Let's Pray: Who We Pray To

So that's Luke chapter 11, it's on page 1042.

Luke 11 · chapter mention

What are we reading? 1 to 13?

So Luke chapter 11, starting at verse 1.

Luke 11 · chapter mention

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 in bed with me.

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?

Thanks very much, Alex.

Well, it is a text and teaching on prayer.

So, why don't we pray

and ask for God's help?

Amen.

Our Father God, thank you for your word to us.

And thank you that you, by your Spirit,

speak to us through your word.

And thank you that through your word,

you tell us and remind us

and invite us

to talk to you,

to come with our requests,

to ask, to seek, to knock.

And so we come to you, Father,

and ask that you will give us

the wonderful gift of your Holy Spirit.

Pour out your Spirit upon us

so that we may understand your word,

not just intellectually,

not just intellectually,

but that we may experience it in our hearts

and in our lives,

that it may teach us afresh

the relationship that you call us to have with you.

Thank you that even as we talk to you now,

your Son

is taking these prayers

and speaking them also

to the Father

on our behalf.

We ask for your help to us.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Well, I wonder when was the last time

you had a time of prayer

on your own?

What was it like?

Perhaps it started very well.

But after a couple of sentences,

your mind began to wander

and you were thinking about work

or college next week

or a friend that you had to meet

and before you knew it,

you'd actually forgotten

what you were doing.

Maybe as you sat down to pray,

you never really got going at all

because all of a sudden

you became very conscious

of a whole lot of sin in your life

and you just felt far too guilty

and you just thought,

there's no way I can talk to God.

Or maybe you've just given up

on prayer altogether.

You're disappointed

that things that you had asked God for

just never materialised

and you are really just fed up

with the idea of prayer.

Or maybe you've actually tried

to bring a bit of structure to it

and you've planned things out

and you said,

right, at this particular time

on each day,

I'm going to pray.

But after a couple of days,

it all stopped

as the busyness of life

overtook.

That's my experience.

And the fact is,

we all struggle to pray,

including the disciples.

So look at chapter 11, verse 1.

One day,

Jesus was praying

in a certain place.

When he finished,

one of his disciples said to him,

Lord,

teach us to pray.

Teach us to pray.

Just as John taught his disciples.

You see,

we know we should pray.

We know it's good to pray.

But we all find it so hard to pray.

In fact,

in our determination

to be people

who are better prayers,

it seems the more we try,

the more we fail.

As soon as we begin to pray,

our mind wanders

or we just find

there's something more important

to be doing.

So rather than prayer

being a privilege to enjoy,

it just becomes a duty

to perform.

Well,

as Jesus teaches

his disciples

about prayer,

he's bringing us back

to some very central themes

that encourage us

and remind us

that we can all pray.

And over the next

few weeks together,

we're going to look

at these three things.

Who we pray to,

how we pray,

and what we pray for.

Who we're praying to,

how we should pray,

and what we should be praying for.

And this morning,

we're going to start

with who we are praying to.

So,

who are we praying to?

Look at verse 2.

Jesus responds

to their question.

He said to them,

when you pray,

say,

Father.

Now,

it might seem so obvious

to us,

but we must understand,

we must know

who we are talking to.

We are talking to God

as Father.

And in a sense,

as Jesus teaches us,

he is inviting us

to join him

in relationship

with his Father.

Father.

The disciples

had heard Jesus pray,

they had watched Jesus pray

on many occasions,

and now they're wanting

to be able to pray

as Jesus did.

Go back to chapter 10,

verse 21.

Here they are watching,

and here they are listening

to Jesus pray.

So,

chapter 10,

verse 21.

At that time,

Jesus,

full of joy,

through the Holy Spirit,

said,

I praise you,

Father,

Lord of heaven and earth.

Verse 22.

All things have been committed

to me

by my Father.

No one knows

who the Son is

except the Father,

and no one knows

who the Father is

except the Son,

and those to whom

the Son chooses

to reveal him.

You see,

in that prayer,

we see that there is

a deep relational intimacy

between the Father

and the Son.

Only the Father

knows the Son,

and only the Son

knows the Father.

They are one together.

They have existed

in relationship

before time began.

They loved each other

before all eternity,

and now Jesus

is saying to his disciples,

you can call me

Father too,

or you can call him

Father too.

Jesus is inviting us

to join him

in relationship

with his Father.

But how can we join in

with this relationship?

How does it actually happen?

Well, look back at verse 21 again

of Luke chapter 10.

Luke 10 · chapter mention

At that time,

Jesus,

full of joy

through the Holy Spirit,

said,

I praise you,

Father,

Lord and heaven and earth,

because

you have hidden

these things.

Hidden what things?

Hidden

this idea

that you can have

a relationship

with the Father.

He has hidden

these things

from the wise

and learned,

those who think

they know it all,

and think that they can

just have it

any way they want.

But he has revealed it

to little children,

people who come

in dependence.

Yes,

Father,

for this was your

good pleasure.

You see,

it's the Father's desire

that we should be

in relationship

with him.

It tells us there

that he takes

pleasure

and delight

in making himself

known to us.

it pleases the Father

that we should

know him.

So how can we

know the Father?

Well,

look down at verse 22

again.

The last part,

it says,

no one knows

who the Father is

except the Son

and those to whom

the Son chooses

to reveal him.

Jesus is the only one

who makes the Father

known to us.

It is through Jesus

that we get to know

the Father personally,

and intimately.

And we know

that when Jesus

died on the cross,

he was coming

into this world

to join

with us.

Joining with us

to become

like us,

to take the blame

for all the wrong

things that we have

done,

so that

we could join

him

in relationship

with the Father.

He joined

with us

so that we could

join with him.

It is summarised

for us very well

in Ephesians

Ephesians 2:18

chapter 2

verse 18.

No need to look it up,

I can read it out

to you.

Ephesians chapter 2

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

and verse 18

says this,

for through him,

that is,

through Jesus,

we both have access

to the Father

by one spirit.

And in Ephesians 3

Ephesians 3:12

verse 12

it says,

in him,

in Jesus,

and through faith

in Jesus,

we may approach

God,

our Father,

with freedom

and confidence.

Jesus

is the only one

who makes

the Father

known to us.

So when we pray,

we are talking

to the same

Father

that Jesus

talked to.

The relationship

that he enjoyed

with the Father

now becomes

our relationship.

The intimacy

that Jesus

enjoyed with the

Father

becomes ours

to enjoy.

Again,

this father-child

relationship

is very well

illustrated for us

in Luke chapter 15.

Luke 15 · chapter mention

The well-known

story of the

two lost

sons

in Luke chapter 15.

Luke 15 · chapter mention

The first part

of the story

tells us about

a son

who had wished

that his father

was dead,

wished that he

had been buried

and that he could

now have his share

and inheritance

and basically

he takes it

and he leaves

home.

But after a life

of self-indulgence

and ruining

his life,

he now begins

to return home

broken

and ruined

and we pick it up

in Luke 15

Luke 15:18

verse 18.

I will set out

the son,

this is the son

speaking,

I will set out

and go back

to my father

and say to him,

Father,

I have sinned

against heaven

and against you.

I am no longer

worthy to be called

your son.

Make me like

one of your hired men.

Maybe he'll just

take me back

so I could just

work in the fields

or something.

So he got up

and he went

to his father

but while he was

still a long way up

his father saw him.

The idea there

that the father's

looking out for him

and he was filled

with compassion for him

and he ran

to his son

and he threw

his arms around him

and kissed him

and the son

said to him,

Father,

I have sinned

against heaven

and against you.

I am no longer

worthy to be called

your son

and before he could

give any other

words of explanation,

verse 22,

but the father

said to his servants,

Quick,

bring the best robe

and put it on him.

Put a ring

on his finger

and sandals

on his feet.

All signs

and symbols

of the fact

that he is now

part of the family.

Bring the fattened calf

and kill it.

Let's have a feast

and celebrate

for this son of mine

was dead

and is alive again.

He was lost

and is found.

So they began

to celebrate.

The point is so clear

that when we repent

and turn to God

the father,

he forgives us,

he welcomes us,

he accepts us

and he treats us

as his own son

so that we can be

in relationship

with him.

This is what it means

to talk to God

as father.

father.

There's a very famous

picture,

have it on the screen

there,

we've seen it before,

of President JFK

and here he is

sitting at his desk

in the Oval Office,

the Presidential Suite,

perhaps the most

guarded room

possible

and here he is,

the President,

the most protected

person,

but sitting underneath

his desk

is his little son,

JFK Jr.

The office is the centre

of all power

and authority.

Here is where

everybody who's important

gets to be invited.

National and international

decisions are made

in this office

and nobody is allowed

in there.

It's off limits.

Access is denied

and if you tried

to force your way

in there,

you would be arrested

or perhaps you'd

even be killed.

But yet,

because of this

unique relationship

between father

and son,

Junior has access

to his father.

Now,

through Jesus,

we have been given

access to

the father.

He alone

is the one

who reveals

the father to us.

The father who is

Lord of heaven

and earth.

the creator,

the sustainer,

the ruler of all things.

And just as Jesus

talked with his father

and had that intimate

relationship with him,

so we can talk to our father

without fear,

in freedom

and in confidence.

but what kind of father

are we talking to?

Well,

we are talking to a father

who listens

and answers.

A father who listens

and answers.

Go back to

Luke 11.

Let's pick it up

in verse 5.

Jesus tells

a story.

Verse 5,

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.

Now,

as we read this,

we've got to remember

that people then

lived in very basic

accommodation.

It wasn't all very

kind of separate rooms

as we have today.

The kitchen

was simply the living room

and the living room

became the bedroom.

So we can imagine

the scene here,

we've got this family

all snuggled up

in the one room,

all nice and warm

and then this neighbour

comes along

and starts knocking

on the door

at midnight.

Well,

maybe if I stay quiet

he'll go away.

But the knocking persists,

verse 7.

Then one inside,

then the one inside

answers,

don't bother me,

go away.

The door's already locked

and my children

are with me in bed.

I can't get up

and give you anything.

You see,

he knows if he gets up

to answer the door,

the whole family

are going to be woken up

and then the baby's

going to start crying

and will need fed

and then the kids

will need the loo.

Why don't you try

Brennan's next door?

Verse 8.

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.

Now,

commentators,

when you read this

passage here,

will all say that

that's not a very helpful

translation,

boldness.

It should really be

something like

shamelessness.

Yet,

because of the man's

shamelessness,

he will get up

and give him

as much as he needs.

Now,

when it says here,

because of the man's

shamelessness,

it can refer,

and we need to follow

this through very carefully,

it can refer to either

the man

knocking on the door

or it can refer to

the man on the inside.

And I think here,

it's primarily about

the man who's on the inside,

who's asleep with his family.

So,

the reason

the neighbour

gets bread

is not because

he keeps on

knocking shamelessly

whatever time of the night

it is,

and he won't give up

knocking,

but because the man

on the inside

does not want to be

shamed

by his neighbour.

His reputation,

his integrity

is at stake.

You see,

if he doesn't get up

and answer the door,

if he doesn't get up

and help his neighbour,

then the whole village

is going to know

how stingy

and selfish he is,

and he's going to bring

shame on the whole community.

So,

verse 8,

yet because

of the man's

sense of shame,

he will get up

and give him

as much

as he needs.

You see,

the point of this

little story here

is not to make

comparisons,

but it's to draw

a contrast.

Jesus is not

saying

God is like

some reluctant neighbour

and you have to

keep on nagging

and knocking

and keep on

banging on the door

until eventually

he answers.

No,

it's saying the opposite,

that God is

always attentive,

he is always

listening to our

every cry,

and he will

answer

because

his integrity

is at stake.

To avoid

being shamed,

he will hear

and he will

answer.

In other words,

if a reluctant

neighbour

would listen

and would

answer,

how much

more

will your

Father in Heaven

listen

and answer?

Father in Heaven

So we must

never think

that God

is asleep

and that

he can't

be disturbed.

He's never

asleep.

We must

never think

that God

is so tied

up that

he mustn't

be inconvenienced.

He is

never put

out with

our coming

to him.

We must

never think

that God

is uninterested

in our affairs

or he wouldn't

be bothered

with us.

He is

deeply

concerned.

And so

the invitation

is to come

and talk

to our

Father

any time,

anywhere,

about anything

because he

is always

listening

and he

will always

answer.

That is the

character

of Father

God,

one who

listens and

answers.

And second,

the Father

that we pray

to is a

Father who

gives good

gift.

Look down

at verse 11.

Here he

tells another

story,

which is

again quite

humorous.

Which of

you fathers,

he says,

verse 11,

if your

son asks

for a

fish,

we'll give

him a

snake

instead.

Or if

he asks

for an

egg,

we'll give

him a

scorpion.

Now what

kind of

father would

treat his

child like

that?

Could you

imagine a

father who

goes and

buys a

poisonous

rattlesnake

for his

son's

birthday

instead of

giving him

a nice

little

tropical

fish?

Or could

you imagine

a father

who serves

up a

live scorpion

underneath

some lettuce

to his

daughter who

would ask

for egg

salad?

No father

would do

that to

their child.

Verse 13,

if you

know how

to give

good gifts

to your

children,

how much

more,

how much

more will

your father

in heaven

give the

Holy Spirit

to those

who ask

him?

Again,

the point

of the

story,

like the

other one,

is to

draw a

contrast,

not a

comparison,

a contrast.

If our

earthly

fathers,

even though

they are

evil,

in other

words,

even though

they mess

up and

get things

wrong and

they're not

perfect people,

even though

earthly fathers

would never

give such

a dangerous

and a

horrible

gift to

their

children,

how much

more will

your heavenly

father,

who is

perfect,

give good

gifts?

Sometimes we

may feel

that God

is out

to harm

us or

to trick

us,

telling us

one thing

but then

doing another.

Maybe we

see God

as some

kind of

practical

joker who

promises us

all kinds

of good

things but

then they

only turn

out to be

bad.

But nothing

could be

further from

the truth.

He is

always generous,

always good,

always kind.

Now of

course that

doesn't mean

that we

get everything

that we

ask for.

We'll look

at this in

detail next

week.

God doesn't

give in to

our spiritual

tantrums just

because we

nag and

shout and

whine and

whinge.

He's not

swayed by

our selfish,

sinful desires.

But he

always gives

us what is

right and

what is best

for us.

He is the

perfect father

who does

not withhold

what is

good for

us.

And if

it isn't

good for

us,

then he's

not going

to give

it to

us.

He will

withhold

something if

it's not

going to be

good for

you.

Again,

this is

summarised for

us so well

in Romans

8.

Let me

read those

verses.

Romans 8

Romans 8:15

verse 15.

It says

there, it's

talking about

the relationship

that we now

have with

God the

Father through

Jesus.

He says,

For you did

not receive a

spirit that

makes you a

slave again to

fear, but

you received

the spirit of

sonship.

And by him

we cry

Abba, which

means Father.

Verse 32,

He who did

not spare his

son, so the

Father.

who did

not spare

his son, but

gave him up

for us all,

how will he

not also,

along with

him, graciously

give us all

things?

You see, this

is the relationship

that we have.

He has given

us the greatest

gift possible,

the Lord Jesus

Christ.

So if he's

given us the

greatest gift,

how will he

not also,

along with

him, give

us everything

else that we

need?

Our Father

will not

withhold what

is right

and best

for us.

And so the

invitation is

to come and

talk to

our Father,

who gives

good gifts

to his

children.

So,

talk to

the Father.

Talk to

him.

One of the

reasons I think

we all find

prayer so hard

is because we

see it as

something that

we have to

do.

It's like a

duty that we

have to

perform.

A little box

that we have

to tick.

Somehow we

think we

must do

something to

better ourselves,

to kind of

dress ourselves

up before we

come to God,

or that we

have to

improve our

technique,

or maybe we

need a little

bit of soft

music, or a

few candles,

what do we

need to

somehow that

God would

hear me and

see me and

accept what

I'm saying.

But prayer

is not a

duty to

perform.

It is a

relationship

to enjoy.

Jesus is

inviting us to

join him in

relationship with

his Father,

the Lord of

heaven and

earth, who

is always

listening and

answering, and

he only gives

what is good

and right to

us.

And because

of our faith

in Jesus, the

relationship that

Jesus had with

his Father is

now our

relationship.

The intimacy

that he enjoyed

is now ours

to enjoy.

So it's not

about us trying

to better

ourselves.

It's not about

us trying to

improve our

technique in

prayer.

It's not

anything to

do about

what we

do.

It's all

about what

we now

have because

of Jesus.

we are

already in

the

relationship.

So when

the disciples

ask Jesus,

Lord, teach

us to

pray, he

simply starts

by saying,

when you

pray, say,

Father.

Say,

Father.

Prayer starts

when we

understand that

it is not a

duty to

perform, but

a relationship

with our

Father in

Heaven that

we can

enjoy.

Let's pray

to our

Father now.

Amen.

Father,

we're sorry

we confess

that we

complicate

prayer.

We're

sorry that

we make

excuses

about prayer.

And we're

sorry that

we treat

prayer in

the wrong

way.

Thank you

for showing

us through

your word

afresh of

the relationship

that we can

have with

you through

your Son

Jesus.

Thank you

that you

are the

ultimate

and perfect

Father.

Thank you

that you

are always

listening and

that you

always answer

our every

cry and

our every

call.

thank you

that you

are a

father who

only gives

good gifts

to us.

Teach us

to pray.

Teach us

to enjoy

our relationship

with you.

and may

this week

be a

week of

deep

intimacy

of talking

to God

as

father.

Please

help us.

In

Jesus name

we pray.

Amen.

we're going

to sing

for us.

Thank you

for us.