Sermon - Luke 11:1-13 Jesus’ Prayer
First Presbyterian Church of Ocean City
July 24, 2016
This summer we have been walking with Jesus as he visited several communities in the regions of Galilee and Judea. We watched as Jesus sent out 72 disciples to visit villages and to prepare the people for Jesus’ coming into their communities. These disciples were to avoid strangers on the road and enjoy the hospitality of the people they would meet. Then we heard a terrifying story of someone, maybe one of the 72, who was beaten up to within an inch of his life by a stranger on the side of the road. Jesus used this story to teach us that even people from other faith groups, people we fear like Samaritans or Muslims, are our neighbors if they are kind. And we are to love neighbors. And last week we watched Jesus enjoy the hospitality of two women, Martha and Mary. There, surprisingly, Jesus recruited Mary as a disciple to receive an education at his feet. By educating young women Jesus was able to have female leadership in all areas of his ministry and later his church. Today we will be part of a group who will ask Jesus for instructions on prayer. We will get to this, but first let’s pray.
“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)
Luke 11:1 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
What this disciple is asking for is a simple prayer that they could all memorize and repeat whenever they needed to pray. Rabbis would often teach their students prayers like this. And we have a prayer, The Lord’s Prayer, that many of us have memorized and we repeat every Sunday in worship. But Jesus wasn’t interested in teaching them a prayer to memorize. He wanted them to know how to pray. And so he said this:
2 He said to them, “When you pray, say:
“‘Father,[a]hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.[b]
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
4 Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.[c]
And lead us not into temptation.[d]’”
Of course this is our Lord’s Prayer, Luke’s version, which is a little different from the one in Matthew we memorize. This one is shorter, but says pretty much the same thing. Let’s look at this one closely.
“‘Father,[a]hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.[b]
Our prayers are to be said to Father, God, the Father of Jesus Christ. Prayers to any other deity would be idolatry and for Christians would be forbidden. In our prayer we are to hallow God’s name. What could hallowing a name possibly mean? To hallow something mean to make it holy, set aside for God’s purposes. This time and place for worship is hallowed because it is set aside for the purpose of glorifying God. Also in our prayers we must only use God’s name for Gods’ purposes.
Let’s talk a little bit about magic. In magic, a spell is cast by invoking the name of a deity and asking that deity to do something for you. You make a voodoo doll, and pray to a spirit that your enemy will be hurt in his leg by a pin stuck in the doll’s leg. To make this work you pray to the spirit invoking the spirit’s name in order to control the spirit for your purposes.
Sadly, many people try to do this with God’s name. They invoke the name of God as a magical spell, a way of controlling God to get Him to do what we want. We say, “God give me this, and God give me that … In the name of Jesus. Amen.” We are trying to control God by invoking Jesus’ name. But Jesus wants us to hallow God’s name. That means we only use it for God’s purposes not ours. And so we are to pray something like this, “Heavenly father use me to accomplish your will this day…In the name of Jesus. Amen.” And we know what God’s will is. He wants to have complete devotion from everyone on earth just as He has from everyone in heaven.
Jesus then gave his disciples three petitions that they could use when praying for God’s kingdom to come to earth.
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
4 Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.[c]
And lead us not into temptation.[d]’”
“Give us our daily bread.” We are to pray not for ourselves but for “us” all people. We are to pray that everyone on earth receives what they need each day. No one should be hungry. No one should be without shelter. Christians must work with churches, mission agencies, non-government organizations, and governments to ensure that the basic needs of everyone are met. And so let’s fill up the shelves in the dining room with food for Shepherds Crook and Samaritan Shelter. Let’s volunteer to distribute food and cook meals for the needy. And let us contribute to the Presbyterian Hunger Program. No one should ever be hungry in the kingdom of God.
“Forgive us our sins.” Again we are not to pray for ourselves. We are to pray for everyone, “us”, who are burdened by guilt and debt. We are to ask for and grant forgiveness. No one should be burdened by past mistakes to the point that they now find it difficult to survive. Christians should help people with excessive debt to find relief. We need to help people find affordable housing. We need to help prisoners find redemption and return to their family. And we need to forgive people who owe us money, or owe us an apology for something they have done. We need to forgive others, just as God has forgiven us.
“And lead us not into temptation.” We are to pray that everyone will find God. We are to pray every day, worship every Sunday, and attend Bible studies as a way of strengthening our own faith. And we should encourage others to do the same. Everyone should have the opportunity to grow in faith. And we should pray for this spiritual growth so that people can withstand the forces that challenge their belief.
After hearing Jesus’ instructions on prayer one of the disciples may have asked Jesus, “How can we know for sure that God will hear these prayers and answer them?” To which Jesus replied.
5 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; 6 a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ 7 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.’ 8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity[e] he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.
Everything we do is to bring glory to God. If we do what God says to do, if we pray that everyone’s needs will be met, if we pray that people will be forgiven and start with a clean slate, if we pray that people’s faith will be strong, then do you think that God would allow himself to be shamed by not answering your prayer? Of course not! If you pray in accordance with God’s will, then your prayers will be answered, because in answering those prayers God is glorified. So pray for needs to be met, forgiveness to be granted and for faith to grow and your prayers will be heard and answered. Jesus put it this way.
9 “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. 10 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
Then, another disciple possibly asked Jesus if God could really be trusted. Doesn’t the God we worship bless some and curse others? To which Jesus replied with a story.
11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for[f] a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 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!”
And there is the answer. God hears our prayers and answers them with blessing because God is like a loving parent. A loving parent always provides for the needs of his children. A loving parent always forgives and wipes the slate clean for a misbehaving child. And a loving parent will always bring children to faith in Jesus Christ. Since God is like a loving parent he will grant these things to us if we ask for them in prayer.
A disciple then might have asked yet another question. “We know that we are to pray that others receive daily bread, forgiveness, and strong faith. But what about us? Is there anything we can pray for ourselves? To which Jesus replied.
Your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
And so the answer is yes. There is something we can pray for ourselves. We can pray that the Holy Spirit will fill us with comfort and wisdom and strength and power. And our loving God for his own glory will answer this prayer and give us his own Spirit.
Prayer is not magic. It is not a way to get God to give us what we want. It is a way for us to do what God wants. And so we are to pray that everyone’s needs will be satisfied, everyone will experience forgiveness, and everyone will be strengthen in faith. God hears and responds to these prayers as a loving parent responds to the request of a child. God answers prayer for his glory. And we have the privilege of praying for his Spirit to be in us to bless us. Let’s pray.
Father in heaven we pray for your kingdom to come where all people will be blessed. We ask for blessings so that the needs of everyone will be satisfied. We pray for forgiveness for ourselves and help to forgive others. And we ask that you fill us with your Holy Spirit so that we may grow spiritually and withstand all evil. This we pray in the name of your son, Jesus, who taught us how to pray. Amen.
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