Luke 11 Outline on Prayer

May 19 Sermon

Luke 11:1-13      Prayer is a discipline of dependence on God

            and as such is the life breath of every follower of Jesus.

11 “Lord, teach us to pray….

This is the only time that someone asked Jesus to teach them something, another indication of the importance of this instruction.

2 Jesus said, “This is how you should pray:

Jesus intended the disciples to repeat it verbatim.

“Father,

-combines respect for the father's authority with a sense of intimacy.

"The use of the intimate form was the amazing new thing that Jesus wished to teach his disciples, initiating them into the same close relationship with the father that he enjoyed. . ."

may your name be kept holy.

God is holy--that is, "set apart" and unique. There is none like him.

To “keep holy”  God's name means to cause situations in which they will reverence and obey Him rather than blaspheming and sinning against Him.

May your Kingdom come soon.

More is meant here than eternal life. Rather, the disciple desires that the creation be restored to its fullness and that sin, injustice and chaos be banished. The whole of the disciple's life is lived in reflection of what God will eventually do.

3 Give us each day the food we need,

The attitude it reflects is even more important: God cares for his own.  "Each day" points to the disciples' continuing need for God's supply.

4 and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.

The forgiveness that is necessary for the maintenance of fellowship with the Father .

One's willingness to forgive other people shows that one recognizes his or her own need for forgiveness.

And don’t let us yield to temptation.”

Disciples recognize God's power to protect us and keep us from succumbing to temptation,

It is essentially a request for help in remaining faithful to God.

5-8 Then, teaching them more about prayer, he used this story: “Suppose you went to a friend’s house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread.he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence.

Jesus was contrasting, not comparing, God's attitude with the friend's attitude. God will not grant answers to prayer to avoid shame, as this man did.  He will grant them unselfishly and lovingly.

God is more than the friend of disciples; He is their father.

9 “And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive…

Jesus introduced this promise  that underlined its reliability and gave His personal guarantee.

The juxtaposition of these exhortations shows that Jesus encourages boldness in prayer.

10 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds…

Jesus indicates God's openness to receive such petitions.

These are not blank-check promises that God will give us anything we want, but promises that requests for our welfare will be heard.

11-12 “You fathers…do you give them a snake instead? ...

He will do no less than a normal earthly father would do.

Such a response would be cruel rather than loving since the substitution would involve no real giving but deception and even danger.

13 … heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.”

 The greatest blessing God could give a believer then was the possession of His Spirit.

The fact that God gives only good gifts to His children explains why He does not give us everything we request, even things that look good to us. God will without fail give only what is best to His children who request of Him in prayer.