The Tenth Sunday after Pentecost
August 14, 2022
Luke 11:1-13
Jesus Teaches Us the Importance of Prayer!
One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” He said to them, “When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. 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.’ ” Then he said to them, “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 boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs. So I say to you: 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. 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? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (NIV1984)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Throughout the course of our lives we enter into many different kinds of relationships. Our very first relationship is the relationship that we have with our parents. Very closely connected to that relationship is the relationship we have with our grandparents. If we have siblings we have yet another relationship to navigate. The relationship that we establish with our friends is in some ways unique. Our relationship with our spouse is in some ways very similar to all the other relationships we have in our lives and in some ways it is very different from all the other relationships we enjoy. Our circle of relationships then starts bending back around as we establish a relationship with our children and their spouses, our grandchildren and their spouses.
While all of the relationships we establish throughout our lives need to be nurtured in different ways, there is one common denominator between each and every one of them. The number one key to any strong and successful relationship is— communication! Whether it’s our parents, our children, our friends, our spouse, or whatever other relationship we have, a lack of communication will most certainly harm that relationship while open and honest communication will always be a blessing to that relationship.
Our sermon text for today draws our attention to the most important relationship we will ever have. It is our personal relationship with our Savior-God! Since communication is the key to a strong and successful relationship— including our relationship with God— today let’s see how: Jesus Teaches Us the Importance of Prayer!
Our text begins by reminding us of a truth that we do not want to overlook. Luke tells us, “One day Jesus was praying in a certain place.” As you are reading and studying your Bible take note of how often Jesus took time to pray. Not only was prayer an essential part of His life, but prayer was an essential part of His ministry! The example that Jesus set for His disciples and the example that Jesus sets for us is powerful!
The beautiful example that Jesus set for His disciples leads us into these words of our text, “When he was finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.’ He said to them, ‘When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. 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.”’”
With these now familiar words our dear Lord and Savior teaches us how important it is to remember what we are to include in our prayers! While the Lord’s Prayer is not some set-in stone formula that we are required to memorize and recite, it does indeed give us the “pattern” that we are to follow when we pray. While we don’t have the time to go into depth concerning each of the petitions that the Holy Spirit led Luke to record, the pattern that the Holy Spirit gives to us here is indeed important.
The pattern begins by teaching us that the most important parts of our prayers are those that focus on spiritual blessings. The first of these spiritual blessings centers on the fact that we have the unparalleled privilege of addressing the Almighty Creator of heaven and earth as our “Father.” In our epistle lesson for today the apostle Paul reminded us that the only reason we enjoy this unique privilege, the only reason we can confidently address the God of Heaven as “Father” is because of the forgiveness of sins that God the Son secured for us! (Pointing to the cross) Paul assures us, “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins” (Colossians 2:13).
Because we know what God has done for us, because we know the one and only living God as our “Father” it is important that our prayers include what Jesus highlights here in His “model” prayer. We pray that God’s Name will be “hallowed.” This means that we pray that we will always show God the respect and the honor He rightfully deserves to receive— not just with our words, but also with every aspect of our life! We pray that God’s “kingdom come.” This means we not only pray that God’s Kingdom will continue to come as God the Holy Spirit continues to use His holy Word and Sacraments to work in both our hearts and in the hearts of others, but we pray that God’s Kingdom will soon be revealed to all people on the Last Day. We pray that our heavenly Father will continue to bless us with the forgiveness of our sins in the same way that “we also forgive everyone who sins against us.” We pray that our heavenly Father will not allow the devil, the world and our own sinful flesh to lead us into “temptation”— that is, into a “period of testing and trial.” Once we have prayed for all of these spiritual blessings, Jesus reminds us to pray for one— just one!— material blessing: “Give us each day our daily bread.” That’s the “pattern” our Savior teaches us to follow when we pray.
How do your personal prayers to your heavenly Father compare to the “pattern,” the “model” that Jesus gives to you? Do your prayers clearly focus on bringing praise and honor and glory to the God who has done so much for you? Do your prayers reflect the priorities Jesus outlines for you with requests for spiritual blessings far outnumbering requests for material blessings? Today is a very good time for us to examine both our prayers and our prayer life in the light of the example that our Savior has set for us!
Once Jesus shows us the importance of what to include in our payers, then He shows us the importance of how we are to pray. Here He emphasizes two truths. The first truth is brought out in a parable that is extremely easy to understand, extremely easy to remember. Jesus says to you and to me, “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.”
Is there anything in this parable that is difficult for you to understand? Is there anything that is difficult to remember? Is there anything that you find complicated or confusing? The answer is— No! The truth that Jesus is emphasizing here centers on persistence! The fact that Jesus teaches us to be persistent in our prayers is made even more clear when He goes on to apply that parable to you and to me. He says, “So I say to you: 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.”
Jesus’ emphasis on persistence in our prayers does not come out in English as well as it does in Greek. In the Greek, the words “Ask,” “Seek” and “Knock” are all in what is known as the present imperative form of the verb. Very literally Jesus is telling us, “Keep on asking,” “Keep on seeking,” “Keep on knocking.” When it comes to our prayers to our heavenly Father we should not look at them as “one and done.” We should not say to ourselves, “I’ll ask or seek or knock just once and then wait to see how God answers my prayer.” Jesus Himself tells us to be persistent in our prayers! Jesus Himself wants us to bring our requests before the throne of our God over and over and over again trusting that He will most certainly answer our prayers— at the time He knows is right and in the way He knows is right!
How do your personal prayers to the God of heaven compare to the encouragement that Jesus gives to you here? As you are praying for your family, as you are praying for your friends, as you are praying for our congregation, as you are praying for our country, as you are praying for yourself— how persistent are your prayers? If you do not immediately receive an answer to your prayers, do you simply give up? Do you simply move on and pray about something else? If so, take a moment to remember what your Savior says to you, “Keep on asking and it will be given to you; keep on seeking and you will find; keep on knocking and the door will be opened to you.”
Why can we be so persistent in our prayers? Because Jesus reminds us that hand-in-hand with persistence is confidence! Look at how clearly that confidence is brought out in the closing verses of our text, “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? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”
Jesus is using what is known as an argument from the lesser to the greater. If we human fathers, even though we are weak and sinful, are willing to give good gifts to our children, our perfect heavenly Father is even more willing to give good gifts to His children— especially the most perfect gift of all, the gift of the Holy Spirit!
Since we know that our heavenly Father has already given us the greatest gift of all— the gift of the Holy Spirit living in our hearts— we have the confidence of knowing that our heavenly Father will also give to us other good gifts as well! James reminds us of this confidence when he says to us, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:17). Does this mean that we can ask for whatever we want and the heavenly Father will give it to us? Hardly. Here is where we need to remember the priorities that Jesus gives to us, the “pattern” that He lays out for us in His “model” prayer, the Lord’s Prayer. Spiritual requests always take priority over material requests.
How do your prayers compare to what Jesus says in this portion of our text? Do you pray with the confidence of a dearly beloved child approaching their dear heavenly Father? Do you pray to your heavenly Father with the confidence that comes from knowing that He will grant you every “good and perfect gift”? Today is the perfect time to examine your prayers with these questions in mind— confidently trusting that your Savior-God will gladly give you whatever help you might need!
Communication. No matter how many relationships we enter into over the course of our life— child/parent; spouse/friend; grandparent/grandchild— we quickly learn that communication is critical. When the lines of communication start to break down— so does the relationship. What holds true in our relationships with each other is even more critical in our relationship with our God. God communicates with us through His holy inspired Word. We communicate with God through prayer. May the good Lord grant that we will not only recognize how critical this two-way communication is to our relationship with our God, but may the good Lord grant that we will strive to remember what Jesus teaches us about the importance of prayer so that we will strive to use and improve our communication with God.
To God be the glory!
Amen