The teaching and witness of prayer

A detailed Account - Gospel of Luke  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  45:43
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Priority, what does that mean?

Priority: (N) the fact or condition of being regarded or treated as more important.
What are things that are a priority in your life?
Have your priorities changed over the years, can they change, should they change?
(Transition) In our passage tonight we will see the priority of prayer when it came to the life of Jesus, the pattern of prayer that He teaches, then the boldness and persistence of prayer is exampled through a story. So, may we join together and read our passage?

Our passage

Luke 11:1 NASB95
1 It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.”
Luke 11:2–3 NASB95
2 And He said to them, “When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. 3 ‘Give us each day our daily bread.
Luke 11:4–5 NASB95
4 ‘And forgive us our sins, For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.’ ” 5 Then He said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves;
Luke 11:6–7 NASB95
6 for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and from inside he answers and says, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.
Luke 11:8–9 NASB95
8 “I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much 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.
Luke 11:10–11 NASB95
10 “For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened. 11 “Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he?
Luke 11:12–13 NASB95
12 “Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? 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?”
Anything in particular stick out to you in this section?
What was the disciples request of Jesus, and when was it made (v.1)?
Teach us to pray
They asked after He finished praying in a certain place.
There are some specific instructions about prayer found in (vv.2-3), identify them.
When you pray, so it means they are to pray.
You address the hallowed Father
You ask for His kingdom come
Give us daily bead.
Same thing, look at (v.4) what further instructions do you see?
Forgive us, also that we forgive everyone indebted to us
Lead us not into temptation.
Note: you may wonder why this is not the exact same as you fine in (Mt6:9-13) and that is a good question, hold onto it, we will address it.
What can you learn about the man who came at midnight (v.5)?
He is a friend
He is willing to pay back the loaves
In (v.6) you see why needs it, but how does the man respond (v.7)?
Door shut, children and I are in bed and cannot get up and give you anything.
Why does the man give in (v.8)?
Because of his persistence
In the teaching, Jesus tells them to do 3-things, what are they (v.9)?
Ask, seek, knock
You can see the results (v.10), what are they?
asks=receives; seeks=finds; knocks=will be opened.
All of this to get to what Jesus really wanted to get to (vv.11-13) what do you see what a father will not do (v.11)?
Will not give a snake instead of a fish
In (v.12) what will a father not do?
Will not give a scorpion instead of an egg.
Finally (v.13) what will the heavenly father do?
Give greater than good gifts, will give the Holy Spirit.
Warning: This can easily be taken out of context, so hold on we will come back to this verse shortly.

Priority of prayer

When you think of John the Baptist, what comes your mind about him?
The disciples look to, remembered John as a man of prayer. Even Jesus said he was the greatest of the prophets (Lk7:28) and yet John depended on prayer
Jesus disciples wanted to learn to pray better.
They did not ask Jesus to teach them to preach or to do great signs, but to teach them to pray.
Jesus made prayer a priority, and exampled it many times over (Lk3:21, 6:12, 5:16, 9:18, 9:29, and Mk1:35)
At baptism
At choosing of twelve
At increasing crowds
Before the confession of faith, call of faith of the apostles.
And it was known that often he would go off and do it alone.
“Prayer is so simple that the smallest child can pray, but it is so great that the mightiest man of God cannot be said to truly have mastered it.” (Guzik)
Application: May we be people who prioritize prayer as exampled by Jesus, then taught to the apostles, and learn to do it more and more.

Pattern for prayer

Luke 11:2–4 NASB95
2 And He said to them, “When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. 3 ‘Give us each day our daily bread. 4 ‘And forgive us our sins, For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.’ ”
Commonly known as the Lord’s prayer, for this is the pattern the Lord taught the disciples the pray.
Though many of us can recite this prayer, may we not allow it to become so common that it looses its meaning. It is not a problem with the prayer, the problem is with us.
The parallel prayer, not word for word is found in (Mt6:9-15).
In the Lord’s prayer we can learn some things we need to know.
True prayer depends on a relationship with the Father; a relationship that comes through faith; faith in Jesus Christ the Son (consider Rom8:14-17; Gal4:1-7)
True prayer involves responsibilities. Honoring God’s kingdom and doing God’s will (Lk11:2)
True prayer is not telling God what we want for us, it is asking God to accomplish His will in us and through us. And, that His kingdom is exalted and extended when we seek His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.
True prayer involved knowing, learning God’s word. Without God’s word you cannot know the will of God, we should never separate prayer and the word.
John 15:7 NASB95
7 “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
Once we know our relationship and our responsibilities then we can bring our requests to Him (Lk11:3-4)
We can ask Him to provide for our needs, not our greed's. We can ask for forgiveness for what we may have done yesterday, and to lead us in the future.
All our requests can be summed up in material and physical provision, moral and spiritual perfection, and divine protection and direction.
One quote worth mentioning:
“In heaven God’s will is obey by all, spontaneously, with the deepest job and in perfect matter without a shadow of unfaithfulness. and the believer must pray that such a condition should also prevail on earth.” (Geldenhuys).
Ok one more thought I found Three great things are found in this modeled prayer.
Our Father- that requires faith
Your kingdom come - requires faith and hope
Your will be done - requires faith, hope and love and the greatest of these is love.

Persistence in prayer

Jesus draws a contrast from a grouchy neighbor who eventually gave in, to a loving Father who meets the needs of His children.
Jesus is making the lesser to the greater type of argument (fortiori argument)
God the Father is not like the neighbor asleep, for God does not sleep, He is always attentive to His children and delights in being generous in meeting the needs of His children.
This fortiori argument is clear that if persistence finally paid off as a man beat on the door of the neighbor, how much more would persistence bring blessings as we pray to our Father who is in Heaven. We are not neighbors we are in the house with Him, we are His children.
When we pray, we are praying something that brings glory to His name, “Hallowed be Your name,” it is putting God’s reputation at stake. He is a loving Father who takes care of His children as a witness to the world.
“Prayer is not overcoming God’s reluctance; it is laying hold of His highest willingness” (Brooks)

Promise for prayer

What instruction do you find in these verses? In the parallel and original it is in present tense active, to keep asking, seeking, knocking.
He is the God of all time, ages, circumstances and situations. We are to keep coming to Him, not just in the crisis, but in constant communion with him. Jesus called for His disciples to abide and keep abiding in Him (Jn15:1ff); Paul says to pray without ceasing (1The5:17). We can, should because of our relationship with Him through our faith, belief, trust, dependence on the Son.
The promise, simple, that God as the Father knows us, loves us, desires the best for us and will give us the best.
You see that same lesser to greater here, from earthly father, to Heavenly Father. And the greatest gift He gives is His Holy Spirit, His seal of redemption! Available to all who are willing to ask for it through obedience.
(Prayer) (Close)
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