“Lord, teach us to pray”
Bishop J.C. Ryle wrote in his book, ‘A Call to Prayer’
“Faith is to the soul what life is to the body. Prayer is to faith what breath is to life. How a man can live and not breathe is past my comprehension, and how a man can believe and not pray is past my comprehension too.”
Prayer only becomes a habit when it has been demonstrated as well as taught. Children learn to pray by seeing their parents pray. Jesus’ disciples wanted to be people of prayer because they had seen Jesus pray. John the Baptist had also encouraged his followers to be people of prayer
“One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” Luke 11:1
A Muslim man who was interested in the Christian faith once asked me,
“What words should be used when praying to Almighty God?”
What Jesus taught was radically different to what many misunderstood both at that time and today. God wants to be understood as being ‘our father’. It is significant that the ninety nine names for God in Islam do not include the title ‘Father’. True prayer to God is personal, as a child speaks to their dad. What a travesty it is that so many only think of prayer as being beautifully worded, liturgical cadences. True prayer should be the heart felt chat of a child to their father. Candles, chanting, kneeling, standing, religious clothes or prayer mats, priestly intermediaries are unnecessary. Jesus said to his disciples,
“When you pray, say: ‘Father . . . “ Luke 11:2
An overview of Jesus’ demonstration prayer
There can be no doubt that this is a demonstration prayer which should be the framework for all our prayers. The opening focus is that the Lord God of the universe should be highly honoured.
“Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.” Luke 11:2
How many of our prayers focus on me and my wants or perceived needs? No, we have been chosen as the Lord’s ambassadors to enhance His standing and His reputation. Clearly His reputation in the heavenly sphere cannot be enhanced so this must refer to his reputation and standing in our world and societies. Is this our deepest longing – that God’s kingdom will be established on this earth? Is this our daily prayer?
The following stanzas summarise how this change will be brought about. Firstly we must keep recognising that everything we have comes from God and accept all he has given us.
“Give us each day our daily bread . . .” Luke 11:3
Note that this dependence must be a daily affair. We need to relate to God intimately on a daily basis. Jesus has made it clear that he is talking not just about our basic physical needs but about spiritual food. We cannot rely on a weekly attendance at church for our spiritual food. Earlier Luke had reminded his readers of the time when Jesus was tempted with hunger. Jesus recognised that spiritual hunger is even more important than physical hunger and knew how this need can be satisfied. At that time Jesus quoted from the passage in the Old Testament where the Children of Israel went hungry after years of travelling through the wilderness. They were also reminded that the essential daily food all people need is to feed on the word of God.
“Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors. Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” Deuteronomy 8:1-3
How we need this daily spiritual feeding by meditating on the Word of God. But there is more we need for our lives to resonate to the glory of God. We must recognise that sin in our lives works against God’s glory. We need two things, to be forgiven for past sin and empowered not to fall for those temptations that come our way in the present and future. Surely this is why Jesus stresses the danger of sin. Sin separates us from God.
“Forgive us our sins, . . . and lead us not into temptation.” Luke 11:4
Forgiveness is not just a theological understanding – it must work itself out into everyday life as we forgive those who have offended us.
“Forgive us our sins as we also forgive everyone who sins against us.”
If we cannot forgive others, it means we have not grasped the immensity of our sin against God and the cost he paid so that I could be forgiven.
These then are the secrets of living for God’s glory: feeding daily on his word, relying on the forgiveness won for us by the Lord Jesus on the cross, demonstrating this in the way we love others and determining to overcome personal temptations in the future.
This is all so straight forwards yet how few of us pray like this. Jesus goes on to answer the two opposing fears that we all have that prevent such prayers.
Fear that our prayers won’t be answered
This concern resonates with us all. We have all prayed for things and people and yet have not seen those prayers answered as we wanted. Sick friends and family have been prayed for yet they have subsequently died. The son of Christian parents got in with a wild set at college and he became addicted to drugs. The family and church prayed but he kept returning to the drugs. He died in his twenties because of his addiction. ‘So what is the point of praying,’ many ask. Jesus answers this real concern that prayer is ineffective with a short parable.
“Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, 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 and I 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.” Luke 11:5-8
There are some important points in this parable. The most important feature is that this knocking or prayer was persistent. If we don’t keep on praying for something it is probably not that important to us. The request came at a time that was inconvenient for everyone but the inconvenience is clearly less important than the fact that he has a real problem. Serving a visitor was of paramount importance. The reason the man needed bread was not for himself but for a hungry visitor. He wanted to be able to serve this visitor and he was impotent to do so. The lesson is clearly that God wants us to keep praying about our service of others even when there is no immediate response, as he will always respond to our shameless audacity if it will bring genuine glory to him. Notice how this prayer is to a ‘friend’. This illustrates the way God wants us to regard him – as our father and friend.
So Jesus answers this first reason for not praying – that we fear not being answered. If we ensure that the object of our prayer is the glory of God and we keep on asking that he will be honoured in a situation, God promises that this will happen.
John Wimber was an influential church leader who wrote about ‘Power Evangelism’. He felt that people would become Christians as they saw God’s supernatural power seen in healing. He died aged 61. In his last sermon, given from a wheelchair, he said,
“I’ve prayed God to heal me but he hasn’t. . . I’ve given the impression that real believers can expect to healing. I’ve come to realise stars often shine brightest in a desert.”
What often draws people to Christ is when they see the reality of trust in the face of difficult circumstances.
Margie was a Christian lady who developed a brain tumour for which she had surgery and radiotherapy. She was much prayed for yet her tumour recurred and she realised her time on earth was very short. When she realised that her time was come, she told her husband that she needed to go to the hospital. There, her children and husband gathered around the bed and prayed for her. As they left they said,
"Well, we'll see you tomorrow, Mom."
She responded by saying,
"You won't find much."
As soon as they left, she took a shower, and put on her brand new nightgown. The nurse happened to come in just as she was getting back in bed, and said,
"My, how pretty you look! You're all dressed up to go some place. Where are you going?" "I'm going to meet my King," Margie replied.
Then she died, and did meet her King. That's victory! That's death that has no sting!
From our perspective much in life is hard to understand, but our all-loving, omnipotent Father asks us to trust him. His apostle Paul was able to write,
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose’ Romans 8:28
I will never forget Alice. She was a patient in my ward with advanced cancer, waiting to die. On a teaching ward round attended by doctors, students nurses and all, Alice asked me a question.
“Mr Palmer, When am I going home?”
“Alice, you are not well enough to cope by yourself at home, ” I replied.
“No, I don’t mean that,” she answered with a gentle smile, “When am I going to go home to be with the Lord Jesus?”
At tea, after the round, everyone was talking about what Alice had said. Jesus wants us to know that whatever the situation, whatever the problem, we can continue to involve him in it and all will work out well. He follows this parable with the encouragement that persistent prayer is always worthwhile and will always be listened to.
“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; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” Luke 11:9-10
This is the promise of God; when he says something will happen, it does happen, but in his time.. We can trust him. So we must keep praying.
2. Fear that our prayers will be answered
Jesus now tells another short parable which addresses the very real opposite fear: that our prayer will be answered and we are not sure that is what we really want. Jesus longs that we should wholeheartedly live for him but all of us have parts of our lives that we would prefer to keep back from him. The temptations are so attractive even though they promise nothing but guilty consciences. Our problem is that we love sin. This is so ridiculous. The gift of God’s Holy Spirit is a brilliant gift. His presence means that God is always on our side.
“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!” Luke 11:11-13
Please note again the repeated use of the idea that God is our much loving father. Just as a good father loves to give good gifts to his children, so our heavenly father loves to give what is best to his children. What God wants from you and me is to be wholly devoted to living for the glory and reputation of our Lord. Am I willing for this? Can I trust him enough? Just as he allowed his only beloved Son to suffer and die knowing that there was a brighter future for him and others, so we can surely invest what we have been given here and now knowing that the returns are going to be outstanding.
On 18th September 1997 Neal Eldrenkamp was shot dead by car thieves on the outskirts of Quito, Ecuador. His wife Ruth and two young children were present. Neil died in Ruth’s arms. Two years later she was able to share her story.
“When he was shot to death almost two years ago, all our family dreams and ministry dreams were suddenly cut short. . . . I am here because I must witness to the kind of God we serve. Yes! He is the God of history, the sovereign Lord. Yet he has chosen to exercise his rule by giving his own Son and by taking upon himself the utmost pain of darkness and total separation and loss: consequences of our sin, so that we might live with him forever, and so that all creation may become what he intended it to be. He not only accompanies us in our suffering, but suffers on our behalf. . .
I must remind myself and others that this is the kind of world we live in – a broken world, full of emptiness, wrecked by injustice and consequent poverty and violence. The question then is not ‘Why?’ but ‘Why not?’ Why should we as Christians expect immunity from pain and loss while much of the world suffer them?
Last – and this is my main reason for speaking to you today – the brokenness is not the end of the story. Our pain is deep, but it is not all-encompassing; our loss is enormous, but it is not eternal, death is our enemy, but it does not have the final word. The wounded Lamb is also the Lion of Judah and one day he will reign in his perfect rule of love, peace and justice. Such is the hope of the gospel.
No wonder Jesus longs that we should all learn to pray as he prayed.
No wonder Luke wrote a little later,
“Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show that they should always pray and not give up.” Luke 18:1
BVP
