whereas those who are warped by sin and weighed down by evil and seeped in wickedness do still care for their children—how much more will the only ever good and gracious God care for His children?

Do you see where exactly the contrast is and how great that contrast is?

Now, there are two things that I want to clarify before we jump into application: (1) deals with this idea of God giving the Holy Spirit to them and the (2) has to do with this passage’s cross reference.

Note that there are multiple ways that we can understand this idea of them asking the Father for the Holy Spirit and none of those multiple ways involve asking for the Holy Spirit to do miraculous things through us—what are sometimes referred to as charismatic or sign gifts—though that is often assumed by those from a Pentecostal background.

Rather, let me suggest two ways that seem to consider the context a bit more:

First, think of this from a salvation standpoint—we know that when someone repents and believes, the Spirit indwells them—so, from a salvation standpoint, an unbeliever asking for the Spirit would tie into their salvation. Notice also, that this event in Luke 11 is prior to the day of Pentecost when the Spirit indwells believers permanently for the first time—so there’s a very real idea that it could be genuine believers asking for the Holy Spirit’s presence.

Second, think of this from the standpoint of how the Holy Spirit works—you’ve probably heard me in my prayers mention that the Holy Spirit does several things from the mundane to significant including the ideas of convicting us of sin, drawing us to repentance, helping us to mature in our faith, comforting us, leading us and directing us. Praying for the Holy Spirit can involve asking Him to do these sorts of works within our hearts, minds, and spirit today.

Regardless of whether this is initial salvation or the Spirit’s work after salvation, the idea is the same—if we ask the Spirit to come, if we ask Him to work within us, if we ask Him to mature us and grow us, the Father will give.

Now, let’s deal with the issue of this passage’s cross reference—as you know, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are all accounts of Jesus’ life from the perspective of their respective authors. As such, there are multiple occasions where each author will write their perspective of the same event, and that happens here. Matthew also writes about this idea of asking God and expecting good from God, except there’s a notable difference.

Luke focuses on the heavenly Father giving the Holy Spirit to those who ask, but Matthew seems to focus only on material things—however, let me explain that. In the Matthew passage, which is Matthew 7:7-11, we read this: “7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!”

Almost all of it is the same or very similar with the exception of v. 11. In the Luke passage, that’s when Jesus says that God will give the Holy Spirit—in this passage, according to the ESV, the Father will give good things.

Likewise, in the NASB and CSB, we see good things

In the NIV and NLT we see good gifts

However, if you look at the Greek, there isn’t a word after good.

Rather, if you were to literally translate the verse, you’d read this: πόσῳ μᾶλλον ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς δώσει ἀγαθὰ τοῖς αἰτοῦσιν αὐτόν—How much, rather, the Father in heaven gives good to those who ask.

LSB, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven gives what is good to those who ask Him!”

It’s not necessarily talking about material things, it’s only talking about good, which again, isn’t about what we think is good, but rather, what God thinks is good, which is our sanctification—to be conformed into the image of Jesus Christ, which ultimately happens through the Holy Spirit working within us.

This does not mean that God doesn’t provide for physical needs, in fact, the Lord’s Prayer specifically tells us to pray for physical needs. However, it does tell us that ultimately, however God intends to answer our prayers is good even if He doesn’t answer it the way that we want Him to or the way that we think He ought to.

What this means is that however God chooses to answer our prayers—they’re always answered according to what God knows is good for us as His children.

With that in mind, let’s spend the last few minutes discussing our application.

Application

We started this morning by asking a question. I explained that if you grew up in a Catholic or Orthodox (capital O) background, you’re familiar with the idea of praying to saints or through different people; and so, you might’ve asked, who do we actually pray to? I also mentioned for those of us that didn’t grow up in a church like that, you still might’ve wondered who exactly we pray to, whether that’s to the Father, the Son, or the Holy Spirit. As Christians, who do we actually pray to?

I think the answer is found in passages like Luke 9, Matthew 6 even in the High Priestly prayer and various Old and New Testament passages in which prayer is never directed to a person (whether they’re an apostle, prophet, priest, king), prayer is never directed through a human person (dead or alive), rather, prayer is always directed to one person through one person and empowered by one person.

Prayer in Scripture is always directed to God, the Father. And while in the Old Testament, we don’t clearly see how the Trinity works within prayer, we do in the New Testament. In the New Testament, we’re told that it is Jesus who mediates on our behalf (He is the one person who makes prayer possible); and the Spirit helps us to pray rightly and even on our behalf (He is the one person who empowers prayer). I’ve always found it very interesting that all three persons of the Trinity are intimately connected with our prayer—so much so, that apart from the Trinity, we wouldn’t be able to pray, we couldn’t be effective in prayer, and there really wouldn’t be any power behind our prayer whatsoever—all of which are significant.

The Holy Spirit empowers us to pray to the Father through Jesus Christ who mediates on our behalf, which is an absolute beautiful thing if you think about it.

With that said, let me give you two applications (1) which comes directly from Luke 11 and the other (2), which deals with the person to whom we pray.

We’ll start with the second.

Knowing that we pray to the Father while being empowered by the Spirit through the mediatory work of Jesus Christ actually informs our prayer quite a bit. It actually forces us to rely completely on God in our prayer.

And I know that might sound unusual—that we would even have to say that, but I think it’s an important detail to note because often in prayer, we rely on our own ability to pray rather than on the Father who we pray to, the Son who we pray through, and the Spirit who empowers the whole thing.

For instance, if a prayer isn’t answered the way that we think it ought to, we sometimes just assume we didn’t pray right—and while that could be the case, the Bible’s pretty clear that even when we pray wrongly, the Spirit intercedes and prays for us. It’s not really our ability that makes prayer effective, it’s our faith in the one who we pray through and to.

Or, for instance, we might pray with the assumption that God won’t answer prayer, which as James says, makes us a double-minded person. Instead of actually relying on God in our prayer, we assume that God isn’t reliable and that He won’t do what’s absolutely best for us.

But, if we truly know God and we’re familiar with His attributes—that He’s only ever good, that He’s reliable, that He’s trustworthy, true, faithful to His people, and He genuinely cares and loves His children, why wouldn’t we assume that we should rely on God completely even in our prayer life?

Because God is active in every aspect of our prayer, we should trust that He will do what’s best for us—even if we struggle to pray what we think and feel; even if we struggle to articulate what we want to pray about, God knows and He has it under His control.

And since He is the all-sovereign providential God, we can trust that whatever happens when we pray, while we pray, and after we pray is exactly what He intends to happen for our good—to sanctify us and grow us into the image of Jesus Christ.

You need to rely on God in your prayer—for every aspect of it, the enabling power of the Spirit, the mediatory role of Jesus, and the teleological or ultimate purpose—to simply speak to the Father. Trust Him even in the process of prayer.

Now, concerning the text itself for today—I think the best way to apply this text, is to remember that God chose to describe Himself as our Father.

He could’ve described Himself in a number of different ways—and He does throughout Scripture.

Sometimes He is the judge, sometimes He is a warrior, sometimes He is like a bird who shelters us under His wings.

Often, He describes Himself utilizing relational ideas—really He describes Himself as a Father to His people—and that’s intentional because it’s meant to remind us of how a good father acts and treats towards his children and then recognize that God is far better than any good earthly father.

Now, consider why He would describe Himself relationally when talking about prayer—in conjunction with last week’s question and answer (what is prayer?). Prayer is our effort to speak with God because we don’t physically see Him face-to-face yet.

Why does He allow us to pray to Him? Because He is a Father to His children and He delights to hear from His children—He cares for you because you are his.

And as our heavenly Father, He delights to give what is good, but that good might not be what we consider to be good—in fact, often it isn’t.

And yet, we know that it is good because He is good and He only ever gives good to us.

With this in mind—knowing that He is good and that He is our heavenly Father, it should compel us to do two things—it should convince us to trust Him and it should help us to be more open with our prayer to Him—He is our Father. Speak to Him like you would your Father knowing that He is only ever good.

Recognize in the relational aspect of things—that you have a close relationship with the Father because of the Son empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Cry out to Him because He is your Father who cares for you, loves you, and gives good to you.

Speak to Him because He wants to hear from you—you are His child.

Knowing that God describes Himself as your Father—you should trust Him in your prayer and you should pray to Him like He is your Father.

The question for today was to whom do we pray? And the answer is overwhelmingly, we pray to God who is our heavenly Father and He is only ever good—so we should rely on Him through prayer, trust Him in prayer, and speak to Him as our Father.

Pastoral Prayer