YouTube and Podcast teaching for….God Graciously Gives To Those Who Ask. EXPOSITION ON THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE study #93 (Luke 11:5-13)

God Graciously Gives To Those Who Ask. EXPOSITION ON THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE study #93 (Luke 11:5-13)

This section of Scripture that we will dive into in this study is really an extension to what we looked at in our first study here in chapter 11. We remember that one of Jesus’ disciples said in Luke 11:1b Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples. It was this statement that showed the importance of prayer for this disciple. Jesus was their example of someone that was always in prayer. Jesus in His humanity needed to pray for strength because of the weakness of the flesh. Jesus who is the Son of God had lived far from sin in eternity and now had come to earth in flesh. Jesus’ example of a person that prays often should show us our need to pray more than we do now.

We looked at the contents of this prayer in our last study that showed us our direction of prayer which is in knowing that God is sovereign over all things. He is the ruler of all things, He is our provider, the One that forgives, the One that gives to us mercy and the One that protects us. But often we are impatient with God in our prayers. We tend to pray for selfish desires expecting God to do what we say when we say it. Even when our prayers are not selfish we often times find ourselves discouraged because the fact that we are not seeing God move in the way we think He should.

Now that we have the model for what the contents of our prayers should be and the direction of giving glory to God, we now come to look at the fact that we must be persistent in coming to God. The lesson will point to the fact that when we ask, God will give. But there is always something that we must keep in mind in any prayer we pray and that is God’s will and purpose. If we go outside of the walls of God’s will in prayer then we will not receive what we ask for but if we ask in God’s will then we will receive. Let’s look at this as we work through this section of Scripture.

1.A lesson of PERSISTANCE in prayer.
Look with me at Luke 11:5-9 that says Then He said to them, “Which of you has a friend and will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, ⁶ for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; ⁷ and from inside he answers and says, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed; I cannot rise up and give you anything.’ ⁸ I tell you, even though he will not arise and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs. ⁹ “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

The story that Jesus just told is given to us to show us the persistence we must have in prayer. I do want to point out that this is just a story. Not everything in this story is parallel to the reality of prayer but it is the principle that needs to be the focus. For instance God will not speak to us in the way this friend did to the man asking for help. God will never tell us to not bother him, God will never be asleep and unable to rise up to help us.

The story is not meant to be deceptive in this sense but the principle of the persistence is the focus. With that in mind I do want to look at the original word here that we see as persistence. It is the Greek word anaideia (an-ah’-ee-die-ah’) which means the shamelessness a faith-led believer has who is not halted by human fears. The idea shows a boldness with persistence. It isn’t that we come to God in arrogance or thinking that we deserve anything that we ask for but the idea is that we will not leave from prayer or go to prayer with the idea that God will not answer our prayers.

The boldness to continue to go to God in prayer about something shows that we trust God, it shows that we believe that we will receive what God has promised to us as His children. This story points to the fact that we must not give up on God’s promises. But let’s make sure that as we have seen already in our last study is that the reality of what our prayer consist of and that is God’s will and purpose.

This persistence will pay off in God’s time as we will receive what God has promised to us. This will carry us into the next verse and our next point.

2.We will RECEIVE what we ask for in prayer.
Look with me at Luke 11:10 that says For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened.

I do want to point out that many people use this verse to say that God will give to them anything they ask for. If you were to take this statement of Jesus alone then I could very well see why your theology of prayer would say that. But we must take the whole of Scripture to determine what we should be asking for.

For some people when they do not get what they ask for in prayer then they blame God. They say that God must not love them or that God isn’t even real because they did not receive what they asked for. James 4:3 says You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.

We see that when we don’t get the answer we want it is because we have prayed a selfish prayer. Some people say that God answers prayer with a yes at times, a no at times and wait at other times but we need to make sure that this is a biblical principle. I think this is a good assumption but we need to be certain that when we think that God did not answer with a yes then we need to examine our motive of our prayer.

James had previously spoke of this very thing concerning praying in chapter 1, he says in James 1:5-8 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. ⁶ But he must ask in faith, doubting nothing, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. ⁷ For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, ⁸ being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Be certain that this is not the name and claim it theology that is out in the Christian culture of our time. This is back to the same reality of prayer that we have been speaking of since last study. We must trust God will give to us what He has promised so when we do trust, we will pray for the right thing and therefore we will receive what we pray for. It is just as Jesus has said in verse 10 here in Luke 11, everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened.

The circles back to the fact that not only are we to trust God but we must be persistent and patient. Once again we see in James this very clear command. James 5:7-11 says Therefore be patient, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the soil, being patient about it, until it receives the early and late rains. ⁸ You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. ⁹ Do not groan, brothers, against one another, so that you yourselves may not be judged. Behold, the Judge is standing right at the door. ¹⁰ As an example, brothers, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. ¹¹ Behold, we count those blessed who persevere. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.

We must trust God and we must allow that trust in God to help us to continue to be faithful in ministry and in prayer. We can be patient in knowing that God will fulfill every promise that He has given to us in Christ. That goes back to know that God is a loving God who gives to us His grace daily. This leads us to look at our next 3 verses in our last point for this study.

3.God’s gracious GIVING in prayer.
Look with me at Luke 11:11-13 that says But what father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish? ¹² Or, if his son asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? ¹³ If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”

So the idea that our asking in faith, our asking in God’s will and us receiving comes into to full focus here. Our prayers are not selfish therefore we should not be asking God for selfish things. Instead our prayers are towards God, for the glory of God because of His gracious giving of all that we ask. Now we see here that we don’t see superficial things as what we receive but the Holy Spirit.

I do not think that we can find anywhere in the Bible that praying to God for someone to be healed or for some direction in a situation is sinful but that should not be our primary focus as to why we pray. Our prayers should be to help us in spiritual growth. To have this happen we need help because we can not on our own power grow. We need the Holy Spirit and when we come to God with the right attitude, motivation and direction then we will receive from God exactly what we need.

Jesus makes it clear here that not even us as sinful, wretched and evil people will give to our own children things that will harm them. So if we being evil and sinful will give good things to our children how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”

So often I hear people talk about how God is interested in the little things in our life and I would agree but never are we told to pray about those things. In fact Jesus says in Matthew 6:32-34 For all these things the Gentiles eagerly seek; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. ³³ But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. ³⁴ “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

We are to acknowledge that God is the giver of all of those things but that should not be the focus of our prayers. I have been guilty of this in the past and what we do when these things are the focus of our prayers instead of getting the Holy Spirit to help us to grow is we start to doubt. The more we focus on the things we think we need instead of what God wants to give to us, the more we turn from God’s will and start to live our life for those little things. We must keep our focus on God and what He wants for us as we pray.

As we come to a close for this study I want to magnify the fact that Jesus specifically uses the Holy Spirit as the center of what we ask for. In Matthew 6:7-8 Jesus says before His example of prayer or commonly known as the Lord’s prayer: And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. ⁸ Therefore, do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.

Jesus says in Matthew 7:11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!

When we look at all of this combined with what we briefly hit on in this study, we conclude that our prayers must be centrally focused on asking for the Holy Spirit to work in our life. There are many ways the Holy Spirit works in us that include salvation, sanctification, illuminating of the Scripture, discernment, encouragement, unity with Christ, glorifying of God in the way we live and many more. I encourage you to think about how it is that you are praying. Follow Jesus’ example that shows us the urgency to pray daily, to glorify God, to thank Him for His provision, protection and for His gift of the work of the Holy Spirit in us who have been saved.

YouTube and Podcast teaching for….The Contents Of Our Prayers. EXPOSITION ON THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE study #92 (Luke 11:1-4)

The Contents Of Our Prayers. EXPOSITION ON THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE study #92 (Luke 11:1-4)

We have now made it to the 11th chapter of Luke and we find a familiar section of Scripture that shows us the contents of what our prayers should be like. As Jesus has continued to move through the Judean region He has certainly gathered even more people along the way but of course He still has His twelve disciples that have continued to follow along into this area. What will be important to notice in this section is that Jesus teaches the disciples a prayer that He would never pray because He never sinned and therefore did not need to ask for forgiveness of sins. So this is commonly known as the Lord’s prayer but in reality it is Jesus’ teaching of how to pray.

So with that in mind we come to this text to help us in times of prayer as well. Many of us have been taught prayers that are self centered and focused on what God can do for us in the realm of emotions and material blessings. Here we will see that the focus is not on those things but on worship to God for what He has provided and what He will provide, on His gracious mercy and on protection from falling into sinful patterns of life.

I hope that this study will help each of us to learn how to pray from how Jesus Himself taught us. With that let’s move now to our first point.

1.Jesus will GUIDE us in how to pray.
Look with me at Luke 11:1 that says And it happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.”

I love to notate each time I see it in Scripture that Jesus is an example to us about the importance of praying. Sadly most of us lack in this area. We may say a quick little prayer at times of distress or when something big is happening in our life but rarely is praying a normal priority for us. I say this because I have talked with many people that have told me of their personal struggles in this area, I have heard many great preachers and theologians speak of their lack in the area of prayer so with that I feel that this is something that many people lack in their walk as a Christian.

Sadly this lack of communication with God shows a lack of true worship to God. I know this may seem harsh but it is true. We may attend church regularly, we may give consistently, we may even be a teacher or preacher of the Gospel but when we lack to pray this shows our lack of trust in the God we say we follow. Kevin DeYoung said and I quote: ¹Prayerlessness is an expression of our meager confidence in God’s ability to provide and of our strong confidence in our ability to take care of ourselves without God’s help. End QUOTE.

Charles Spurgeon said and I quote: A prayerless soul is a Christless soul. and he also said He who lives without prayer, he who lives with little prayer, he who seldom reads the Word, and he who seldom looks up to heaven for a fresh influence from on high—he will be the man whose heart will become dry and barren. However, he who falls in secret on his God, who spends much time in holy retirement, who delights to meditate on the words of the Most High, and whose soul is given up to Christ—such a man must have an overflowing heart. As his heart is, such will his life be. End QUOTE.

So Jesus is our example of the need to pray. If Jesus the Son of God prayed to the Father for direction and communion then we need to pray more often. In our text we see that Jesus prayed then one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.”

This was not a command but rather a statement meant to show the eagerness to be like His Lord. Earlier in Jesus’ ministry He had spoken similar words from what we know as the Sermon on the Mount. There you can see the same type of prayer but not exactly. The wording is a little different but the contents of the prayer remains the same. It is these contents that we will dive into for the remainder of this study as we look down through verse 4. Let’s look at the first of these in Jesus’ response in verse 2 and our second point.

2.We must GLORIFY God as we pray.
Look with me at Luke 11:2 that says And He said to them, “When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come.

This must be where every prayer starts and finishes. Prayer that does not glorify God is a selfish prayer. I have been guilty of such prayers and for that I need this model for prayer to be more active in my life as well. I love the fact that Jesus does not rebuke this disciple for His statement to want to know how to pray. Jesus goes right to the point of how to pray and with that we need to take note of the contents of this prayer. It isn’t about reciting this prayer word for word in some type of ritualist act but rather the direction of our prayers.

I don’t want to feel like I am just quoting people left and right in this study but I can’t help but quote Charles Spurgeon on this very point once again. He says and I quote: Let not your prayers be all concerning your own sins, your own wants, your own imperfections, and your own trials, but let them climb the starry ladder and get up to Christ Himself. Then, as you draw nigh to the blood-sprinkled mercy seat, offer this prayer continually, “Lord, extend the kingdom of Your dear Son.” Such a petition, fervently presented, will elevate the spirit of all your devotions. Mind that you prove the sincerity of your prayer by laboring to promote the Lord’s glory. Our best prayers when we are in the best place are for our glorious King, and for the enjoyment of his Father’s smile. END QUOTE.

Our motivation to pray must be for God’s glory and not for some emotion feel good moment. The direction of our prayers is towards God and every element in our prayers is towards God and to glorify Him. That word hallowed that we see in verse 2 means to set apart as holy or to treat as holy. When we come to God in prayer we must recognize that He is the only source of everything we have materially and spiritually. God is the only God and if His glory is not the focus of our prayers then our prayer will be useless and empty.

The phrase Your kingdom come is another form of recognizing God’s rule and reign. It shows the fact that we submit to His sovereign will that is summed up in His kingdom. God’s glory is our focus of our prayers and that is evident by the fact that we desire His kingdom to rule in our lives and in the lives of others. So we must seek to come to God with the mindset of not getting what we want but glorifying Him for His majesty and sovereignty over all things.

That recognition of His sovereign reign shows up throughout this prayer as we will see in our next point.

3.Knowing that God is the GIVER as we pray.
Look with me at Luke 11:3 that says Give us each day our daily bread.

We must always know that God is the One who provides everything we have. Nothing we have is from our own source. Yes we may go to work, we may have a great budget to save and not over spend but if it wasn’t for God’s grace then we would not have what we have. The idea of praying to God is not so much for material items but just the recognition that He is the provider of all things is so important. Jesus says in Matthew 6:30-33 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! ³¹ Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ ³² For all these things the Gentiles eagerly seek; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. ³³ But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

This prayer of daily bread is showing that we trust God to take care of us each day. It isn’t that we are looking for God to supply to us abundance or more than we need but that we trust that God will provide each and every day. This does not mean that God will not provide more than we need at times but that should never be our motivation in prayer. A prayer that seeks for abundance of wealth is a selfish prayer that will not be fulfilled.

We are taking each of these points a little at a time so that we can understand the significance of the contents. Here we see that God is our provider and we need to ask God for this provision in the position that we are humbly asking because He will graciously give.

Psalm 145:15-16 says
The eyes of all wait on You,
And You give them their food in due time.
¹⁶ You open Your hand
And satisfy the desire of every living thing.

We understand that God does provide for non-Christian and Christian alike but this recognition of Him being the One that provides is significant in our prayers. A prayer that glorifies God will praise Him for His provision of daily food. This brings us to look at another piece of this prayer in our next point.

4.Asking God for GRACE as we pray. Look with me at Luke 11:4a that says And forgive us our sins,
For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.

This here is something we all need every day, in fact many times throughout our day. Now I want to make clear that this forgiveness is not so we can remained saved or earn salvation in some way but rather to stay in fellowship with God. Our fellowship with God is that we know that we are in need of His grace because of our own sinfulness. This asking of forgiveness shows the humbleness of our prayers. We do not just thank God that He saved us then continue to live the way we want. We seek to live in holiness and righteousness but we will sin. When we sin we come to God asking for the forgiveness of those sins because this shows that we know we have lived in a way contrary to the way He has commanded us.

It is as John says in 1 John 1:9 where he says If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

See asking God to forgive us, cleanses us from those sins and keeps us connected to Him in the way we need for spiritual growth. But when we choose to not recognize our sins or confess them then we are saying we don’t need God’s cleansing, we don’t need God’s grace and mercy. He says further in 1 John 1:10 that If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.

So even as a professed Christian, when we live in a way that does not ask for forgiveness then we have said that we have not sinned and we do not need God’s forgiveness. You may think you have His grace because you said a prayer or made a profession of faith but in reality you only make God look like a liar and His Word is not in you when you continue to live in sin without acknowledging your sins.

Another clear point we see is that a person that is truly grateful for the forgiveness that God has given will in fact do the same to others. Jesus says that part of our prayer should include forgiving others of what they have done to us, He says this in Luke 11:4 For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.

Matthew’s version of Jesus’ teaching on prayer says in Matthew 6:12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

The fact is that we as Christians cannot be unforgiving and uncompassionate to others. We ask God to forgive us of the greater offense and we also forgive others of their lesser offense towards us. This is something we must pray to God about because it is difficult at times to forgive others. Our pride, our ego, our self centered desires get in the way and therefore we need to pray to God for this as well. This brings us to look briefly at our last point for this study.

5.Seeking for God to GOVERN our path as we pray.
Look with me at Luke 11:4 with our focus on the last sentence, it says And forgive us our sins, For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.

We must remember what James 1:13-14 says: Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. ¹⁴ But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.

What James says is not a contradiction to what Jesus had taught here about prayer. This idea is that we will be protected by God in every circumstance we find ourselves in. God does not tempt but we are placed in times of trial. In those times we look to God for direction and guidance to endure the trial.

Most people know what 1 Corinthians 10:13 says No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man, but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.

The prayer to not be lead into temptation is our acknowledgement that God is able to and will protect us from all potential trials that will cause us to sin. All of this prayer points to the fact that God is sovereign, all powerful, the provider, sustainer and protector of our lives. I’m afraid that to many of us have been taught prayers of self centeredness that focuses way to much on ourselves. I hope as we continue in the next section that we will notice that there is only one focus that our prayers should have and that is to give glory to God for everything that He has given to us from eternal life to the food on our plate.

1. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevin-deyoung/prayerlessness-is-unbelief/ ↩︎