“Holy Prayer” -- Luke 11:1-13

What do we do when we need something? “Something” can be anything, from information to funding to direction—it can be anything.

One of the best ways to get something we need is to ask for it. If I’m looking for a person or place, I ask someone for directions or whether they have seen the person. If I’m looking for an explanation about something, I ask for it.

How can we learn if we don’t ask? And how can we get something if we don’t ask?

At the same time, if the only time we talk to someone is to ask something of them, then soon that person will lose any interest in seeing us coming. Asking questions is an important part of learning, but we also pick up on things if we will take the time to talk with others and listen to them when they talk with us.

In today’s passage, one of Jesus’ disciples makes a request—“Teach us to pray.” The resulting passage gives us a solid foundation on how to pray and why we pray.

Background

This passage takes place after some significant events have taken place. In Luke 9:51, we read that Jesus had resolutely set out for Jerusalem, knowing that this was the time that He would be betrayed and crucified.

Jesus also sent 72 of His followers into the towns and villages where Jesus planned pass through on His way to Jerusalem. Jesus began the instructions to these men with the words, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field” (10:2).

Upon returning from their mission trip, the ones who had gone out came back on a spiritual high, proclaiming that “even the demons submit to us in Your name” (v.17b). Jesus affirms what they had done, but tells them, “However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoicethat your names are written in heaven” (v. 20).

Later, Jesus is confronted by a teacher of the law and asked what the greatest command is. Jesus lets the teacher answer the question, affirms his answer and then, when the man asks Jesus to define what “neighbor” means, Jesus gives the parable of the Good Samaritan. When Jesus asks the teacher which of the three was a neighbor, the teacher replies, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus’ response is to the point: “Go and do likewise” (v. 37).

Exactly when today’s passage took place isn’t specific, but we know it happens on the road to Jerusalem and after the events we just described. We can say the day wasn’t an unusual day, but rather a typical day in the life of Jesus and His disciples. The disciples observe something and ask Jesus to explain it or teach them what He is doing. In this particular passage, the subject is on the matter of prayer. Prayer is an essential part of living a holy life, as we shall see in these verses.

We’ll be focusing primarily on the first four verses because there is a lot of information in these verses that speaks to us about prayer and the life of the Christian. As we look at these verses, we need to keep in mind the following:

Central Truth: The holy life is a prayerful life.

Jesus’ lessons on prayer include:

1. A model (1-4)

It’s not unusual for us to want to emulate someone we admire. Children often will take on the mannerisms of their parents. We often become similar to our friends, using their phrases or dressing similar to them. With this in mind, it’s not surprising that the disciples would want to imitate Jesus in the things they did and said.

The first thing we need to notice about these verses is that it makes a matter-of-fact statement that Jesus was praying. There are several passages that speaks about Jesus praying. Luke records that Jesus prayed after His baptism (cf. Luke 3:21). Mark tells us Jesus prayed early in the morning (cf. Mark 1:35) and that He went up on a mountainside to pray after feeding the 5000 (cf. Matthew 14:23; Mark 6:46). Luke writes that Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed (Luke 5:16). Sometimes, Jesus would pray all night (cf. Luke 6:12). There are plenty of examples of Jesus praying.

This should tell us that we, too, should pray. If Jesus, the Son of God, believed He needed to commune with the Father on a regular basis, then we have more need of a life of prayer. We pray to hear the voice of God and to express ourselves to Him. Granted, God knows us better than we know ourselves and that He knows our needs before we ask Him. This might suggest that there is no need to pray. That’s not the case. We pray because it keeps us in touch with our Father in heaven. We pray because it reminds us of what’s important and what’s not.

Because Jesus prayed, we, too, must pray.

The second thing we see in this first verse is that prayer is a learned discipline. We don’t automatically become prayer warriors the moment we come to Christ. Like anyone who wants to become proficient in doing something, we need to learn what to do and why to do it. The disciples understood this. That’s why one of the disciples took the time to ask Jesus to teach them to pray.

In response, Jesus instructed the disciples with the Model Prayer, also called the Lord’s Prayer. This model is also found in Matthew 6, in the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew offers a more detailed model than Luke includes here. This doesn’t mean that Luke’s version is not accurate. It’s quite possible that Jesus used the model numerous times. The prayer used in the Sermon on the Mount was directed to Jesus’ disciples and the listeners in general. Here, Jesus is instructing the disciples specifically. It may be that Jesus chose to reduce the model to the basics in His first lesson on prayer. It’s reasonable to assume that Jesus’ lessons on prayer did not end with v. 13, but was extended throughout the remainder of Jesus’ time with His disciples.

Regardless of the comparisons between the Matthew version and here, the focus is equally the same. In this model, Jesus introduces some important aspects about our relationship with God and how we come into His presence in prayer.

The very first thing Jesus does is He teaches us to address God as “Father.” The term Jesus uses is the Aramaic word “abba,” which was the familiar term a child would use for his or her dad. The idea of God as Father is found in the Old Testament, but God’s fatherhood is not stressed there. Here, Jesus brings the idea of God the Father to the forefront of our relationship. In addressing God as “Father” or “Dad,” we are immediately changing our prayer life from one of distant supplicant to one of a child coming to their father. Remember how and why we would speak to our parents, either father or mother, and we see how this changes our prayers.

Having addressed the familiarity of our coming into the Father’s presence, Jesus immediately teaches us that not is God Father, but He is holy and worthy of reverence on our part. When we pray, “hallowed be Your name,” we are not asking that God be made holy. Instead, we are acknowledging that He alone is holy, He alone is worthy of worship and adoration. We do not come into God’s presence and think of Him as “the man upstairs” or a grandfatherly type who dotes on us. He is God, and He is majestic, mighty and awe-inspiring. When we come into the Father’s presence, we approach Him as a child, yes, but we also approach Him as God.

In teaching us “Your kingdom come,” Jesus is telling us that the Father who is worthy of worship is also worthy of our obedience. It is a recognition that He is Lord (kingdoms must have kings), and that God’s kingdom is destined to be over all creation, including our world. In asking that God’s kingdom come, we are acknowledging that the kingdom has not been fully established yet on earth, but that one day it will. This will come when Christ returns in His glory. Through Jesus’ ministry, including His crucifixion and resurrection, Jesus has ushered the kingdom into our world and into our lives, but the ultimate victory is yet to come. By referring to God’s kingdom, we are acknowledging that He is lord of our lives and that He is the bringer of victory over Satan in all matters.

In Luke’s account, Jesus teaches, “Give us each day our daily bread.” Matthew says, “Gives us this day our daily bread.” Not much of a difference, but there is a difference. Luke’s version is a reminder that we are continually dependent upon God for our sustenance and our direction. Harking back to the days when God gave manna each day to the nation of Israel, Jesus teaches us to focus on this day, not tomorrow. Our goal is to make this day count, and that each day as it comes is one in which we will rely on God’s grace and mercy.

Luke next records Jesus as teaching, “Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.” In the Sermon on the Mount, following the giving of the Model Prayer, Jesus says, “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins” (Matthew 6:14-15). The emphasis on forgiveness is central to our relationship with God and with those around us. Because we are called to follow Christ, we must be like Him, forgiving those who sin against us, even if they know what they are doing.

Finally, there is the prayer that we are avoid temptation and ask God to give us the wisdom to recognize temptation and the power to overcome it. Jesus raises this issue with the disciples when Jesus goes to the Garden of Gethsemane the night He is betrayed. In Matthew, the Bible says, “Then He returned to His disciples and found them sleeping. ‘Could you men not keep watch with Me for one hour?’ He asked Peter. ‘Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:40-41). Temptation is our constant battle with Satan as he seeks to lure us away from the Father’s will. If we will overcome temptation, we need God’s power and strength.

Jesus, who is our model for living, was a man of prayer. His life and His words provide us a model for prayer.

2. A call for persistence (5-10)

Jesus follows the Model Prayer with a parable that stresses the need for us to be persistent in our prayers.

The parable is about a man who knocks on his neighbor’s door late at night, seeking food for a late-arriving guest at his own house. Bread was made each day, and usually only enough bread to last for one day. The climate in Israel was such that it was not unusual for travelers to travel late in the day, arriving at their destination late at night. Politeness required the host to provide a meal for the late-arriving guest. Because the man’s family had eaten all their bread, he went to the neighbor’s to get bread from them.

The neighbor’s response is not that they don’t have bread, but they’re all in bed, most of them are sound asleep. Since everyone is sleeping in a single room, for the neighbor to get up and unlock the door is an invitation to awaken the entire family.

The one at the door continues to knock and call out, to the point that the neighbor finally gets up, opens the door and gives bread to the one who has woken him up.

The point of the parable is for us to be persistent in our prayers. To equate God as the sleepy neighbor who has to be badgered into giving us what we need is inaccurate. The point of the parable is that, too often, we expect immediate responses to our prayers. When we don’t get the answer as quickly as we expect, we give up and don’t keep asking.

Jesus tells us, though, that we are to keep asking, keep seeking and keep knocking. If we keep on asking, seeking and knocking, we will find that answers will come, searches will be fruitful and doors will be opened to us.

Again, this should not be read as if we keep badgering God, He will eventually give in and do what we ask. God is never obligated to us for anything. As we’ll learn in weeks to come, prayer is our way of submitting ourselves to the Father. Asking in Jesus’ name is not a magical phrase but an acknowledgement that the disciple’s life is one of daily surrender to Christ in order that He may live through us.

What Jesus is telling us that we should not become discouraged in our prayers. We may not get immediate answers, but that doesn’t mean that God is not listening. When we were children, we’d go to our parents and keep asking for something if we really wanted it. We’d ask and ask and ask until we either got it or the parents gave us a firm, “No.” It’s the same with the Father.

When we pray, we must be persistent in our prayers.

3. Faith in the Father (11-13)

It’s not often that Jesus calls people “evil,” but He does in His conclusion in His first lesson on prayer. He doesn’t really call us “evil,” but in comparison to God the Father, the label fits.

Jesus has just told us how we should pray, approaching the Father with a reverence and an awareness of His supremacy and His grace and mercy. He has told us to be persistent in our prayers, to persevere in seeking God’s will. Now Jesus reminds us that God the Father is a righteous, loving Father who delights in giving good gifts to His children.

Not all fathers are like 1960’s sitcom dads—we’re not all Andy Taylor, Ward Cleaver from “Leave It to Beaver” or Jim Anderson from “Father Knows Best.” But most fathers do want what is best for their children.

Jesus uses that to remind us that if we, as human dads, want to provide for our child’s necessities such as nourishing food, then why should we expect God as Father to want less for us? If a child asks for fish or an egg (or bread from Matthew), we don’t hand them a snake, scorpion or a stone. We give them the best fish, egg and/or bread we have on hand.

In comparison to God, we are evil. If evil people look to give the good things to their children, we should expect God to provide for our well-being as well.

Luke says God will give us the Holy Spirit if we ask. There are those who have tried to use this text as proof that we have to specifically ask God for the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, but that doesn’t fit the overall context of the New Testament. Jesus repeatedly tells us in John 13-16 that He is the One who will ask the Father, and the Father will send the Spirit. In Acts, Jesus tells the disciples to wait and the Spirit will come. There is no record in the Bible to indicate people were eagerly praying for the presence of the Spirit in their lives.

So why does Luke insert this promise into his Gospel account? Luke had an awareness of the Holy Spirit, and he knew that the Spirit was God’s greatest gift to us since the coming of Christ. We ask the Father for gifts; what greater gift can He give us than the Spirit?

Jesus’ point in this short analogy is to remind us that when we pray, we should pray with confidence and with the assurance that God hears our prayers and is faithful to answer them according to His will.

When we pray, we need to have faith in the Father to hear our prayers.

Conclusion

“Lord, teach us to pray.”

The disciple’s question for Jesus is one that should be on all our lips and hearts. We, too, should want to learn not only to pray, but how to do it. We need to be in prayerful communication with God if we want to live holy lives.

If we will pray, we need to follow Jesus’ example and model. We need to be persistent in our prayers. We need to have faith in the Father to hear and answer our prayers.