ABCs of Salvation

Learning to Pray

October 20, 1991 PM

Luke 11:1-13 (read 5 - 8 first)

Introduction:

We've been going over basics this fall— for two weeks we've talked about how we know we're saved. Assurance. Growing from child's faith to youth's faith to adult faith to on-going heuristic faith, ever staying in relationship to God in Christ.

Today I ask you to give attention to a key factor in your life which makes or breaks you as a growing Christian: your prayer life. I CANNOT "TEACH YOU TO PRAY."

In the first place, I am not qualified, for that is the task of the Lord Himself and the Holy Spirit whom He sends. "He will guide you into all truth."

In the second place, prayer is something which must be learned 'on the job.' Like any serious discipline, the people who know the most about prayer are the ones who realize that what they don't know about their discipline is greater than what they do. With that caveat...

WE LOOK AT HOW THE MASTER TEACHER BEGAN THE LESSONS OF PRAYER WITH HIS BELOVED DISCIPLES:

I. TEACHING BY EXAMPLE

(v 1) "Jesus was praying"

If Jesus needed to pray . . .

  1. Jesus first LIVED what He taught

    Jesus never said: "Do as I say but don't do as I do!" He did say: "Love as I have loved!" He did say: "As I have washed your feet, so you ought to be servants one to another and wash one another's feet." He did say: "As the Father has sent Me into the world with the Good News, so I am sending you into the world!" He did say: "As the Father and I are one in family love, I want my disciples to be one with us!"

  2. Jesus lived by prayer

    Jesus apparently prayed for human wisdom and strength; He also seemed to want to spend time in the Presence of the Father. Jesus sought times of solitude and retreat so He could pray. And if Jesus needed that, his disciples deduced, properly, that they needed it also. One of them got up nerve to ask Jesus to teach me to pray— and this passage records the 'lesson.'

II. THE LESSON PROPER

(v 2 - 4) "The Lord's Prayer"

Jesus did give them a model prayer to use and study.

  1. A Lesson Jesus Probably Repeated Many Times

    Luke's version is different from Matthew's, even though early manuscripts sought to harmonize them. This indicates to me that this pattern was a lesson that Jesus repeated more than once. The exact words are not as important as the impact of the whole lesson.

  2. The Lesson is an Exercise in Priorities

    Lesson One: God first! God at the center! His name hallowed. His kingdom; His will. His interests should be ahead of our own.

  3. Prayer is Loving Dependency and Trust

    Lesson Two: Dependency and trust. We ask in the way that children ask their parents: Give us! Forgive us! Show us how! Keep us in good graces!

  4. So just "saying prayer" is not praying

    Lesson Three: Persistence!

III. A WORD PICTURE TO ILLUSTRATE HIS MAIN POINT

(v 5- )

  1. Many cogent lessons can begin with the Model Prayer
    1. We assume that the Model Prayer is the whole lesson. It was the heart of the lesson. But then came various applications.
    2. In Matthew's Sermon on the Mount the Model Prayer is immediately followed by expanded attention to that part of the lesson dealing with forgiveness. ("If you don't find grace to forgive, you won't be able to find grace to be forgiven!".)
    3. Here in Luke Jesus wants to emphasize something else; just as basic, perhaps even more basic than forgiveness. Jesus wants to underscore persistence in praying. He does it with a story. (And He has several similar stories through the Gospels.)
  2. Here the lesson is persistence
    1. Jesus paints a word-picture:

      A reluctant friend is contrasted to the loving heavenly Father. It is sort of humorous: It is late at night when a second cousin arrives from Emmaus or Sychar or somewhere. He is hungry- been on the road all day. There isn't a thing in the breadbox; you've been meaning to go to the market first thing in the morning. But Cousin Phil can't wait. So— I think I'll just go next door and borrow three loaves of bread from Paul Trout the Baker.

      But Paul is in bed. The Bible says he is in bed with all twelve of his children. I always pictured a real wide bed with all their little heads sticking out the top— like the seven dwarfs or something. He doesn't want to be disturbed, and I don't blame him. It isn't hard for me to imagine the disciples laughing a little.

      But they get the message! As I keep hollering and throwing stones at Paul's window, he finally says: "If I get him the bread maybe I can shut him up and get to sleep!" My shameless persistence pays off! I'm glad Paul doesn't have a phone to call the Temple Guards on me! If he did have a phone there wouldn't be any AT&T service because it hadn't been invented yet.

    2. So you see that the moral or the one thought in this lesson story is that somehow we are to keep on praying. It is NOT that God is reluctant to hear us, or that He doesn't want to grant us what we need. God is NOT like the Baker who doesn't want to get out of bed.
  3. The story is followed by direct instruction: ASK, SEEK, KNOCK.
    1. These verbs are all in the present imperative:

      "Ask and keep asking" "Seek and keep seeking." "Knock and keep knocking"

      In the mystery of prayer Jesus is saying there is a dimension, a factor, an element, a side of prayer that relates to power and effectiveness that is tied up with no quitting! Dogged persistence! Not persisting in having MY way, now. No- we've already prayed "THY name ... THY kingdom ... THY will!!!" Now as we ask for bread and forgiveness and guidance we simply hang in there and won't take "no" for an answer!

    2. Jesus slips back into his story teller, word picture mode when He contrasts again: You don't surprise your children with less and worse than they ask! And you are tainted with selfishness and sin. If you ask the heavenly Father, He may surprise you— but it will be with something far better than you can ask or think!

IV. THE CLIMAX OF THIS LESSON ON PRAYER

(v 13) THE HOLY SPIRIT

We pray in order to be filled.

When we are filled we can pray.

  1. The Spirit within: an end in itself!

    Being filled is in itself an end; we are beloved of God. Unless and until we grasp this, we are forever seeking to use the Presence to get on to the "important stuff."

  2. The Spirit within: TO DO AS WELL AS BE!

    Whatever the Holy Spirit wants to do with us is important stuff! And when we are filled, our praying goes beyond the lesson stage, and gets into the reality of spiritual happening.

  3. (CONCLUSION:) I say with the disciple who was bold enough to step forward and ask: Lord, Teach me to pray!

Prayer

Hymn O to Be Like Thee