Deo Gloria
Sermon for July 24, 2022
Pastor Martin Bentz
Text: Luke 11:1-13
Theme: Lord, Teach Us to Pray!
- As children approach their dear Father
- According to God’s will
- With confidence that God will hear and answer
Imagine you had a friend or relative who was a personal friend of Elon Musk. And that friend or relative told you that Elon considers any friend of one of his friends to be a friend of his as well. So, you are now a friend by extension of Elon Musk. And your friend also told you that Elon is always ready and willing to help his friends. In fact he made it clear that if you need something or if you’re in trouble and you need some help, just call. Seriously, if you need some help, all you have to do is call and Elon will do whatever he can to help you. And then your friend actually gave you his number. Wow! Talk about a privilege! Talk about an incredible privilege! I imagine you’d feel pretty special to have that kind of relationship with Elon Musk, to be considered one of his friends and to have a standing invitation that you could call him for help anytime. Wow!
Actually, you are pretty special, not because you have a connection or close friendship with Elon Musk, but because you have a connection and very close relationship with God—that’s right, with the CEO of heaven and earth. And you have a standing invitation from him, that you can call him anytime, for help, for comfort, for peace, for wisdom, for strength—anything you need. Wow! What an awesome privilege! And what a tremendous blessing, a blessing we call prayer!
So how should we use this awesome privilege? How should we approach God in prayer? And what kinds of things should we pray for? Jesus shows us today in these verses from Luke ch. 11. Just as he taught his disciples to pray, he teaches us as well. So let’s listen carefully, shall we? Lord, teach us to pray!
As Luke tells us, Jesus was praying in a certain place. There was nothing unusual about that. We often read in the gospels that Jesus spent time with his heavenly Father in prayer. When he finished, one of his disciples asked him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
Jesus didn’t hesitate. “Teach you to pray? Of course. I’d be happy to. When you pray, say, ‘Father,’”(v. 2).
Whoa! What a minute. When we pray to God, we are to call him Father? What right do I have to do that? A Muslim would never speak to Allah that way. Allah is much too high, much too exalted, much too glorious to be addressed in that way. A Muslim would never dare calling Allah Father. So what right do I have to call God Father?
On my own I have no right at all. I’m a sinner. And so are you. Instead of loving God with all our hearts and putting him first in our lives, we have often loved other things and put him second or third or last in our lives. Instead of obeying his commands, we have often been disobedient and broken his commands. Instead of bringing him honor and glory in our lives, we have often brought him shame and dishonor and disgrace. Because of our sins we don’t deserve to call God our Father. We don’t deserve to have any relationship with God. What we deserve is to be ignored by him and banished from his presence forever.
But all of that has changed because of Jesus. Jesus lived the kind of life we should have lived, a life of perfect love toward God and others, a life of perfect obedience to all of God’s commands, a life that always brought honor and glory and praise to God. He did that for us, as our Savior. And for all of our sins and all of our shortcomings and all of our disobedience and all of our shame and disgrace, Jesus gave his life on the cross as a perfect payment so that we might be forgiven, so that all our sins might be washed away and we might be restored and brought back into a right relationship with God.
And through faith in Jesus that’s exactly what God has done. He has restored our broken relationship. He has adopted us into his family as his children—not just his friends, his children, his very own sons and daughters. And if you and I are children of God, what does that make him? That’s right: Father. You can call God your Father. I can call God my Father. Wow! Isn’t that amazing! “Dad, can we go to Dairy Queen after supper and get some ice cream? Dad, will you play catch with me? Dad, will you push me on the swing?” That’s the kind of close, personal relationship we enjoy with God because of Jesus our Savior. And that makes all the difference in the world when we approach him in prayer. We don’t have to say, “Your Majesty” or “Your Highness” or “Mr. God.” We can call him Father.
Next let’s look at the various petitions or requests Jesus makes in the prayer he taught his disciples:
“…hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. [Some Greek manuscripts also include “your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”] Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation. [And again some manuscripts include “but deliver us from the evil one.”] (vv. 2-4)
So what do we see when we look at these petitions? We see a focus on spiritual things, don’t we, on Godly things? In fact, of the five petitions here (7 if you include the two additional ones)—of the five petitions only one has to do with earthly things. Jesus is teaching us to put a priority on and to especially pray for spiritual things, not just the things we want from God, but the vital and important spiritual blessings God wants to give us: his name, so we can know him and be saved; his kingdom, his gracious rule in our hearts; that his good and gracious will is done in our lives; forgiveness for all our sins; protection from the devil and his temptations. Yes, we can pray for our daily bread as well, that God would give us what we need to live day by day. And we can pray for Grandma Anderson who just lost her husband, and for Uncle Fred who is recovering from surgery, and for our neighbor who just lost his job, and for our cousin who is expecting a baby. Yes, we can certainly pray for those things too; but those aren’t the most important things. The most important things are the spiritual things, the things that have to do with the health of my soul and the souls of my family and friends and neighbors. This is what it means to pray according to God’s will. And this is part of the lesson Jesus is teaching us in these verses. When you pray, be sure to pray about those spiritual matters, those things that impact your soul and your eternal salvation.
And then Jesus continues with a little illustration:
Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, “Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.”
Then the one inside answers, “Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.” I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man’s persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs.(vv. 7+8)
And in verses 11+12 he offers a couple more illustrations: “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?” So what’s the point? If your friend will help you out in a pinch even if it happens to be the middle of the night, won’t your heavenly Father help you when you ask for his help, even if it’s the middle of the night? And if you, as a father, know how to give good gifts to your children, won’t your heavenly Father give you, his child, good gifts in response to your prayers? Of course he will!
So ask. Don’t be hesitant. Don’t be reluctant or shy. Don’t sit there and wonder if God will actually hear you or if he really will help you or if he really will give you something good in answer to your prayer. Of course he will. So ask. “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened”(vv. 9+10). What a gracious invitation! Elon Musk doesn’t extend an invitation like that—at least not to people like you and me. President Biden doesn’t extend an invitation like that. I would guess the boss at your company or your CEO doesn’t extend an invitation like that either; but God does. You have God’s word. You have God’s promise. You can come to him anytime, with anything that’s on your heart or mind, anything that’s bothering you, anything that’s troubling you, any kind of help that you need. You can come to him about anything and he promises to hear you and answer you and give you something good in response. No, it may not always be exactly what you wanted or exactly what you prayed for: but it will always be good, a good and gracious gift from your loving heavenly Father. So ask. Pray to him with complete and absolute confidence.
What a tremendous privilege! And what a tremendous blessing! That’s what Jesus is teaching us today about prayer. When you pray, remember that you have a loving Father in heaven and speak to him that way, like you’re talking to your dad. When you pray, you can ask God for anything, but be sure to pray for those important things, those vital, spiritual blessings. And when you pray, pray with confidence too, absolute confidence. Your heavenly Father is never going to turn you away. He’s always going to hear and he’s always going to answer in a good and gracious way. Amen.