A People Who Pray

Luke 11:1-13 - Riley Boggs

Recently I was listening to a podcast where a group of people were talking about different things that had happened to each of them while flying. One of the people on there, a guest they had brought in, was telling a story about one of her flights having awful turbulence. She was talking about how scary it was and said, “And I’m not a religious person, but I was praying.” After she said this, one of the regular people on the podcast who is a professing Christian responded and said, “Well, you know what they say, there’s no atheists in foxholes.” What followed was a very awkward silence, because he was right,

and everyone knew it.

A foxhole is a small hole, maybe 4-5 deep and just big enough for 1-2 people to get in. They are dug in war specifically when you are under enemy fire, and you have no other options than to simply dig down and try to wait it out. You never go to war planning to dig a foxhole. It’s something that you are forced to do because you realize your options have run out. And then, once you climb down in it, you really have nothing left to do. You sit there, hearing bullets and bombs fly all around you, hoping that somehow you will be able to get out alive. It's there, in that sitting and waiting in a foxhole, where no atheist will ever be found. Why? Because no matter what you thought beforehand about God and His existence, now you are forced to call on something, someone, outside of yourself who can deliver you. No person can hear your yells for help and even if they did, they might not be able to do anything. So, what do you do? Well, you pray.

Even the most staunch cold atheist will likely close his eyes and begin to ask God to help him. You can imagine him saying something like, “God, if you are there, will you please deliver me? Please.” And then maybe an added line of promised commitment of, “And if you do, I promise to follow you all the rest of my life.” The truth is that this man already knows that God exist and that He can hear his prayers, this man has just been suppressing that truth all of his life. This man knows, whether he can articulate it or not, that he is not just a body, but a soul. He is a spiritual being who can simply speak in his own mind, and the God of the Universe hears him.

We see this on a larger scale any time something tragic happens in our world. People from all sorts of beliefs and backgrounds, “Send their thoughts and prayers.” Why? Well because there is something within them that knows that if they cannot help them physically, then they should call on the One who can. The truth of the matter is that us human beings have been created to talk with the God who created us. He made us to communicate with Him, and everyone, everywhere, deep down knows that to be the case. Though they may suppress it when things are all hunky-dory, they will be unable to suppress it when they are out of options. When their perceived control over their own life and circumstances seems to have been stripped from them. When they think they all hope is basically gone. When they are in a foxhole, they will pray.

As those who are following Christ, we should be leading the way on this. We should be a people who are constantly in prayer. If we truly believe that God is who He says He is, and that He does all that He says He does, then our lives should be filled with prayer. We should pray for people and with people. We should pray when we wake and when we sleep, and all the time in between. We shouldn’t be sheepish or embarrassed about prayer, especially in front of a lost world. We shouldn’t think that prayer is awkward or out of place in any circumstance. We shouldn’t be timid to go to the Lord in prayer. Rather, as Hebrews 4:16 says, we should, “with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

But I know that many of you are like me in that you wish you prayed more. And not only more, but that you also wish you prayed with more confidence with and for others. You wish that your gut reaction, instead of worrying and becoming anxious and trying to fix stuff, you simply turned to God in prayer. I want that to characterize my life, and I know you all do too.

This morning, the Lord has placed before a passage that I think is meant to stir us in this direction. The disciples of Jesus see Him praying and ask Him to teach them to prayer, so He does so, He teaches them how to pray. And because God’s Word is for us, this morning we have the great privilege of gathering around our Lord Himself, in His Word, and listening to Him teach us how to pray. As we work through this passage, it is my hope, and prayer, that each of us would have our understanding of prayer shaped to be more Biblical, and that we would find ourselves more frequently and confidently going to God in prayer.

Our text begins, as I just mentioned, by telling us that Jesus finished praying one of his disciples asked him to teach them to pray. Jesus responds by teaching them in 3 different ways. First, He gives them an example of how they should pray, which is what we all know as “The Lord’s Prayer”. It is the example of how not only the disciples, but us as well, should pray. And it’s from this prayer that I want to begin. What I’d like to do is quickly look at the examples of things that Jesus tells us we are to pray for, I think there are 5 of them. Then we’ll look at the ladder half of the text and draw some further application.

5 Examples of what to pray for

1.) Father, Hallowed be your name

First, we are to pray that our Father’s name, God’s name, be hallowed. Now that word, “hallowed” isn’t one that we use very often, but it simply means to honor, or to call it Holy. So what Jesus is beginning with is an acknowledgment that God is not a stranger, or even just a friend, but He is our Father. He is not unknowable by us, nor are we unknown by Him, but rather there is a close and loving relationship there. And then even further He begins by praying that His name would be honored. That God would be consecrated and called Holy.

Second, we are to pray…

2.) Your kingdom come

This is a prayer for God’s rule and reign to be established further on this Earth. It is a prayer for more people to bow the knee, their lives, to the ruler of the world. It is a prayer for those who reject God, who refuse to acknowledge Him for who He is and what He has commanded, to repent of their unbelief and begin to obey Him. For us, this prayer is also a prayer that God would save lost souls. That He would soften the hearts of unbeleivers so that the Gospel would become clear and real to them, and they would begin to follow Christ. And in so doing, the spiritual kingdom of God would become more and more evident here on Earth. But, at the same time, it is also a prayer that Christ would return. That He would come not as the Suffering Savior, but as the Mighty King so that He might bring us home into His eternal kingdom.

Thirdly we are to ask that God…

3.) Give us each day our daily bread

Often times, given our current context, we are prone to not ask for our day-to-day needs. When bills stack up or we foresee a large bill ahead, we will take it to the Lord. But just think about this with me. When is the last time you asked God to provide dinner for you tomorrow? Maybe some of you have, I don’t know. But if you have, then you likely understand this well. But regardless of whether or not we have prayed is beside the point. We should be quick to turn to the Lord for our everyday needs, because He is the One who can and does provide us with everything. He is the One who provides us with our every need, so we should be praying for these things so that our heart is more prone to worship and not self-reliance.

Fourthly we are to ask God to…

4.) Forgive us our sins

This is simple repentance. Jesus is under no illusion that the disciples will stop sinning at some point in their life. He knows their sinful nature and so He tells them to ask God to forgive them of their sins when they pray. Now, the question that surface is some your minds is, “Why do I need to ask for forgiveness if Jesus has already paid for all of my sins on the cross?” The reason that we ask for forgiveness is not because we haven’t already been forgiven entirely forever sin we have committed and will commit. No the reason we ask for forgiveness is because we are demonstrating, actively, that we know sin separates us from God and that at the same time He is faithful to forgive us for it all. It is a confession of our shortcoming and a reminder of His sufficient grace. It is an acknowledgment of what we have done and a commitment to what we want to do. And if there ever be a time that we stop repenting, that we stop seeing our need to run to the Father for forgiveness, we might just be showing ourselves to be a in a dangerous spot. A spot where sin no longer bothers us and we feel no need forgiveness. This is why our prayers should be a time for us to ask God for forgiveness, and a time where we trust that He has done so.

Fifthly, we are to ask God to…

5.) Lead us not into temptation

This is a prayer where we ask that God keep us from the things that will lead us to sin. We ask Him to go before us, remove things that might cause us to stumble, and strengthen our walk with Him despite any continued temptation. Sometimes I think we forget to pray this prayer. We ask that God make us strong to resist temptation and we ask that He forgive us when we fall into temptation. But how often do we ask God to remove temptation? On your drive to work, have you prayed, “Lord, would you keep those who want to gossip and slander others away from me?” Or maybe you’re coming home from doing something and you are already a bit irritated so you pray, “Lord, would you my children listen well and obey so that I’m not prone to anger.” Jesus is teaching us here that we can and should pray that God protect us from temptation ahead of time.

There is so much more than we could say about each of these things, what they mean and how we can apply them. But for now, I just want to leave them there and have us think about what the overall point of the prayer is here. What is Jesus trying to teach us overall about prayer? Well I think one of the things He is showing us is that prayer is not really about us and our desires. Yes we are to take our needs and even our desires to Him. But truthfully, prayer is far more about our will being conformed to God’s. We go to pray not so that we can have this divine negotiation where we try to convince God to do certain things for us. That’s not the purpose of prayer. The purpose of prayer is to worship God and pray that His desires be fulfilled in your life and in the world. And not only that, but we pray that our hearts would long for the very things that God desires for us. That we would be content and satisfied no matter how He answers, because we trust Him. We should enter prayer hoping and expecting to exit prayer with a heart not more tightly grasped on what we desire, but fixed on who God is and what He desires.

Again, that isn’t to say that we shouldn’t petition God for things, we should. And in the second part of our passage, as Jesus continues to teach His disciples to pray, He addresses this. Now let me just say, as I studied this, I realized that there are a few details I had never noticed and had confused for my entire life. And in doing that, I think I had a misunderstanding of this passage for a long time. So I’d encourage you to really pay attention as we work through the text. We’re going to be looking at 2 reminders about prayer here.

2 Reminders about prayer

Starting in verse 5 Jesus poses a question. He asks, “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’?” This is the part of the text that I had misunderstood for so long. The question that Jesus is posing here is a rhetorical one. That is, this is a question that the disciples would hear and immediately think, “Well no, of course not! You just said they are my friend!” Now that might not make sense to us, but it’s simply because hospitality isn’t treated the same way in our culture. But in this time and this place, hospitality was of the upmost importance. It is would have been inconceivable for a “friend” to respond in the way that Jesus has just mentioned.

One of my previous pastors gives a helpful correlation for us on this. For us, it would be like your car battery being dead and your spouse needing to go to the Emergency Room, so you run over to your friend’s house and ask to them to borrow the car to take them. We can’t even imagine a true friend coming to the door and saying, “What, you need the car now? But the kids are in bed, and I’ve already brushed my teeth.” See how that doesn’t make sense? Well that’s how this question would have felt and been understood for the disciples.

This is why Jesus answers the rhetorical question with what would actually happen. In verse 8 He says, “ 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.” What Jesus is saying here is that even if this friend doesn’t want to help you at all, he will. Because of your  “impudence” or “persistence” he will. That word, whichever is in your Bible is trying to convey this idea that there is something that will obligate the man to help. Whether it’s because you keep knocking and asking, or he doesn’t want to do what is shameful by denying you hospitality. Whatever the case may be, he’s going to help you, no matter how he feels about the matter, because he knows he must.

Now, you might be thinking, how does this relate to our praying to God? I think it is this, our first of 2 reminders about prayer.

1.) We should not hesitate to go to God in prayer because we know who He is

After asking the rhetorical question and explaining that the friend will help out of sheer obligation, He says this. “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.” What Jesus is saying here is that if we are willing to go to mere friend because we know he will give us what we need, even when he doesn’t want to, then how much more willing should we be to go to the One who delights in providing for us.

Do you see that? There is this “How much more” thing happening here, which Jesus states explicitly after the next question which we will look at in a minute, but that same idea is being implied here. We stand in this room each Sunday and we sing about God’s never-ending love that is as vast as the ocean. We sing about how His mercy is more and His grace that is greater. We sing of how God cares for us and provides for us. We sing about all of these things, but my question to you is, do you pray like that’s true? Are you hesitant to run to the Lord in prayer because He’s sleeping? Because He’s busy or tired of you?

Brothers and sisters, Our God does not sleep. He’s never too busy and He will never grow tired of you. He isn’t like the groggy friend who just feels like he has to, and yet we would to their house in times of need. He is always present and near, ready to hear your every word and provide for your every need. He is willing and able, and His love for you has no end. He sees you as His righteous Son, sinless. Do not hesitate to go to Him in prayer, for you know who He is. He is love. He is good. He is God, and you are His beloved child. Jesus says, “…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.”

Now, I want to be honest with you all here. I think there are times we can feel a bit of tension with those verses. We hear, “But, I have asked, and I haven’t received.” We could all go around the room and share seemingly really good things that we have prayed for and yet it seems as if the Lord hasn’t answered them. Does that make these verses less true? No, it doesn’t, and I think we can see why that’s not the case with Jesus second question.

Again Jesus asks a rhetorical question, starting in verse 11. He asks, “11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13” This rhetorical question makes more sense to us. Why would a father ever do these things? It doesn’t make any sense for a father to hear their child’s request for a good thing and instead give them something that will harm them. Of course this is what Jesus wants us to see and so he says, “13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” In other words, even sinful human father’s don’t do this kind of thing. Simply because of common grace father’s give good gifts their children. And, if that’s the case with sinful humans, how much more can we expect our perfect Father in heaven to bless us with good things. That’s the final point I have for us this morning.

2.) We make requests to God knowing that He will give us what is best for us

This past week Shelby and I chose to have Thomas get some his 2-month vaccines. Now, for the sake of the analogy I need all the anti-vaxxers in the room to go with me here and pretend you think this to be a good thing. So we took him to the doctor, and he had to get a shot in each of his thighs, and he absolutely hated it. He cried so hard, and it made me feel awful and angry and all that. And then later that evening he woke up from a nap, and we could tell his legs were hurting him and he didn’t feel good. It just seemed bad all the way around.

And I’m sure, if he could talk, he would look up at me and ask, “Why would you do this awful thing to me? I thought you loved and wanted to do what is best for me?” The truth is, I was doing what I thought was best for him. I wanted to love him well and I thought, and still think, that giving him some of these shots he would be safer in the longer run. Now obviously in my situation, I am a flawed dad. Thomas may never come into contact with the things he got shots for. They may have been all for nothing and the pain he felt wasn’t ultimately his good. It’s what I wanted and desired for him, but I don’t know the future and simply did what I thought was the most loving and good for him.

The truth is, I think we often probably respond like imagined Thomas would when God doesn’t answer our prayers, or answers them in ways we don’t understand. We pray for something, and it never comes, so we look up and say, “Why won’t you answer this for me? I thought you loved and wanted to do what is best for me?” Unlike Thomas looking up at an imperfect father and asking that, we look up at a perfect Father and ask it. But that should make all the difference, shouldn’t it? We should never even have to do that. We don’t have to speculate about whether or not God is doing what is best for us, He is. We don’t have to whether our suffering is in vain, it isn’t. We don’t have to wonder if God still loves us, He does.

God is infinitely more loving and good and wise than us, and that is why He doesn’t grant all the things we ask for in prayer. He answers them by not giving them to us, because what is best for us isn’t actually what we have prayed for. And this goes back to why prayer is not about convincing God to fulfill our will, but for us to conform our will to His. When we go to God in prayer, we make requests to Him knowing that He will give us what is best for us, and that should be such a comforting thing. We can trust Him, with everything. Take your prayers before Him, lay them at His feet, and trust that He will give you the good thing that you need.

And because God is so kind to us, He has also made us many promises to cling to along the way. Rather than keeping these things from us, He has given them to us so that we might look forward in hope, even when we continually find our desires having to be reshaped in prayer. Jesus gives an example of a good gift, a promise, at the end of verse 13. He says that the Father will give Holy Spirit to those who ask Him. Then as we continue to read, we see the promise fulfilled in Acts 2 when the Spirit comes, and even further see it now for anyone who places their faith in Christ. That is just one example of the good things that God has promised us and has already fulfilled. And yet there are so many more things He has promised that is coming in the future. A time of sinlessness. A time of no pain, no sickness, and no tears. A time of no grief or sorrow. Man, I long for that day. Until then, let’s be a people who pray. A people who do not hesitate to run to the Father because we know who He is, and a people who make requests to Him knowing that He will always do what is best for us.

Until then, let us be a people who pray, “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 forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.” Amen.