How and Why to Pray

to them, which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, friend,

lend me three loaves for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey and I have nothing to

set before him.

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.

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.

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.

For everyone who asks, receives.

And the one who seeks, finds.

And to the one who knocks, it will be opened.

What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent?

Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?

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?

This is God's authoritative word.

I have never in my life met a Christian who is stagnant, stuck,

perhaps even backsliding and beset with many sins,

that spends much time in prayer.

Other pastors have made the same observation.

19th century Anglican pastor J.C. Ryle puts it this way.

What is the reason that some believers are so much brighter and holier than others?

I believe the difference in 19 cases out of 20 arises from different habits about private prayer.

I believe that those who are not eminently holy pray little.

And those who are eminently holy pray much.

Most believers theoretically acknowledge the importance of prayer,

but functionally we disavow its importance by the lack of prayer.

Many of us know how prayer works, but we don't quite believe that it really works.

Why should we pray?

How should we pray?

And Jesus teaches us in this passage that we should pray boldly to God

because he is our heavenly father who is gracious to answer.

And we'll look at that in two parts.

First, how we should pray in verses 1 to 4

and why we should pray in verses 5 to 13.

Chapter 11 begins with these words,

Now Jesus was praying in a certain place.

More than any other gospel writer, Luke emphasizes the importance of prayer

as we've seen over and over again throughout this book.

In this gospel, every time before something happens that's very important,

Jesus is always seen praying.

After prayer, it was after prayer that Jesus was baptized

and the Spirit descended on him, anointed him,

and the voice of God the Father spoke,

affirming him as God's beloved son.

In Luke chapter 3.

Luke 3 · chapter mention

After praying all night, it says Jesus chose his 12 disciples

who will become the apostles of the church, Luke chapter 6.

Luke 6 · chapter mention

After he prayed, Peter made the breakthrough confession

that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ of God.

And after prayer, Jesus was transfigured on the mountain

with the dazzling glory of his true sonship of God.

And then it's after prayer, here he says again,

Jesus was praying in a certain place.

That's a signal to us as we're reading this

that something significant is about to happen.

And what follows is Jesus' teaching of his disciples

on how to pray and why they should pray.

In Luke 10, if you recall, Jesus sent out 72 of his disciples

and they proclaimed the kingdom of God

and they healed the sick.

They returned triumphantly to Jesus saying,

even the demons are subject to us in your name.

But even these disciples who have experienced already

so much of God's power and so much of God's authority,

even after they have experienced so much ministerial success,

they see in Jesus something that they still lack.

They see in Jesus' habit of prayer

something that they still must learn.

They see that Jesus' authority, his power, his character,

his love flow from his communion with God in prayer.

And so in verse 1, they ask Jesus,

they wait till he's finished.

And when Jesus finished, one of his disciples said to him,

Lord, teach us to pray as John taught his disciples.

This is the only place in the Gospels

where the disciples make such a direct request of Jesus

to teach them something.

They have been speaking to men throughout their ministry,

but they want to now learn to speak to God as Jesus did.

And so Jesus responds to them in verse 2,

and he said to them,

when you pray, say.

So that phrase, when you pray,

means when we pray, this is how we should pray.

Jesus is setting the course,

the direction for all of our future prayers.

And that's why churches for 2,000 years

have used this prayer, the Lord's Prayer,

as a part of their worship service

and to recite it during their worship service.

And it's not wrong to use the Lord's Prayer in that way.

But I do want to say this.

We need to be careful that praying the Lord's Prayer

does not become this mindless rote activity.

In Matthew 15a, Jesus denounces the Pharisees

by quoting Isaiah,

this people honors me with their lips,

but their heart is far from me.

God will not be fooled by empty lip service.

And likewise, he will not listen to prayers

that have form but no substance.

Prayers that have a lot of words but no heart,

no faith.

And by definition,

rote learning is based on repetition, right?

It's not based on comprehension necessarily.

You can repeat something by rote

without giving any thought at all

to what you are saying

and to what its meaning is.

But being able to rattle off a prayer

from memory is not enough.

We need to be able to understand it

and believe it.

And we can see that in the fact

that God's given us two different versions

of the Lord's Prayer.

One here in Luke chapter 11

Luke 11 · chapter mention

and another one in Matthew 6.

There are overlaps

and the themes are very consistent and similar,

but they're not identical in their wording.

This shows us that what's critical

is not the exact words you say here,

but the themes, the subject matter,

how we are to approach God.

And so this Lord's Prayer

is not kind of a magical formula

or an incantation that you utter

word for word in order to be effective.

Jesus is not teaching us

what exactly to say every time we pray,

but he's teaching us how to pray.

This is the pattern,

a model that we are to follow.

So let's look at the prayer itself

in verses two to four.

It has a very simple structure.

It begins with an address of God,

Father,

followed by two second person declarations

that pertain to God.

Hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come.

And then those declarations,

those requests are then followed

by three first person plural supplications

that pertain to us as God's people.

Give us each day our daily bread

and forgive us our sins.

For we ourselves forgive everyone

who is indebted to us

and lead us not into temptation.

Notice that there isn't a single I

in this prayer.

This doesn't mean that we are not allowed

to pray for ourselves as individuals,

but it does highlight the importance

of praying to God as a community.

Even when we pray alone in our prayer closets,

we speak to God as members of the family of God.

Whenever we address God as Father,

we also remember the fact

that by virtue of our union with God,

union with Christ,

and adoption into God the Father's family,

we are united also to our brothers

and sisters in Christ.

So our prayers are always,

have a communal nature.

And that's the first feature of this prayer.

We have to address God as Father.

A Father is, of course, an authority figure.

So there should be an appropriate reverence for God

as we approach Him in prayer.

But a Father, the word is also an endearing term.

It's a relational term.

So there's a sense of intimacy

that comes with this as well.

And this, of course, implies that

if you do not have God as your Father,

then you can't pray to Him

and address Him as your Father.

Because in a general sense,

yes, it's true that all people,

Christians and non-Christians,

are offspring of God.

In the sense that we've all been created by Him.

So Paul uses it,

talks about it in that sense in Acts 17,

when he's addressing non-Christians,

he says, we are indeed His offspring.

But there is a special sense

in which only Christians,

those who confess Jesus Christ as their Lord,

are the children of God.

And that's the sense in which we address God

in our prayers as Father.

That's why it says

in John 1, verses 12-13,

John 1:12–13

but to all who did receive Him,

who believed in His name,

that's Jesus' name,

He gave the right to become children of God,

who were born not of blood,

nor of the will of the flesh,

nor of the will of man,

but of God.

Only those who believe in Jesus Christ

for salvation

are given the right to become

the children of God.

Scripture speaks repeatedly of the fact

that God does not hear the prayers

of the wicked.

Isaiah 59, 1-2,

Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened

that He cannot save,

or His ear dulled that He cannot hear.

But your iniquities have made a separation

between you and your God,

and your sins have hidden His face from you

so that He does not hear.

It's our sins that separate us from God

so that He does not hear.

If you are not yet a follower of Jesus Christ,

you do not have this access to God the Father,

because you have been separated from Him

by your sins.

But there is one prayer

that you still yet can pray,

and that's the prayer

that God will always hear and answer,

and that's the prayer

of your repentance of sin

and your faith in Jesus Christ.

It's the prayer for surrender to God

and your dependence on God for salvation.

In the Gospel of Luke,

we see two prominent examples of prayers

that are uttered by unbelievers,

those who do not believe in Jesus yet.

In Luke 18,

the tax collector,

who is keenly aware of his own sinfulness

and unworthiness before God,

he says,

Standing far off,

he would not even lift his eyes to heaven

because he did not feel worthy,

but he beat his breast saying,

God, be merciful to me,

a sinner.

And Jesus says,

I tell you,

the man went down to his house justified.

He heard that prayer of

someone who did not know God yet.

Similarly, in Luke 23, 42,

the thief who is being crucified

next to Jesus on the cross

for his crimes,

says to Jesus,

Remember me when you come into your kingdom.

That's the prayer of surrender,

dependence on Jesus for salvation.

And Jesus replies,

Truly I say to you,

today you will be with me in paradise.

If you come to Jesus like that,

with that prayer of surrender and dependence,

he will not turn you away.

That's the prayer I urge all of you

who do not yet know Jesus Christ to pray,

even today.

It's an invitation.

It's an invitation.

Then when you pray that prayer,

give your life to God,

and you give a credible profession of faith

that you truly are a follower of Christ,

that's when you are baptized

into the body of Christ

and become a member of a local church.

And when that happens to you,

you're born again,

the Spirit of God indwells you,

and you can truly say to God,

my Father,

our Father in heaven.

And for those of you already

call God your Father,

this doesn't mean that we can never pray

directly to God the Son

or to God the Holy Spirit.

We see examples of people

in the New Testament

praying to the Lord Jesus directly

in Acts 1, 24, 759.

And even though there's no recorded prayers

addressed directly to the Holy Spirit,

we do see examples of prayer

addressed to the Holy Spirit

throughout church history.

But there is a pattern,

a dominant biblical pattern.

And we see that again and again

throughout Scripture.

And you can see this in John 16.

In that day you will ask nothing of me.

Truly, truly, I say to you,

whatever you ask of the Father

in my name,

He will give it to you.

Until now,

you have asked nothing in my name.

Ask and you will receive

that your joy may be full.

So we are to pray to God the Father

in the name of Jesus Christ the Son.

To pray in the name of Jesus

means to approach God through Jesus

by the virtue of our union

with Christ through faith.

We pray through Jesus

because He's our Savior,

because He's our mediator,

because He's our intercessor.

And that means Jesus is standing before God

and graciously gives,

He gives to those who repent of their sins

and trust in His name

this basis to approach God the Father

through Him.

And that's why we end most of our prayers

with the phrase,

in Jesus' name we pray.

To acknowledge the fact

that we do not approach God

on our own terms,

on our own merit,

but on the merits of Jesus,

with the standing of Jesus.

That doesn't mean you have to say the phrase

every time.

You can pray in the name of Jesus

without saying,

in Jesus' name we pray.

In fact, there's no prayer

recorded in the New Testament

that ends with,

in Jesus' name we pray.

But even when you don't say that,

you should mean that.

Because we are incapable of pleasing God

on our own merits.

We are dead in sin,

incapable of pleasing God.

And it's because Jesus,

God's beloved Son,

died for our sins

on the cross

so that all who trust in Jesus

can be counted righteous

as He was.

That's why we have access to God

as our Father,

because of Jesus,

what He has done.

That's why we pray through Jesus.

And it's the Spirit of God

that helps us,

intercedes on our behalf,

helps us as we pray.

So we pray to God the Father

through Jesus Christ

and the Spirit of God

joins us in that.

So we pray with the Holy Spirit,

in the Holy Spirit.

That's the pattern we see

throughout Scripture.

It's hard for us to really

kind of fathom

the staggering implications of this.

Because this means

when we pray,

we're not just mumbling to ourselves

these half-coer words

that you wonder

whether we'll just vanish in thin air

and we'll ever be heard by anybody.

When you pray,

you get caught up

in the very communion

and the communication

of the triune God Himself.

We are translated in our prayers

to the throne room of God,

the Father,

speaking through Jesus,

our mediator,

with the Spirit of God

by our side helping us.

And if we just got a glimpse

of what a tremendous thing

it is to pray

and what is happening

as we're praying,

it'd be difficult

to get us to stop praying.

Prayer is quite simply

communication with God

in the context of communion with God.

Communication and communion,

speaking and sharing

in the life of the triune God.

After addressing God as Father,

we are to pray,

hallowed be your name.

This is the first of two requests

that pertain directly to God.

Hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come.

And the name of God,

as I said earlier,

represents God.

It stands for who He is.

His character is all that He is.

So to pray,

hallowed be your name,

is to pray that God

would be honored as holy.

Holy means set apart

or consecrated.

We're praying that God's name,

that He will be recognized

as a person who is separate from us,

who is holy unlike us.

So that means prayer is not

about manipulating God

for our purposes.

It's not about finding

some kind of therapeutic catharsis.

Its purpose,

the purpose of prayer,

is to glorify God.

That means everything we say

in prayer,

our prayer for daily provision,

our prayer for pardon from sin,

our prayer for protection from evil,

has as its goal

to make much of God

and not make much of ourselves.

It's a common thread

that unites

all non-Christian prayers

is a way to exert control

over a deity,

to manipulate deity

for our purposes.

But Christian prayer

is not like this.

It's to submit to Him,

to say,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come.

The second request

of the prayer

is also about God.

It says,

your kingdom come.

The kingdom of God

is the realm of God's dominion.

It refers to God's rule

over His people.

So wherever there is

the people of God

who have submitted to His rule,

there is where

the kingdom of God is found.

And the prayer then

is for the culmination,

the fulfillment

of God's promised rule,

that God's kingdom program

would be worked out

in every corner of the earth,

that God's rule of justice

and righteousness

would be extended

over every area of life.

And we're asking

that God will do that.

God will bring up

the fulfillment

of the kingdom.

But frequently,

instead of saying,

your kingdom come,

prayers can sound more like,

let my kingdom come.

Make me successful.

Make me rich.

Make me powerful.

Make me desirable

and beautiful.

But because the purpose

of Christian prayer

is hallowed be your name,

the thesis of Christian prayer,

the main point of it is,

let your kingdom come,

is to seek God's will

to be done in our lives.

Prayer is not about

bargaining with God

to get what we want.

It's about surrendering

our wills

and conforming ourselves

to His kingdom agenda.

And so when we're praying rightly,

we are thinking

God's thoughts after Him.

We're loving the things

that He loves

and we're desiring

the things that He wills

and that's what we seek

in prayer.

That's why 1 John 5,

it says,

and this is the confidence

that we have toward Him,

that if we ask anything

according to His will,

He hears us.

And if we know

that He hears us

in whatever we ask,

we know that we have

the requests

that we have asked of Him.

when our prayers flow

from your kingdom come,

God answers all

of our requests.

A very practical

and helpful way

to practice

praying in this manner

is to pray

through the Scriptures.

I commend it

to all of you guys.

The Bible is God's

revealed will for us.

Everything we need to know

to be saved,

everything that we have

to know

to become mature Christians

are contained

here in the Scriptures.

And because prayer

is communication

and communion with God,

it makes sense

to hear from His Word

than to respond back

to God in prayer.

That's why we do,

that's what we do

whenever we respond

to the reading

and preaching

of God's Word

on a Sunday morning

with the corporate

prayer time.

That's why every Wednesday

during our corporate

prayer service,

we have a preaching

from God's Word

in Psalms

before we pray.

often believers

struggle in prayer

because they don't

know what to say.

They feel like

they're saying

the same old thing

over and over

and over again.

And that also

solves this issue.

If you're praying

through the Scriptures,

if you're meditating

on the Scriptures

and you take a verse

at a time,

you reflect on it,

see what God

would say to you

and for the church,

and then you respond

back to God

those things in prayer,

then you will find

that the time

will fly by the light

faster than you

are used to.

And you have

no shortage

of things to pray for.

Now praying

your kingdom come

doesn't mean

that we can't

pray for anything

for ourselves.

Because there are

things that we need

in order to love

and serve God.

So this is also

for His kingdom.

It is good and right

to pray for those things.

So the next three

petitions in the Lord's

prayer are personal

requests.

It goes from God's name

and God's kingdom

to give us,

forgive us,

lead us.

And the content

of our personal

request to God

has three parts.

It's provision,

pardon,

and protection.

And all our personal

needs are accounted

for in these three

petitions.

The first personal

request is in verse

three.

Give us each day

our daily bread.

It's God who

sustains us,

so we must come

to God for both

physical and

spiritual provision.

And a petition

that says,

give us each day

our daily bread

assumes that

each day

we are daily

walking with God.

That our companionship

with Him

is not something

that we turn to

just in times of

crises,

but it's something

that we engage

in every single day.

And this prayer

for daily bread

has in view

God's provision

of manna

in the wilderness

for Israel.

Exodus 16

tells us that

when Israel

was going through

the wilderness

to their promised land,

they had no food

to eat,

but God rained

manna,

which is a type

of bread

described as a

fine flaky

like thing,

like coriander

seed,

white wafers

made with honey.

He rained it

from heaven.

And he said

that he did

this daily

with the dew

of the morning.

And the Israelites

were instructed

to collect

a very specific

amount depending

on how many

members they had

in their families.

And they recommended

not to save

any of it

for the next day.

And they recommended

not to collect

more than they need.

And the uncollected

manna on the ground

melted when the sun

grew hot during the day.

And the manna

that they tried

to save for the next day

rotted with worms.

The point of it all

was that God

wanted Israel

to live

daily by faith

in daily dependence

on God

for his provision.

He's not going

to give us

a year's supply

of spiritual blessings

and food

so that you can live

without him

for that next year.

He wants us

to come to him

daily in dependence

on him.

And that's what

Jesus teaches as well.

He teaches this

in Matthew 6

31-34

Therefore do not

be anxious

saying

what shall we eat

or what shall we drink

or what shall we eat

what shall we wear

for the Gentiles

seek after these things

and your heavenly Father

knows that you need

them all

but seek first

the kingdom of God

and his righteousness

and all these things

will be added to you.

Therefore

do not be anxious

about tomorrow

for tomorrow

will be anxious

for itself.

Sufficient

for the day

is its own trouble.

Each day

has enough trouble

of its own.

So God calls us

to depend on him

daily for those troubles

and when we do

he's promised

to provide us

and sustain us

prove true.

Sometimes

we despair

of the troubles

and sufferings

that fill our lives

because we're worrying

about tomorrow.

Because we think

to ourselves

I can't keep going

like this

for another day

another week

another month

another year.

I don't know

how I'm going

to get food

on the table

for my family

for the next month.

I don't know

how I'm going

to last

this entire winter

with my depression.

I don't know

how I'm going

to make it through

the demanding

early years

of my children.

I don't know

how I can get

through this illness.

I don't know

how I'm going

to keep living

with my difficult

spouse.

But God

is not asking

us to worry

about tomorrow

or the next

week

or the month

or the next year.

He tells us

to worry about

today.

Look to God

for your help

and ask for

his sustaining

grace for today

and you will find

that there is

sufficient grace

for you.

Lamentations 3

22-23

The steadfast love

of the Lord

never ceases.

His mercies

never come

to an end.

They are new

every morning.

Great is your

faithfulness.

As people

who work hard

to provide

for ourselves

and for our families

we can forget

to depend on God

for daily bread.

But we need

to recognize

that our daily

provision comes

from God

even if we

work really hard

to get them.

The intellect

that we have

the abilities

that we have

the opportunities

that we have

the jobs

that we have

the health

that we have

that enable us

to work

where do you

think they came

from?

They all came

from God.

God.

So each day

we go to work

we should

thank God

for his

daily provision.

But more

than just

physical provision

is in view

here.

Because in

John 6

Jesus says

I am

the bread

of life.

The true

bread

that the bread

that Moses

brought down

from heaven

pointed to.

The fulfillment

of it all.

Jesus is the

ultimate

spiritual

bread

bread

of life.

He is the

one who

gives spiritual

nourishment

to us.

Daily we

should seek

life,

peace,

and joy,

and rest

that come

from only

Christ

to live

in this

world.

Daily we

need his

strength to

subdue our

sinful flesh.

Daily we

need Jesus

to cry out

for him

for his

spiritual

provision.

Maybe

some of you

have been

hungry for

a while.

Are you

relying on

the experience

of God's

grace

yesterday

or a

year ago

or when

you first

came to

faith

to sustain

you now?

God has

new

grace,

new

mercies

sufficient

for you

today.

So the

first

three

petitions

of the

Lord's

prayer

that we've

just seen

hallowed

be your

name,

your

kingdom

come,

give us

each

day our

daily

bread.

They

mirror the

three

temptations

that Jesus

faced in

the wilderness

in Luke

4 in

reverse

order.

The devil

tempted

Jesus to

throw himself

down from

the pinnacle

of the

temple in

an attempt

to force

God's hand

and make

him demonstrate

his care

for Jesus.

But Jesus

responded,

you shall

not put the

Lord your

God to

the test.

Instead of

trying to

manipulate God

and use

him to

make much

of

ourselves,

see how

loved I

am,

see how

great I

am.

Jesus

refused to

test God

because

in the

temple,

that is the

place where

God's name

should be

hallowed.

His name

should be

honored as

holy.

The devil

also tempted

Jesus by

showing him

all the

kingdoms of

the world

in a

moment's

time and

saying to

him,

to you,

I will

give all

this authority

and glory

for it has

been delivered

to me and

I will

give it

to whom

I will.

If you

then will

worship

me,

it will

all be

yours.

But

Jesus

resisted

the devil

saying,

you shall

worship

the Lord

your God

and him

only shall

you serve.

Instead of

seeking the

glory and

authority of

the kingdoms

for ourselves

apart from

God,

we are to

pray,

let your

kingdom come

God.

And

lastly,

the devil

tempted Jesus

while he

was hungry

saying,

if you

are the

son of

God,

command

this stone

to become

bread.

But

Jesus

resisted

and reaffirmed

his allegiance

to God,

depended on

him to

live by

every word

that proceeds

from the

mouth of

God,

to depend

on his

provision.

So these

three temptations

that Jesus

faced represent

the kinds of

temptations that

we will face

as his

followers on a

daily basis

until the

day we

die.

God

and these

are the

devil's

main

strategies

to get

us to

reject,

to renounce

God,

our allegiance

to God

and to

live for

ourselves

and to

go after

the idols

of this

world.

But in

our passage,

Jesus is

giving us

a tool

with which

we can

fight this

spiritual

battle to

counteract the

schemes of

the enemy

and that's

by praying,

Father,

hallowed be

your name,

your kingdom

come,

give us

each day

our daily

bread.

And the

fourth petition

and the

second personal

request,

it flows from

these first

three because

as sinful

people who

are not yet

perfected in

the image of

Christ,

we will fail

to follow

God,

we will fail

to hallow

God's name,

we will fail

to seek first

his kingdom,

we will fail

to depend on

him for daily

bread.

So it should

be the habit

of the

Christian life

to seek

God's

forgiveness.

Verse 4

says,

and forgive

us our

sins,

for we

ourselves

forgive

everyone

who is

indebted

to us.

This verse

reveals that

the primary

debt that

Luke has

in mind

is not

financial debt

but it's

spiritual debt,

it's the

debt of

sin.

We are to

ask God

for forgiveness

for our

sins.

And the

reason why

we can

approach

God

and seek

his

forgiveness,

the reason

that he

gives here

is that

we

ourselves

forgive

everyone

who is

indebted

to us.

Earlier

in Luke

Luke 6:31

chapter 6

verse 31,

Jesus

commanded us,

as you

wish that

others

would do

to you,

do so

to them.

And then

he explained

this in

verses 37

to 38,

judge not

and you

will not

be judged,

condemn not

and you

will not

be condemned,

forgive and

you will be

forgiven,

give and

it will be

given to

you.

The implied

subject of

all of these

passive verbs

is God.

So if we

do not judge

others wrongly,

God will not

judge us.

If we forgive

them, God

will also

forgive us.

This is

not because

our doing

good works

in like

forgiving

others

becomes the

basis for

salvation.

Rather,

these good

works that

we do,

us forgiving

other people

is the

evidence of

our salvation

because salvation

is a gift

from God.

We're saved

by God's

grace through

faith in

Jesus Christ

but those

who are

saved by

Jesus Christ

do good

works.

And part

of that good

works is how

we extend

forgiveness to

others.

That's why

in Ephesians

4,

32,

it says

we are

committed to

forgive one

another as

God in

Christ forgave

you.

It's because

God has

already forgiven

us that we

are to forgive

one another.

God's forgiveness

is the basis

for our

forgiveness.

And for that

reason, if we

don't forgive

other people,

God will

judge us as

unforgiven

people.

We will not

receive his

ultimate forgiveness

on the day of

judgment.

So we

can only

pray to

God,

forgive us

our sins

if we are

also honestly

willing to

extend the

same forgiveness

that we expect

of God to

others.

Unforgiveness

is a grave

sin.

It imprisons

us to anger

and bitterness

and resentment.

It cannibalizes

our joy.

It spells our

ultimate doom.

God's

sin.

Because only

those who

forgive will

be finally

forgiven.

And the

final petition

in Luke's

version of

the Lord's

prayer is

for protection,

spiritual

protection.

Lead us

not into

temptation.

The prayer

for pardon

from sin

flows naturally

into this

prayer for

protection so

that we might

be kept

from further

sins.

This doesn't

mean that

God's the

one that

leads us

to temptation.

James 1.13

says clearly

that God

tempts no

one.

But because

it is in

his power

to fortify

us and

guide us

away from

sin,

we should

pray to

him in

this way.

It's an

admission of

our own

weakness.

We're

acknowledging

that apart

from God's

powerful

intervention

on our

behalf,

we are

powerless to

withstand the

temptations

that come

our way.

Christians

are not

self-confident

and self-righteous

people,

but people

who are

humbly

dependent

on God

in prayer.

This is

how we

should pray.

Then in

verses 5

to 13,

Jesus teaches

us why

we should

pray.

And Jesus

sets out

this hypothetical

scenario in

verses 5

to 7.

Which of

you who

has a

friend will

go to

him at

midnight and

say to

him,

friend,

lend me

three loaves,

for a

friend of

mine has

arrived on

a journey,

and I

have nothing

to set

before him.

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.

Hospitality,

as we've

been seeing,

was prized

very highly

in the

ancient

world,

and it

was this

man's

obligation,

even if

his guest

arrived really

late at

night,

midnight,

like in

this case,

to still

set out

food for

two

unideal

options.

The first

option was

to say,

hey,

sorry,

don't have

food,

just wait

till tomorrow

and be a

bad host.

That's the

first option.

The second

option is

to be a

rude neighbor

and go to

a neighbor

and be like,

hey,

I don't have

food and I

have a guest,

please give me

some food.

So you

either got to

be a rude

neighbor or

a bad

host,

so not good

options on

either side.

And so he

goes,

he opts for

the second

option,

he opts to

be a rude

neighbor,

so he goes

over to his

neighbor and

says,

hey,

man,

I'm in a

real pickle

here.

I have a

buddy in

town,

but I

don't have

any food

to serve

him.

Please

just give

me three

loaves.

I'll make

sure to pay

you back.

Look at the

words of

you.

He says,

lend me

three loaves.

It's like

a technical

business

transaction.

He wants

to pay

him back.

And then

Jesus then

asks,

do you

think this

friend will

reply?

Do not

bother me.

The door

is not

shut and

my children

are with

me in

bed.

I

cannot

get up

and give

you

anything.

Do you

think that

this person

will respond

that way?

So this

seems to

be a

typical

ancient

house

where the

whole

family

sleeps

on

one

mat.

So he

has

children

with him

in bed.

And the

doors shut

and the

doors in

this context

would have

had a

wooden

or iron

bar placed

through these

rings on

the door

panels.

So it

would have

created a

lot of

creaking

wood

noise as

well as

clanking

metal

noise.

And if

you know

about

children and

sleeping,

no

children

want

to

sleep.

It's a

struggle to

put them

to bed

sometimes.

He's

lying with

his

children

in bed

and rude

knock on

the door

at

midnight.

You can

imagine

the tension.

This guy's

understandably

upset.

But do

you think

this man,

this man,

this friend

had the

audacity,

the

shamelessness

to come

disturb

their

peaceful

night,

and do

you think

this friend

will refuse

this

shameless

man?

And Jesus

gives the

answer in

verse 8,

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.

Isn't that

true?

I mean,

he's already

disturbed them

and bothered

them and

probably

woken up

his

children.

This friend

will get up

and give

the man

the bread

he needs

out of

sheer

disbelief,

probably

scowling at

him,

shaking his

head and

thrusting the

bread to

him.

Here,

take it.

Now leave

me alone.

We're so

familiar with

the concept

of prayer,

so familiar

with the

Lord's

prayer that

the audacity

of it all

doesn't shock

us like it

should.

Because all

the petitions

in the Lord's

prayer,

if you look

at them,

they're all

imperatives,

they're

commands.

Jesus'

prayer is

not full

of ifs

and woulds

and mights.

Rather,

they are

bold,

direct,

hallowed

be your

name,

your kingdom

come,

give us

each day

our daily

bread,

forgive us

our sins,

lead us

not into

temptation.

These are

bold,

bracing

prayers.

And that's

how God

wants us

to pray

to Him.

Isaiah

62

says,

you who

put the

Lord in

remembrance,

those who

put the

Lord in

remembrance

are those

who pray

to God

and bring

to God

to remember

the things

that He

promised

Him.

God,

remember

you said

this to

us?

Remember

you promised

this to

us?

We're

asking

you.

We're

bringing

to your

remembrance.

He

says,

you who

put the

Lord in

remembrance,

take no

rest and

give God

no rest

until He

establishes

Jerusalem and

makes it a

praise in

the earth.

This is how

God's Word

teaches us