Parables on Prayer

Intro

The story is told of a man who got a permit to open the first tavern in a small town. The members of a local church were strongly opposed to the bar, so they began to pray that God would intervene. A few days before the tavern was scheduled to open, lightning hit the structure and it burned to the ground. The people of the church were surprised but pleased – until they received notice that the would-be tavern owner was suing them. He contended that their prayers were responsible for the burning of the building. They denied the charge. At the conclusion of the preliminary hearing, the judge wryly remarked, “At this point I don’t know what my decision will be, but it seems that the tavern owner believes in the power of prayer and these church people don’t.”

As you know I’ve been addressing topics that you all requested to know more about through the questionnaire that you filled out earlier this summer.

This month we will be using the parables of Jesus to address some of the top requested topics you requested so this morning we will be discussing prayer, and I hope you can join us tonight as we look at the influence that the church is called to have on the world around us.

In Jesus’ disciples asked Jesus a question that we would do well to answer this morning before we begin our series over the parables of Jesus. The disciples approached Jesus and asked him point blank, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” Them of course being the massive crowds that would gather to hear him speak, which would of course include the scribes and pharisees, those genuinely interested in learning from Jesus and those only interested in hoping to hear him say something they could condemn. And this would have been a great question, especially since in the synoptic Gospels, Matthew - Mark - and Luke , a third of the teachings of Jesus are done through the use of parables.

In response to this question Jesus says

He speaks plainly to the disciples the secrets of the kingdom of heaven

but he speaks to the multitudes in parables because though they see, they do not see, though they hear, they do not hear or understand.

This tells us two things about regarding the parables

They reveal secrets of the kingdom of heaven

They require a desire on the part of the hearers to do more than hear a story, but to understand the spiritual implications with more than their minds, but with their hearts.

And so before we begin this study it will prove helpful to calibrate our hearts and minds toward interpreting parables before we begin our month long study on what the parables reveal to us about the secrets of the kingdom of heaven.

Interpreting the Parables

What is a Parable?

Much debated, but I think a sufficient answer is “An earthly story with a heavenly meaning for those who do not have their hearts so hardened to understand them.”

Jesus would take everyday accounts, everyday events and things that the people would understand, and allow spiritual truths to be revealed to them as the story unfolded.

Major themes would have been well understood by everyone in the culture

Servant - Master dynamic

Hospitality

Money

Agriculture

Food

His parables would take advantage of conventional wisdom and understanding of the nature of mankind and the physical world to shed light on deeper and more important spiritual matters.

Often times he would do this by way of comparing and contrasting.

By saying that something is like something, or by saying it is not like something.

Therefore, there are some things that we ought to keep at the forefront of our minds as we read and discuss the parables this month.

Read the parables as though you are sitting at the feet of Jesus hearing them for the first time

We often stress the importance of placing scripture into it’s historical and literary context, but it is especially easy with the parables to try to see them through modern lenses instead of looking at the primary meaning for a first century Jewish hearer.

I’m not saying that we can’t make application of the parables for us today, but the best application must first have the proper understanding for what it meant for the original audiences.

So as we read the parables, try to clear your mind of your preconceptions. See yourself sitting at the feet of this amazing man Jesus who has just healed you or your friend from some terrible ailment, and is now speaking to you with authority from the scriptures

Take into account what he has just said before, what he will say after, where he is and who he is speaking to.

Take note of how the parable conforms to the teachings of Jesus elsewhere in scripture.

This is important because it keeps us from drawing conclusions from the parables that contradict the other teachings of Christ.

The parables are sometimes an illustration, yet sometimes are the sermon.

Look for the big takeaway.

What does the parable reveal about God, about Jesus, about his kingdom, about what he expects from us and what we can expect from him.

So with that brief introduction to the parables, we continue to our focus this morning, what the parables have to tell us about prayer.

Context

Our scripture reading this morning came from

And so before we begin to look at the parable this morning we need to become familiar with the context in which this parable sits.

In Luke chapter 9 we are told that Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem and that he’s stopping to teach from village to village as he goes.

He’s sent out the 72 to preach ahead of him and they have returned amazed by the fact that even the demons were subjected to them through the authority Jesus had given them.

and in Chapter 11 we find Jesus himself praying as we often read of him doing.

Jesus’ prayers affected the disciples.

So much so that they humbly seek out instruction from Jesus on how to pray.

Where we get what is often called the “lord’s prayer” but this isn’t a prayer that Jesus is praying so much as it’s a model prayer that Jesus provides.

Similar recorded statement in in the sermon on the Mount.

Keys from the Model Prayer

“Father, hollowed be your name.”

the world hollowed means “honored as holy”.

Have you ever wondered why Jesus put this phrase into his model prayer for his disciples?

I mean, this isn’t so much a request as it is a true statement that we can’t control. God’s name is holy, it always has been, and it always will be.

Well I think Jesus wants us to realize first and foremost that when we pray, we are kneeling before the throne of almighty God.

That this isn’t just something that we should do half distracted while looking at our phones, but that we give the attention that we ought to give our Holy God.

and he moves from this to say

“Your kingdom come.”

Again, this is something that is guaranteed to happen, yet we are reminded to pray for it here I think for a few reasons.

1. We as followers of Christ ought to be longing for his return and the Joy and Peace that he will bring with it.

2. When we approach God’s throne as children of God, we should be aware of how our request will be used in the kingdom of God.

In other words, we should be aware of our motives when we come before God in prayer.

James 4:3 ESV

3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.

When we pray with the mindset “your kingdom come”, and include what Matthew recorded in chapter 6 “Your will be done” We should become aware of our motives for what we are praying and how those things are to be accomplished through what we desire.

*Joke Illustration* Throw our money in the air and whatever doesn’t come down he can keep.

The truth is that if we aren’t careful we can approach God with that mindset, that we want something from him not to be used for him, but for our selfish desires.

“our daily bread” - Understand that God cares for our physical needs

forgive us our sins - Spiritual needs and how that ought to translate into us forgiving others.

Asking for strength in times of temptation.

And so as we place ourselves at the feet of Jesus as one of his disciples, having just heard this parable, having been sent out to preach and teach about the kingdom of God and having been eyewitnesses to the amazing things that Jesus is doing, We we arrive at the parable that teaches us what we can expect from God in response to our prayers.

Pray to God Expecting More than from a Friend or Neighbor -

He begins in v. 5 with a question that proceeds to the end of verse 7.

And so before we begin to look at the parable this morning we need to become familiar with the context in which this parable sits.

In Luke chapter 9 we are told that Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem and that he’s stopping to teach from village to village as he goes.

He’s sent out the 72 to preach ahead of him and they have returned amazed by the fact that even the demons were subjected to them through the authority Jesus had given them.

and in Chapter 11 we find Jesus himself praying as we often read of him doing.

Jesus’ prayers affected the disciples.

So much so that they humbly seek out instruction from Jesus on how to pray.

Where we get what is often called the “lord’s prayer” but this isn’t a prayer that Jesus is praying so much as it’s a model prayer that Jesus provides.

Similar recorded statement in in the sermon on the Mount.

Keys from the Model Prayer

“Father, hollowed be your name.”

the world hollowed means “honored as holy”.

Have you ever wondered why Jesus put this phrase into his model prayer for his disciples?

I mean, this isn’t so much a request as it is a true statement that we can’t control. God’s name is holy, it always has been, and it always will be.

Well I think Jesus wants us to realize first and foremost that when we pray, we are kneeling before the throne of almighty God.

That this isn’t just something that we should do half distracted while looking at our phones, but that we give the attention that we ought to give our Holy God.

and he moves from this to say

“Your kingdom come.”

Again, this is something that is guaranteed to happen, yet we are reminded to pray for it here I think for a few reasons.

1. We as followers of Christ ought to be longing for his return and the Joy and Peace that he will bring with it.

2. When we approach God’s throne as children of God, we should be aware of how our request will be used in the kingdom of God.

In other words, we should be aware of our motives when we come before God in prayer.

James 4:3 ESV

3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.

When we pray with the mindset “your kingdom come”, and include what Matthew recorded in chapter 6 “Your will be done” We should become aware of our motives for what we are praying and how those things are to be accomplished through what we desire.

*Joke Illustration* Throw our money in the air and whatever doesn’t come down he can keep.

The truth is that if we aren’t careful we can approach God with that mindset, that we want something from him not to be used for him, but for our selfish desires.

“our daily bread” - Understand that God cares for our physical needs

forgive us our sins - Spiritual needs and how that ought to translate into us forgiving others.

Asking for strength in times of temptation.

It is in the shadow of this prayer about teaching that we arrive at the parable that teaches us what we can expect from God in response to our prayers.

Luke 11:5–7 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’?

Now for us today we would likely answer much differently than those who were sitting at the feet of Jesus that day.

We might indeed have friends or neighbors who if we knocked on their door at midnight would just refuse to answer the door!

Breakdown story - Mean people’s house.

Hospitality was a big deal in this part of the world at that time, and from what I understand still is today.

Honor/Shame culture would drive much of what is expected from a neighbor.

JESUS IS ASKING, “WHICH ONE OF YOU WOULD EXPECT THIS KIND OF INHOSPITABLE BEHAVIOR FROM YOUR FRIEND? DOES ANYONE HAVE A NEIGHBOR LIKE THIS, WHO THOUGH IT’S INCONVENIENT WOULD DENY YOUR REQUEST?”

THE ANSWER WOULD BE “NONE OF US!”

But then Jesus takes it a step further,

Luke 11:8 ESV

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.

Jesus goes on to say, even if a man would refuse to give his friend what he requests because of their friendship, he will ultimately rise and give him whatever he needs because of his impudence.

Impudence here is also translated in other versions as persistence or shamelessness.

Jesus is saying, “The odds of a person refusing to fulfill this request are small, but even if there was such a person, he would fulfill it because of the persons persistence in asking.”

Impudence comes from the greek word ἀναίδεια which is also translated in other versions as

Shamelessness

I tell you, I think kids are born knowing this parable.

persistance

There is a sense in which we are to bring our requests to God in this way. Not that he doesn’t hear us the first time, or the first 10,000 times, but God wants us to rely on Him, to trust in Him, to never stop believing that he hears us and cares for us and we train ourselves to do that by never stopping to bring our requests to Him.

But this I don’t think is the big point of this parable, for that we need to go to part two of the parable

Pray to God Expecting More than from an ‘evil’ Father -

Luke 11:9–10 ESV

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.

Luke 11.

Pray to God Expecting More than from a Unjust Judge -

Conclusion

Jesus tells throughout scripture how to pray:

In in his sermon on the mount he instructed that prayer should never be for show, that we shouldn’t heap up empty phrases or use a great deal of words or vain repetition, that prayer doesn’t need to be a long drawn out process because God knows what we need before we ask.

But these parables regarding prayer today teach us something deeper about prayer, it teaches us to expect more from God than what we expect from unrighteous men.

We expect that men will eventually give in due to pressures, either cultural or otherwise