And it can be rewarding to do things on your own. The DIY market is huge, with many home handymen paying their fortnightly tithe to Bunnings as they build their own castles. We are a people who strive to be independent so that we can make our own way in this life. This is what we teach our kids. And so I wonder, does this self-made, independent attitude follow through to how we relate to God?
God has got the universe to run. We might think, “I don’t want to bother Him with my issues. After all, she’ll be right. I can take care of things myself.”
But, this attitude overlooks the fact that good social things only happen if you ask for them. That is how the world works. When you were a kid, you would ask your parents if you could go over a friend's place. To get a job, you have to ask for it. If you don’t apply, then there is zero chance you will get it. It’s the same with dating and marriage. You have to ask that person out. You might even ask their parents if you can marry their daughter. If you don’t ask, it won’t happen at all.
God has got the universe to run. We might think, “I don’t want to bother Him with my issues. After all, she’ll be right. I can take care of things myself.”
But, this attitude overlooks the fact that good social things only happen if you ask for them. That is how the world works. When you were a kid, you would ask your parents if you could go over a friend's place. To get a job, you have to ask for it. If you don’t apply, then there is zero chance you will get it. It’s the same with dating and marriage. You have to ask that person out. You might even ask their parents if you can marry their daughter. If you don’t ask, it won’t happen at all.
In all these, you really can’t do it on your own. Good things all involve others; workplaces, friends, spouses- you have to ask. And God is no different. God is not an impersonal force. He is three persons, Father, Son and Spirit. He is relational, and He wants us to talk to Him. To ask Him for help. And this is what we call “prayer”. It is talking to God. It is asking God for help, asking for Him to act in some way.
In this integrated series, we are going to be looking at the topic of prayer. Prayer is one of our core values at church. We say on our website:
God provides:We have been given a language, and we can use that to talk to God in prayer, to show our reliance on Him, and God listens to us.
We Ask Him. We value prayer, as an expression of dependence on God.
We talk to God, and He listens and acts. Prayer is as simple as that, and it can feel as complicated as that. Why would the God of the universe want to hear from us? Surely He is too powerful and big to even worry about our worries. And really would our requests even matter in 50 or 500 years to the eternal God? What are we to God, that He should listen to us?
We can overthink and overcomplicate things, but for today, from Jesus’ teaching on prayer, we are seeing that God wants us to pray to Him. He wants us to ask, because He enjoys giving gifts to His children.
A Framework of Prayer (Luke 11:1-4)
I find it strange that while the disciples were around Jesus, the only topic recorded in the gospels which they wanted Him to teach them on was prayer. It wasn’t how to preach, or how to heal, but it was how to talk to God. They knew Jesus went off to pray, and they wanted to know how they could do it.In both Matthew and Luke, we get Jesus’ teaching to the disciples on how they can pray. In answering their question, Jesus doesn't start by talking about our attitude or sincerity, perseverance, discipline, openness, faith, and so on (Luke (Belief: A Theological Commentary on the Bible) The Lord’s Prayer (11:1–4))
Those things may come later, but the first thing Jesus gives them is an example of what to say. He gives a basic prayer to help them, and us to do it. So, if you feel like you can’t pray, you don’t know what to say, or where to start, then you can simply start here. And the basic fact is, you learn how to pray by praying. (Expository Outlines from Luke 18. The Christian and Prayer (Luke 11:1–13)). Pretty much you have to try it.
You can start with this prayer that Jesus gives, as there is nothing wrong with praying set prayers. The songs we sing are planned, the sermons we listen to are planned, it is fine for our prayers to be set too.
In this short prayer, Jesus gives a simple framework. This one is shorter than the Matthew version, which we will look at at the end of this series.
This example prayer is only three verses long
You can start with this prayer that Jesus gives, as there is nothing wrong with praying set prayers. The songs we sing are planned, the sermons we listen to are planned, it is fine for our prayers to be set too.
In this short prayer, Jesus gives a simple framework. This one is shorter than the Matthew version, which we will look at at the end of this series.
This example prayer is only three verses long
He said to them, “When you pray, say:This prayer starts heavenward and heads down to us. It praises God and asks for our physical and spiritual needs.
“ ‘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.’ ” (Luke 11:2–4 NIV)
God is addressed as “Father”. This alone is huge. We have been adopted into His family, so we can come to Him and talk to Him within a strong family relationship. We don’t relate to God as some powerful CEO or politician, or as a stranger on a street, but as a Father, someone who knows us, someone who cares and provides for us, someone who we have familial ties with.
We ask for His name to be hallowed. This is giving God honour and praise for who He is. His name is more than a label, it represents the essence of His character, and we are offering praise for who He is.
The prayer then moves on to asking our Father for His kingdom to come. In this, we are asking for God to come into our world, to defeat all injustice and take charge as King. It is a hopeful looking forward to when Jesus will return and finish the work that He started. And it is also asking for us in the present, for Him to act, maybe even through us, to live out this kingdom now. In this, we are asking for His rule to come, knowing that one day it will come completely.
And then, moving from God and the future, the prayer focuses on our needs today. First, for our physical needs. We ask for help in our daily provisions. Nothing lavish, but something we need to sustain us.
Then for our spiritual needs. For our forgiveness of sins, and to forgive others who sin against us. We are to mimic our Father, as His child, with the same family trait of forgiveness. As we live a forgiven life (aorist imperative - definitive forgiveness), we will have to continually practice forgiving others (present-tense - ongoing process). (Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year C, Volume 3 Exegetical Perspective).
And lastly, we ask for protection, so that we can live a holy and pleasing life to God. We ask for help in what path we will take, so that it doesn’t lead us to a compromising situation.
Looking at this short prayer as a whole, it is interesting to see how direct, and how almost rude it seems! “Give us.… Forgive us.… Lead us.… Deliver us.” (Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year C, Volume 3 Theological Perspective)
There is no please, or polite cavorting of the requests. It could even be seen as pushy or demanding towards God as we come to Him with all our basic and immediate needs.
But God is not put off by us requesting things from Him. Asking Him and relying on Him is actually what He wants. It helps us realise that we can’t make it on our own. We are not so independent or self-made as we think we are. Jesus wants us to lean into asking our Father for our day-to-day help.
We get a story about a man who has some surprise guests come over, only to discover that his cupboard is bare. So at midnight he bangs on his neighbour's door, asking them to give him some bread for his guests. Troublingly, the friend says, “Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, me and my family are already in bed. Leave me alone”
In a world where hospitality was highly prized, the continuous and shameless knocking would broadcast to the world the rude behaviour of a friend who stays in bed rather than answer hospitality’s urgent need. (Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year C, Volume 3 Homiletical Perspective)
And so, we are told, because of the shameless audacity of the person asking at the door, the neighbour will get up and give them all that they need. They were willing to be quite bold, to break conventions, to lean on an existing relationship and to ask and ask away.
This is a story to show that we can pray [the Lords Prayer] with confidence that God will respond to us, as we lay our needs before him (Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 35B: Luke 9:21–18:34 Explanation)
We can ask God, shamelessly, ignoring social conventions. There is no hour of the day or night that we can’t come to Him. He will always open the door to us. You just have to ask. You just have to seek, you just have to knock.
We ask for His name to be hallowed. This is giving God honour and praise for who He is. His name is more than a label, it represents the essence of His character, and we are offering praise for who He is.
The prayer then moves on to asking our Father for His kingdom to come. In this, we are asking for God to come into our world, to defeat all injustice and take charge as King. It is a hopeful looking forward to when Jesus will return and finish the work that He started. And it is also asking for us in the present, for Him to act, maybe even through us, to live out this kingdom now. In this, we are asking for His rule to come, knowing that one day it will come completely.
And then, moving from God and the future, the prayer focuses on our needs today. First, for our physical needs. We ask for help in our daily provisions. Nothing lavish, but something we need to sustain us.
Then for our spiritual needs. For our forgiveness of sins, and to forgive others who sin against us. We are to mimic our Father, as His child, with the same family trait of forgiveness. As we live a forgiven life (aorist imperative - definitive forgiveness), we will have to continually practice forgiving others (present-tense - ongoing process). (Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year C, Volume 3 Exegetical Perspective).
And lastly, we ask for protection, so that we can live a holy and pleasing life to God. We ask for help in what path we will take, so that it doesn’t lead us to a compromising situation.
Looking at this short prayer as a whole, it is interesting to see how direct, and how almost rude it seems! “Give us.… Forgive us.… Lead us.… Deliver us.” (Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year C, Volume 3 Theological Perspective)
There is no please, or polite cavorting of the requests. It could even be seen as pushy or demanding towards God as we come to Him with all our basic and immediate needs.
But God is not put off by us requesting things from Him. Asking Him and relying on Him is actually what He wants. It helps us realise that we can’t make it on our own. We are not so independent or self-made as we think we are. Jesus wants us to lean into asking our Father for our day-to-day help.
A Friend at Midnight (Luke 11:5-8)
So after Jesus gives this simple prayer, He then tells two stories about a friend and a father to help make a point about asking and receiving in prayer.We get a story about a man who has some surprise guests come over, only to discover that his cupboard is bare. So at midnight he bangs on his neighbour's door, asking them to give him some bread for his guests. Troublingly, the friend says, “Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, me and my family are already in bed. Leave me alone”
In a world where hospitality was highly prized, the continuous and shameless knocking would broadcast to the world the rude behaviour of a friend who stays in bed rather than answer hospitality’s urgent need. (Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year C, Volume 3 Homiletical Perspective)
And so, we are told, because of the shameless audacity of the person asking at the door, the neighbour will get up and give them all that they need. They were willing to be quite bold, to break conventions, to lean on an existing relationship and to ask and ask away.
This is a story to show that we can pray [the Lords Prayer] with confidence that God will respond to us, as we lay our needs before him (Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 35B: Luke 9:21–18:34 Explanation)
We can ask God, shamelessly, ignoring social conventions. There is no hour of the day or night that we can’t come to Him. He will always open the door to us. You just have to ask. You just have to seek, you just have to knock.
“If in human friendship with all its flaws we confidently expect our friends to come through for us in our hour of need, how much more can we confidently ask God for his help.” (Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 35B: Luke 9:21–18:34 Explanation)
That night, at some point when the nurses changed shift, the new nurse came in to say hi, and she asked if I was in pain. I told her my ingenious cold foot idea, and she replied, “We are a hospital. We can give you strong painkillers if you want. You just have to ask.” I felt a bit silly. I didn’t have the audacity to ask for help. I didn’t want to be a bother to the busy nurses. [I still didn’t take painkillers, and the nurse ended up giving me a sock with the big toe cut out, so my other toes would be warm.]
God wants us to ask Him, to not be timid, but to approach Him, to recognise that we need His help. His desire is for us to pray and ask of Him, shamelessly. Not in the sense of coming to Him for all the wants and desires we have. But in a bold way, that we can make use of the access we have in Him being our Father, that we are able to seek His face and call on Him.
Our requests can be set before his table. His response, of course, is up to Him, but the Lord desires we share our heart with Him and come with an intense desire to knock at heaven’s door. (Luke Contemporary Significance)
A Father’s response (Luke 11:9-13)
After driving home the idea that we should ask, seek and knock, Jesus uses an argument from a lesser point to make a bigger one.Jesus says:
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!” (Luke 11:13 NIV)Jesus points out that human fathers, although evil, look after their children and so give them good things, not bad things. No father gives his son floor cleaner if he wants a skateboard. Fathers instinctively know that giving poisonous animals to small children isn’t the best course of action. How much more will our Heavenly Father, who is perfect, give His children good things?
And notice what good thing the Father is willing to give. Not wealth, not power, not all our dreams, those things probably won’t actually help. And it isn’t actually a thing that God is willing to give, but instead God is willing to give God - Himself to His children. He is willing to give the Holy Spirit to all those who ask. The Holy Spirit is the great comforter, the advocate, the helper. God doesn’t want to leave us. He wants us to ask for Him. And He will give Himself to us. What greater thing could God even give? He knows what we need, and it is Him, and He will give Himself to us.
Being willing to give us the Holy Spirit should give us every assurance that He will not withhold from us anything that we need. (Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 35B: Luke 9:21–18:34 Explanation)
In preparing for this sermon, I remember a few years ago, after Hannah urged me, to call up the bank to ask for a decrease in our interest rates. Being paralysed with banking things and having a fear of talking to large companies on the phone and not wanting to cause too many waves, I put this off for a while. But, eventually, when I called, I was successful. So I called them again this week and got 0.11% off our rate, just for asking.
If banks, thought they are evil, know how to reduce interest rates to their customers if they ask, how much more will God give Himself to His children who ask for Him?
Jesus taught that we can approach God in prayer and ask for Him, and He will give. And He will do this because He is a better Friend, He is a better Father, and He is Faithful.
A Faithful Lord (2 Thess 3:3)
In Second Thessalonians, Paul asks the church there for prayer. He ask them:And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil people, for not everyone has faith. But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one. (2 Thessalonians 3:2–3 NIV)Paul asks to be safe from unfaithful people, from those who might strongly oppose his mission to tell them about Jesus. Paul also encourages the church that God is faithful, and He will help them and protect them from the evil one. A bit like the line in Matthew’s version of the Lord's Prayer (Mat 6:13).
Paul gets the Thessalonians to join with him in prayer, to partner with him, by asking God for the same things he is asking for, and for them to be confident that God is strong enough to help them in their requests. Paul thinks God will do a good work for them because, as he said, the Lord is faithful.
God is someone that we can rely on. God is someone we can depend on. God keeps His word. He is almighty, and He has the power to save and deliver people from evil.
I do wonder if sometimes we don’t pray because we are not sure if God is listening to us. Or we might not think that God isn’t concerned with us - He may seem a bit distant or aloof. But Jesus tells us He is a friend who comes to our need. He is a Father who is interested in giving to His Children. God doesn’t have to say yes all the time, and we should allow for that, but we should go to Him and be bold and ask.
The bottom line is that we cannot expect God to answer prayers that are never prayed (Pulpit Pages: New Testament Sermons A. A Prayer of Faith)
We all face troubles and have needs. We are not as independent as we think we are. God wants us to include Him in our lives. He is faithful and will help.
This week, you may want to try and pray Luke's three-verse version of the Lord's Prayer every day. To praise God’s name, to ask God for His kingdom to come, for our daily bread, for His forgiveness and protection. You could even make each line a heading and expand on each point if you want. And when you do pray that prayer, know that He will hear us.
Prayer in the Christian life is probably the most effective and efficient tool that we have. (Pulpit Pages: New Testament Sermons C. A Prayer of Fulfillment)
So let's use it.
It is wild to think that we can talk to God, that we can make requests to Him. It is a crazy privilege. We humans, can talk to God, and He will listen.
So let's not be so independent from Him, or too proud of ourselves to think we don’t need His help. And let's not be so timid or meek as to raise not our voices and to ask of Him.
For when we pray, we are talking to a friend, we are talking to our Father, we are talking to our faithful Lord.
Let me pray a set prayer from the prayer book:
Provident Father,with the prayer your Son taught us always on our lips,we ask, we seek, we knock at your door:help us so to seek that we may truly find,so to ask that we may joyfully receive,and so to knock that the door of mercy may be opened for us;through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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