What Jesus Actually Teaches About Prayer

The questions we wrestle with as Christians about who God is, how do we live out our faith, what is the Bible, what is the truth of the Bible, what are we supposed to believe? How are we supposed to live? There are really big, deep questions that we ask each other, that we ask God, that we wrestle with ourselves. And that's why the Cultivate podcast exists, to help us go deeper in our understanding of who God is, his word, and the way that he's called us to live. Everyone, welcome to the Cultivate podcast.

I'm Charlie Loften. I'm the lead pastor there, and we have with us our podcast producer, creative director, and DJ Yeah. Yeah. Boone. Back in the house?

That's right. So you can you hear both of us?

Yeah, I hear you in this ear and I hear me in this ear.

Oh, okay.

So it's very And then when

you get your little table going, will you like come into both ears at the same time? Let's hope. Okay. All right. So we have been talking about parables for a while and a little bit about Shrek.

I feel like it's one of those things like the sequels are okay, but like to me, Shrek is

only watch the second one.

A movie.

Yeah. Not

quite to the degree that Matrix is. Matrix is only one movie. Don't don't Sure. It's not even a conversation. But regardless, anyway, no more Shrek talk.

That's Uh-oh. Unlike

There's a girl Sorry, last Shrek talk.

No, it's

not I the last know Shrek a girl in college named Fiona and I my face was like it's never just going to be a normal name to me ever again.

Does she have red hair? No, that have been amazing.

Blonde hair, but is kind of personality wise. It is funny that her name was Fiona because she was like a very typical like ditzy blonde, but Fiona just made her seem so like extra but I just like in my mind. Was like, I could not believe I'm meeting someone named Fiona which to your average person will be like, this is not a big deal. And I'm like, have you seen How old are you 30?

Okay. Now, so they would not she would not have been named Fiona from the movie because that came out and

no, no, no, She also I was working a job and she was in college. So would have been beyond beyond her time for sure.

So parables. Right trick is kind of a parable.

A fable fable

fable fable. And we just started we started last week we had a parable about the persistence of prayer and promised that we will have another one that was fairly similar.

Okay.

That I think that is going to tie into kind of what you were saying at the end of the episode, which was kind of talking about the parallels between parents and Jesus got some stuff to say about that that I think you will find interesting. And we will start here in Luke chapter 11 and verse one. The intro to this will be very familiar to, I think, everyone, but especially those who grew up Methodist.

Luke 11 · chapter mention

Oh, wow. Okay.

One day Jesus was praying in a certain place when he finished, one 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. It's a shortened version.

Very short. It's a shortened version, but same basic concept.

You would probably enjoy knowing that one of my small groups were reading a book about prayer. And I think it was like three weeks ago. They randomly were like, we should say the Lord's Prayer. And then another person was like, we should do it like teams used to do in the locker room all together. And it was the messiest stumbled over because we started it and about versions.

About half after we started the prayer was like, wait, I don't know the words and then there's three of us that knew different versions. And so it was it was the messiest group prayer you've ever heard.

God does not approve of messy group prayer. So that's

what we're

learning today.

A bunch of scattered voices, some people fading out, coming back in later.

Temptation. Yes.

It was very funny to listen to. As

the queen of the Methodist, I mean, you should have you should have just been coming in solid over

the

top.

I did you were to give you didn't stumble. Technically the leader of the group. Lead the small group and so they pitched the idea and I was like, yeah, for sure we can do

that and you dominated it.

Yeah, and I didn't even think for a second people know the words,

You know, the Apostle's Creed. He dropped that on us to

I don't know by heart, but I know that and on the third day

that would be you that's where you would start. Think

if someone started it, I could say a lot of it with them, but I can't even remember. It's like Pontius Pilate. I know the big C Church, right? Like a bunch of different stuff. I can't just start it off on my own.

Is that in the Bible? No.

No. Okay.

That was a stupid question.

There are no such things as stupid questions.

Abigail classic. Okay.

That's the thing.

Granny Boone on this one would be like Abigail. It's not the Bible.

There might be stupid questions.

Always said it in big church.

Yeah. That's why I asked because I knew that we did not say it in our church. Didn't we didn't believe it.

Oh, you're Baptist. Yeah. Enemy.

Alright. So they're asking Jesus, to teach him how to pray. And so he gives them at least this condensed version of the Lord's Prayer. Verse five, Then Jesus said to them, suppose you have a friend and you go to him at midnight and say, friend, leave me lend me three loaves of bread. A friend of mine on a journey has come to me and I have no food to offer him.

And suppose the one inside answers, don't bother me. The door is already locked and my children are in bed. I can't get up and give you anything. I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity, he will surely get up and give you as much as you need. So I say to you, ask and it will be given to you seek and you will find to knock and the door will be opened to you.

For everyone who asks receives, the one who seeks finds, and to the one 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? There's some elements here.

This this this one of it's one of my it is one of my it's one of my low key favorite passages.

Really?

Right. I mean, does not like favorite like Ephesians two, eight and ten, John three sixteen. Yeah. There's just some elements to this, some of which I find hilarious that I just I just really enjoy this passage

every time I've heard this on the first part where he's talking about like I can't don't bother me and he says my children and I are in bed. I always wonder are you shouting from the family bedroom while they're all asleep?

Imagine it's a big one room house. Yeah, not a big guy like I was just a one

room, but they're all together and he's like, don't bother me.

There are several aspects of that story, which are just kind of interesting, right? So first of all, this kind of set the stage kind of why this would be a significant parable a premier like top level virtue in this culture would be hospitality.

Okay.

Okay. So I'm at my house, friend surprises me. And of course, I'm going to take him in. Yeah. And of course I have to feed him, but I don't have any food.

There is really no greater shame

than the guy that is coming He out

is feeling a lot of shame and pressure at this time. Have to feed this guy. I don't have any food. I've got to find some. Yeah.

And so, this is a high stakes situation that maybe we would not

even consider

would not feel it as much again because access to food is very different for us and you know,

I did I gave you

a place to sleep. Don't have any food, but it's no big deal. Mean, I'd be like it's late,

right? Right. Even whenever like we came in from like a late basketball tournament or something like that. I'd like mom, I'm hungry. She's really late.

Grab a snack out of the fridge or something, right?

So this was this was this was very high stakes. Yeah, but it's also set an absurd time so that the guy will be asleep. Right. So then we got when we knock at the door. And it's like, I need need some food, right?

So apparently, you know, things are close enough where we can each other, you know, they probably had, you know, they didn't have windows, but they didn't, you you got peek in there. Look at him. Hey, and for that guy, like the amount of effort it takes to like you said, to shout from wherever it is. I mean, kids were already bad. Yes.

I mean, it just, again, being in that culture, she he should have understood.

This is a big deal.

The significance of that And, I mean, it costs just as much to much energy to do what I mean, to lay there and yell at the guy. If you're worried about your kids,

they're up, like, you're yelling

laying there on the floor and there's a knock at the door like I need food if my kids are asleep. I'm. Sprinting to that door

and trying to get them to stop knocking as quickly as possible.

Yes, so this guy clearly does not care about the kids

Even though he uses them as an excuse.

Which again, I think it's just a great beautiful picture of just what a jerk this guy is. Yes. Right. And again, it's and it is from our perspective. I mean, is you can imagine you're asleep and it's midnight and there's a knock at your door and it's your neighbor saying, can I have some bread?

I would immediately be terrified.

Right. I mean, there's just so much about that. That is just

my little T ball bat by my bed. I'd grab that and I'd like, please don't come any closer.

How we would I mean, just how rude that would be for someone to try to wake you up to get food. Yeah, so there's an absurdity about it because we don't get the culture. Yeah, but from their perspective, really, it's an absurd situation.

But they still would be like, Yeah, you better go get food.

Yeah, you to do this. Yeah. And what a clear jerk this guy is for not understanding the urgency of the situation. And rather you were just going to sit there and just yell, which is stupid. And then he says, then Jesus says,

just can only imagine knowing my brother and sister if this context happened in either of their house of how mad they would be at their spouse that the spouse just started shouting back.

Yes, Give him all the brunch

to be plain. Don't be quiet.

Preposterous. Even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity, he will surely get up and give you as much as you need. And so it is a shameless audacity. I mean, it's an absurd thing on one level to be knocking at your friend's door at midnight. And so Jesus recognizes the kind of the absurdity of the situation that this guy would be knocking.

Again, there's a value that trumps all of that, which is hospitality. And it's like, this guy's your friend, your neighbor, he's your friend, he's not doing this out of friendship. He's doing this just because you are not going to give up until

so this is still in response to teach us how to pray. Right? Okay.

So again, we have a similar set up here to what we looked at before.

A mean judge.

A relatively ridiculous situation

and

a bad person refusing a, you know, what should be considered a perfectly fair request.

Right.

Refusing it and giving in not because they see the Justice in it, but because leave me leave me alone.

I would assume. I mean, maybe not, but I would assume in their culture with both of these parables this one in the one from last week that the notion of bugging so much that it's outrageous is uncomfortable

right

to anyone like even again back to my rental. I was super excited and I was like, well, I don't want to ask too much because then I'll just be annoying and I would assume still in this culture that would still be like you're telling us to ask that much right? That's kind of annoying Like, don't want to be that guy.

I don't know. Yeah, it's uncomfortable, right? But so then he says again, so the parallel he doesn't make as explicitly here, but the parable, the, the parallel is, you know, if if a jerk will be

Will give in.

Will give in. Obviously, God will too. But he he says well, more implicit implicitly here, verse nine. So I say to you, ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find.

Knock and the door will be open to you. For everyone who asks receives the one who seeks find and the one who knocks the door will be open.

Okay, so now we have to do that deep dive.

Which deep dive?

Last time it was focusing in on Justice not just anything,

right? Okay. Then verse 11, which of you fathers if your son asked for a fish will give him a snake instead or if he asked 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?

So it's assuming they're asking for something good?

Well again again, the context again is limited to at at its broadest good things. You can't ask for a bad thing. And and and have any confidence that you can you will get something.

I feel like most people are like, I think this is a good thing.

Right? I mean, well, let's just go let's go to it here. By the way, I'll get you get your thoughts on this. This is another thing in addition to whether or not Shrek is an appropriate anniversary movie, something that my wife and I will Which disagreed of your 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?

Is that funny?

That's hyperbolic. I don't know that I would laugh at it when I

hear Like, what do feel like your son asks for your fish? You're gonna, what, you're give him a

Oh, I would just be mad.

If your kid asks for an egg, what are you gonna do? Give him a scorpion? Yeah. Like, to me, I'm like, that's, that's I imagine Jesus saying that in a funny way.

Okay.

Not in a, which of you fathers if your son asked for a fish would give him a snake. Yeah, imagine he's like, like he's telling it's I think it's humorous.

Okay,

I think he's making a joke. Yeah, because it wouldn't have served. It's just it's absurd. Not just hyper hyperbole. It's it's absurd.

And I think it's humorously absurd.

But I just rarely hear snake and scorpion and think, but

the contrast of it is what makes it funny. Yes. But I mean, I think there is an implication here and you can imagine a three year old boy seeing a scorpion and thinking

that's good for me.

Bring let me play with that or sees a snake like let's dad, let's go play with that.

Yeah. Instead of like me before we started recording today and I said, Charlie, there's a bug,

a small a very

small bug, but it looked really gross.

It was on his back. It was mostly dead was no threat to you at all.

It was just definitely not touching.

Was just ugly and gross sitting there and he wasn't that big and yet

there's no way I would have picked that up with a napkin. You can probably feel it even with the napkin. Yeah.

So but you can imagine a kid being like, oh a bug like and I'm not going to say which because I'm trying to embarrass anybody. But one of our three kids was a notorious bug eater of all kinds.

I really want to guess

all kinds and would just and we just eat them like and so it's like I want to eat that bug.

I think it's your third.

I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you online. I'll tell you later.

Give me

just a few minutes to wrap this up, you know, but gee, I mean again, are kids that there are plenty of kids asking for things that are not for their good. And there are plenty of us doing the same thing and you think it's good. This would be fun. This would be helpful. Know, the I think the common illustration, the the lottery prayer.

Sure. But even like thinking of

God, I'm putting my last $500 on black. God, the rule of

will come up black. Right. But I think of like thinking about a mom who their kid is off. They're stuck in addiction or something like that. They're in a bad marriage, whatever.

And they're like, I prayed and this is a good thing, right?

And so and then and I would I would say that God is by and large, he is a rewarder of people who are asking for good things.

So rewarder, but not an answered prayer.

Well, is God going to give God right now, I just pray that everybody who is hungry in the world would have a meal right now. I mean, that that's a real that's a that's a good prayer. But I don't have any real confidence because there is, in fact, a million other factors involved in that that are not, again, not beyond God's scope, but beyond what God is willing to intervene. I mean, there's just kind of the sense of which God kind of he does he does intervene, but he's not, you know, the the kid that's in addiction like, well, I mean, he has not hit rock bottom yet. Yeah, he's going to have to hit rock bottom.

And in order for this to be healthy for him, this is going to have to be a decision that he has to make. And maybe God is answering that prayer in all sorts of ways by bringing all sorts of resources to bear for him to make a change. But ultimately, he has to to do something. Yeah. And it is not that God is not answering that prayer.

It's that God does not very often use magical powers to change people's wills. Yeah. Right? Yeah. I'm just I'm just going to, you know, I'm going to I'm going to orchestrate all manner of circumstances where I'm I'm bringing all sorts of mean, what's dumb story about the guy stuck on his roof after a flood and he prays for God to help him?

And then like a boat comes by and it's like, Hey, we say, No, I don't need the boat. God's going to take care of me.

Yeah, my Methodist pastor, that would be an opening to a sermon.

Yeah. But and there there and there is some truth to that. I mean, God is God is answering moms like that desperate prayers all the time and is answering prayers to feed the hungry and do sorts of things. In a lot of times, it's like some of these things that you're praying, God, I just pray that hungry people would have food. He's like, that's a great thing.

I'm going to answer that prayer by then saying to you, you should donate some money and some food. Right?

And then like,

woah, that's not what I asked Right. I mean, I don't know. Want you to supernaturally make food appear in front of them. It's like, it's really not how God tends to order and structure

the world many things in these parables that make me think about Parenthood and the way I treat my parents that I'm like, we should do this and they're like, yeah, all right, you do this and I'm like, well, that's not what I meant. So do you think that this is

real quick to actually say this? Is crazy. They asked Jesus to teach them how to pray and he goes into this. No, and then they and then suddenly they catch a stray. If you then though you are evil know how to give good gifts to your children.

Like,

I know that part made me laugh.

Come on, bro.

No, that part definitely like in a conversation to be like, well, we know that you're evil. So

thanks for your question about how to pray. So you should stay persistent and if you ask and God is a giver of good things and you you're terrible and you you at me, you're at least able to take care of your kids. So if you being the worst can do this, then of course God will

because he's he's essentially just like we both understand. Yeah,

I imagine like like Peter kind of going

like wait, what what what I'm not. Yeah, hundred percent hundred percent.

I'm cool, bro.

Yeah. Yeah, it is a straight for sure. And it's very slightly just put in there. So the one from last week seemed heavily focused on persistence and continuing that persistence even until the son of man comes back whatever about like, well, I still see faith at the end of the day. You say that this is mainly commenting on God's character or double of like God's character and the Shameless Audacity?

Yeah, it is. This is more directly like so shame if again, we got the comparison with the Shameless Audacity and you being evil know how to take care of kids compared to God who is a giver of good things to his kids. I mean, the interesting thing is, I mean, I think we can broaden it out to persistent prayer. God will give you the good things that you need. But again, in a very strange way, he does seem to limit it there at the very, very end by saying, will he not give the Holy Spirit to those of you that ask?

Yeah. Yeah.

It seems to narrow it down again to just one very specific thing. Yeah. That one specific thing has unlimited power and resources and does incredible things in your life. Right. But again, I think I think we are still listening to it kills the lottery prayer.

I think it also it also gets rid of God, let me be comfortable. God, I wish I were more comfortable than what I am. I wish my life were more pleasant than what it is. Yeah. I don't think that's what we're talking about here when God says, I will give you good things.

And then specifically, as an example, the Holy Spirit talks about the Holy Spirit. We're talking about a much deeper good than that. I mean, are by and large because we are relatively prosperous. We pray for comfort and the avoidance of pain rather than we praying for good things that Jesus and his disciples would have considered to be good things. First century AD in Israel.

Right. I mean, they would I mean, again, I think that's where I think really that's where the biggest disconnect comes from these really just kind of broad man. If you just ask God for anything, he's going to give it to you and you're like,

and we think anything.

Burns, Mr. Burns fingers. We are most of most, if not all of the things that the disciples and the people, the crowds following Jesus would have prayed for. We are managing to supply for ourselves, right? Even the poorest amongst us would have been fairly well off

at that time. And

so the things that we are praying for by and large, I guess the things that immediately come into our mind when God says He'll give you anything you ask for are well off the radar of this context. It's hard to insert, again, lottery prayers into that. Make me even more wealthy, give me power, give me comfort, help me to avoid pain. Yeah. But, I think you're like, son is in trouble, my daughter is hurting.

I mean, I am experiencing injustice. I am experiencing some sort of persecution or pain and God help me. I think God 100% answers those prayers. The more specific we get, the more it's like, God, I'm in this very desperate situation. I need your help.

I think God's answering that 100% of the time at a minimum with the Holy Spirit. Yeah. But the more specific we get, okay, I'm in this terrible situation and I've drawn out a map for what is the best way for you to handle this. I need you to do A, B, C, D, E and F. Yeah.

But I think the more we're just like, just kind of desperate, please of help. I mean, I think God's got an unbroken track record on providing help and love and support to people who are in difficult circumstances, even if he is not answering the prayer in the most specific way that you wish that he were.

And I guess from the most surface level of the story, It's just describing that he is a father who would respond

right

for he's a father that hears it and is moved to take care or come near again.

And the examples are food when you're hungry and the power of the Holy Spirit inside you. Yeah. And even in the in the parable itself, the resources that you need to be who God has called you to be. God has called me to be hospitable. And if I ask, he's going to give me what I need to be able to be hospitable and all the resources you need to be who God has called you to be.

He will give to you again. Will he not give you the Holy Spirit?

Yeah.

God, give me the strength to get through this. Done. Holy Spirit. God, give me grace, give me patience, give me hope, give me peace. Every time.

Every time. Give me a thousand dollars to pay off this credit card bill to pay off the things that I really didn't need and shouldn't have bought otherwise. Yeah, we'll see little bit a little bit. You're asking to play with that snake.

Really is such a zinger of your evil because imagine like if you if you ask someone for like fatherhood advice and they described in there like but you're a bad dad. So you would do

you be even even you who is a terrible dad gets this right?

Yeah, and you'd be like,

what

did you just insult me like that?

I cool. I'd cool. Other questions?

No, I like this.

Yeah, do think I think I think it is important because I think it is one of the in the most practical sense, one of the things that I think that we we struggle with, which is it does seem there's so many passages that seem to say that if you will just ask God will give it to you. Yeah. As if we have found Aladdin's lamp somewhere and that somehow God accidentally put something in there and he's bound by this thing. And it's like, we're not really not really reading it closely enough. Every every one of these teachings has some sort of caveat isn't the right word, but context context is

well, but also I mean even all we've talked about of how Decadent almost our society is now. We aren't thinking of the things to where we're probably to a point where we don't even so much of the population wouldn't even consider asking God and he's like, no, I want you to come to me right and ask. Yeah, I

mean, it's like if if you remain in if my words remain in you and you remain in me ask whatever you wish and will be done for you. Can ask whatever I wish and will be done for me. Well, yeah, if you remain in Him and His words are in you, and if both of those conditions are met, you're not going to pray the lottery prayer.

Yeah,

that's just not what you're praying for. And so part of this is, we, God is a good God who is giving good things to his people all of the time. And God has a much different definition of good than your typical twenty first century middle class American does. Yeah, but we're trying to enter him in and are, Okay, well, I'm here and I wish I were up here. He's going to like, come on, bro.

Like, are you even? What are you even on about? Yeah, look, look at how much you are already blessed,

right?

And now we're on a different I'm on a different rant here, but I saw the stop it real quick. It's just like, think too much of our struggles about God not quote answering my prayers is we do not recognize how deeply we are living in the grace and favor of God already already. Yeah. And and it's like only one cherry on the ice cream sundae. God.

Okay. Anyways, that's a cherry just pops out. Different. That is a different podcast series altogether. Maybe we'll find a parable on it a little bit later.

Hey. Thank you Of course. As always for being a great host and DJ. And thank you for joining us, and we'll see you next time. Thank you for listening to the Cultivate Podcast.

Our hope is that you are taking steps to go deeper in your faith, that you are asking big questions, and you're looking for answers. We hope that we can be a resource for you through our podcast and any other way that we can help you. You can find all our episodes anywhere that you can find podcasts, including YouTube. And, again, thank you so much for joining us.