Luke 11:1-13
“Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly.” – G. K. Chesterton
What do you think of it? On one hand, I totally agree with it – in many areas of life, it is better to do something poorly than to not do it at all. This is especially true for things we need to practice to become better at, such as playing the violin. In the history of the world, I think it is safe to say that everybody, even the world’s greatest violin virtuosi, started playing the violin by playing it poorly. And about 95% of us who worked at it for a while ended up playing better, but still rather poorly. The violin is a tough instrument to master.
What about prayer? First of all, is there even such a thing as praying well versus praying poorly? Yes, I think so, although Jesus’ definitions of well and poorly did not match those of His culture. The man who said, “God, I thank You that I am not like other men…” prayed comparatively poorly. The man who simply said, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner…” prayed comparatively well.
Is becoming a good “pray-er” like becoming a violin virtuoso? Are 95% of us going to end up always praying poorly? Is poor prayer even worth doing? I believe the passage today addresses these questions and more.
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
If you have been following along through the Book of Luke, you know that the disciples have been with Jesus through quite a set of adventures. Day in and day out, they are getting to see the real Jesus. What do you think they saw? I am certain that what they saw is that the “real” Jesus was what you saw 100% of the time. Jesus did not put on airs. There was not even a speck of hypocrisy in Him. He never pretended to act spiritual. To paraphrase something God said to Moses, He was Who He was.
And one of the things the disciples saw in Him was that Jesus was a person of prayer. He prayed in public. He prayed in private. He would go off at night and pray all night long. Prayer was as central to Jesus’ life as eating.
What about the disciples? Well, they were regular Joes. Fishermen, mostly. Down to earth types. Did they pray at all? Probably they prayed some, praying when giving thanks for food, or maybe when they really wanted something, or perhaps when they were in major trouble. But they didn’t pray like Jesus prayed. When they found Jesus deep in prayer, did they join Him? I don’t think so. I think they watched Him, awkwardly. They might come across Him at a distance and whisper to one another, “There He is. He is praying again.” “What do we do?” “Wait.” “How long?” “Until He is done.” “But sometimes that takes hours!” “Well, what do you want to do, interrupt Him?” “No. Let’s wait.” “That’s what I said!” “Oh.”
And so on this particular day, after waiting, they saw Jesus finish, and one of the disciples was suddenly struck with the thought that, because Jesus was obviously such a virtuoso pray-er, perhaps He could teach them how to pray better than the minimal way they were praying. And hey, John the Baptist had taught his disciples about prayer, so it made sense that Jesus should do the same for them.
The disciple’s request reveals both a weakness and a strength in his relationship with Jesus. The weakness shown is that the disciple seems to think that Jesus might not want to talk to them about prayer. Why else bring up the comparison with John? Why might the disciple think this?
I think one possible reason is that, after all the miracles he had seen Jesus perform, he felt that Jesus was somewhat unapproachable. “Why would someone like Him want to bother with someone like me?” I think this is a common reason people tend to not want to pray today. Even those of us who have understood that we didn’t have to have our acts together before we could come to God and enter into a saving relationship with Him still may think we need to have our acts together before we can ask God for things in prayer.
How unfortunate if this was how the disciple felt! He should have known by now that Jesus loved His disciples and would do anything for them. Yes, Jesus did not shy away from reproving them, but even the reproof was motivated by love. This disciple should have known that He could have come to Jesus about anything! Jesus didn’t need any convincing to share with His disciples how to pray. And we should know better too.
But the request also revealed a strength. The strength was that the disciple was humble. He knew he was a mediocre pray-er. He didn’t say something like, “Jesus, I see you really like to pray. I really like to pray too! Perhaps we could compare notes and learn from each other.” Now obviously that is an extreme example of pride, but just last week we saw something extremely similar in Luke 10 in the man who wanted to justify himself before Jesus. In essence, that man’s opening statement was something like this: “Jesus, I see you really like to teach from the Scriptures. Well, I too am an expert in the law. Perhaps we could compare notes and learn from each other. What would you say is the most important commandment?”
So to the disciple’s credit, he was nothing like this. He didn’t even say “Teach me how to pray better.” When he said, “Teach me how to pray,” he basically confessed that he didn’t really know how to pray at all. This was genuine humility. The Lord loves genuine humility.
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.' " – Luke 11:2-4
Before we really get into the details of Jesus’ answer, I want to point out that Jesus did answer it. God is always willing to teach a seeking heart. Jesus didn’t refuse the request. He didn’t berate the disciple for showing weakness by bringing up John the Baptist. He didn’t say to the disciples, “I’ve been with you all this time, and you finally ask this question? Why did you wait so long?” This is not Jesus’ character, because this is not God’s character. Some of us fall into thinking of God as distant, or strict, or angry, often because of relationships with people in our past, but we are wrong to think of God this way.
I also want to point out that Jesus waited to answer this question until they asked. God often waits for us to ask. Why do you think He did this? Why do you think He does it with us? I think it is because He waits until we are teachable. To be teachable requires that you are humble, and to be teachable requires that you pay attention. This disciple, and presumably the other disciples with him, were humble and were paying attention. I think so often when dealing with areas in our lives that need growth, God waits until we ask. He wants us to be teachable. Our God is a patient God. He can wait years or decades until a believer is ready to have God really speak into that area of life. I think He would love to be able to work in that area sooner, but He knows that until we are teachable, it will be like talking to a wall.
Now this prayer, which is expanded on a bit in the account in Matthew 6, we today call the Lord’s Prayer. But really it is the Disciples’ Prayer, or Our Prayer. In fact, Jesus is the only one who never has needed to pray this prayer, because He has never had to say, “Forgive Me My sins.” We have heard this prayer many times – probably you are more familiar with the Matthew version – and unfortunately, because of our familiarity with it, it becomes hard for us to really hear what Jesus is saying. One of the things I think we tend to miss completely is just how shocking Jesus’ instructions on prayer really are.
What was the prevailing view of prayer at the time of Jesus? Although there were many examples of heartfelt prayers in the Psalms, prayer tended to be very stiff, based on formula. Some of this was actually commanded in the Old Testament. For example, consider Deuteronomy 26:
When you have entered the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance and have taken possession of it and settled in it, take some of the firstfruits of all that you produce from the soil of the land the Lord your God is giving you and put them in a basket. Then go to the place the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for His Name and say to the priest in office at the time, "I declare today to the Lord your God that I have come to the land the Lord swore to our forefathers to give us." The priest shall take the basket from your hands and set it down in front of the altar of the Lord your God. – Deut. 26:1-4
Then you shall declare before the Lord your God: "My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous. But the Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer, putting us to hard labor. Then we cried out to the Lord, the God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our misery, toil and oppression. So the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with miraculous signs and wonders. He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey; and now I bring the firstfruits of the soil that You, O Lord, have given me." Place the basket before the Lord your God and bow down before Him. – Deut. 26:5-10
When you have finished setting aside a tenth of all your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, you shall give it to the Levite, the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied. Then say to the Lord your God: "I have removed from my house the sacred portion and have given it to the Levite, the alien, the fatherless and the widow, according to all you commanded. I have not turned aside from your commands nor have I forgotten any of them. I have not eaten any of the sacred portion while I was in mourning, nor have I removed any of it while I was unclean, nor have I offered any of it to the dead. I have obeyed the Lord my God; I have done everything You commanded me. Look down from heaven, Your holy dwelling place, and bless Your people Israel and the land You have given us as You promised on oath to our forefathers, a land flowing with milk and honey." – Deut. 26:12-15
Do you see the formality of this? It also requires that you do the right things before you come to God. Unfortunately, the Pharisees had turned this into a kind of boasting.. “I thank God that I am not like other men…” But apart from Christ, you were subject to a very conditional covenant, and to approach God you needed to uphold your part of that covenant. Now compare these instructions on how to pray with those of Jesus:
"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.' "
Look at the very first word: Father. What a dramatic change from “The Lord your God,” which included the unpronounceable name of God, WHWH, which we pronounce as Yahweh. To go from a name that is so unapproachable that you couldn’t even write it down on paper to a word that basically means “Daddy” was mind-blowing! But because of Jesus’ obedience to His Father to the point of death on a cross, we have access to God as Daddy. The giant curtain that separated us from the Holy of Holies has been torn in two – we now have direct access to God as our loving Father. We are not God’s underlings, but His sons and daughters. We should pray to our God as Father.
What is next? Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. What does this mean? I would expand on it like this: “Father, Your name is holy. You are holy. You are perfect, set apart from us because You are perfect love. May Your kingdom come here to earth. May You take back this land which is under the authority of the devil and redeem it for Your pleasure. May Your kingdom come into me, Father, so that I would be no longer a rebel but one who submits to Your good and perfect will and authority. Reign in me, Father King.”
Next is Give us each day our daily bread. If you think about this for a while, it may make you uncomfortable. It doesn’t say, “Give me job security.” It doesn’t say, “Give me a guaranteed safe retirement fund so that I don’t have to worry about my future.” It doesn’t say, “Give me a life without trials and challenges.” It says, “Give me today my bread for today.” I should point out that if you really pray like this, how often should you pray this? Daily!
I recently borrowed some marriage videos. The speaker, who was very funny, at one point described how men, especially, like to conceptually put things into boxes, and once they are there, they don’t see the need to mess with them. For example, if a man said “I love you” to his wife ten years ago, then he sees no need to repeat himself unless he has since said something that might indicate that he doesn’t love her. When his wife complains, he would say “Unless you hear otherwise from me, assume it is still true!”
Well for most wives this won’t cut it, and apparently it doesn’t cut it with Jesus either. A man who likes boxes might think, “Why can’t I say, give us each week our daily bread? Or each month or each year?! It’s so much more efficient!”
The answer, for both a marriage and for prayer, is that we are talking about an ongoing relationship, not a box of self-sealing stem bolts. Jesus wants us to daily be in communication with God and daily depend on Him.
Next is forgive our sins. I don’t know about you, but I tend to gloss over this part as well and jump right to the part about forgiving others. But let’s park here for a moment. Forgive our sins. I could easily do a whole teaching on these three words. How honest are you with God? What if each day you thought back over the past 24 hours and thought about all the times you gave in to temptation – the times you lusted, or were dishonest, or acted out in anger, or grumbled, or gossiped, or… You get the idea. I am speaking to myself here as much as to you. Do you understand that this is exactly what Jesus is asking us to do? We should be specific, if we want to change. Not only does confessing our sins restore our relationship with God, it also brings healing into our lives. Because of Jesus, and only because of Jesus, God will always answer this prayer!
Now the part we know makes us uncomfortable: For we also forgive everyone who sins against us. This in some ways is similar to the Deuteronomy passage, because it is conditional! This is why it makes us so uncomfortable. But if we really understand the depths of God’s forgiveness, if we really understand the price of our sin (which could also be translated as debt – you can think of it as the idea that our sin has gotten us a trillion dollars in debt. How are you going to pay that off? You can’t unless our debt is forgiven), then we will understand that for us not to forgive someone else their sin is to say that we are more important than God! For isn’t that what it says if God is willing to forgive them but we are not? Now we could easily do another entire teaching on forgiveness, dealing with questions such as whether we need to forgive others if they don’t ask forgiveness and whether we are supposed to forget sins as well as forgive them. My one-minute answer is that I don’t believe we are to truly forget about someone’s sins – we have every right and in some cases a responsibility to protect others from those who have sin problems that affect other people. I think the kind of forgetting we are to do is really more about making a decision to not bring it up, to put it in the category (or you could say, the box) of “this is a past thing, it is dealt with.” As for the question of forgiving those who don’t ask for forgiveness, I think there are different kinds of forgiveness – there is a kind of forgiveness that is in ourselves, much like the forgetting I was just talking about, a decision to, in effect, relinquish your right to be angry about it. I believe that this kind of forgiveness is what Jesus is talking about here. But there is another kind of forgiveness, a healing kind, a restoring kind, that we really can only do if the one who has sinned against us asks forgiveness from us.
And lead us not into temptation. I realize that this confuses many people. Doesn’t it say elsewhere in the Bible that God does not lead anyone into sin? Then why pray that He wouldn’t? Isn’t that like asking your best friend, every day, to not kill you? I believe this is a case where the Greek “negative” is not all that well translated into English. From what I have read, the meaning of this in English might be better translated as “And lead us away from temptation.” In a way, this is another form of the request “give us each day our daily bread,” except that it applies to our spiritual food. We are asking Father, in effect, for a daily ordering of our steps so that we walk in His direction, not away from Him. I think of the cloud by day and the fire by night that God used to direct the Israelites in the desert. In some ways, we are every bit as much in a desert, and we are asking God for the same kind of leading. Do you pray this? Ever? I suspect most of us don’t. Recovering drug addicts know the power of this prayer. We are all sin addicts. As with praying for forgiveness of sins, I believe this can completely transform your life if you pray it daily.
I realize this is a bit unusual, but I want to stop this message for a few minutes. I am talking about life-changing applications here! Will you spend a moment in prayer right now and pray this prayer? Think about the last 24 hours. Pray to Father. Bless Him for His holiness. Ask for His kingdom to come into your life and into your world. Ask Him for your daily bread today. Think about whether you have a charge against someone you need to release, and if so, release it. Confess your sins to Father. And then ask Father to direct your steps away from temptation today.
Did you do it? Isn’t it powerful? Will you do it tomorrow morning? If you write nothing else down, write in giant letters, PRAY THIS WAY TOMORROW!
Let’s go on with the passage:
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 with me in bed. 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. – Luke 11:5-8
I want you to picture a typical home at this time. Houses are very small. Picture a family living together, perhaps multiple generations, all crammed into this small home. They sleep on mats and are sprawled out all over the floor. The baby is finally sleeping. All is peaceful. All are in deep sleep. And then:
BOOM BOOM BOOM. “Hey, are you up?” BOOM BOOM BOOM. “Sorry to bother you!” BOOM BOOM BOOM. “Hey, I just had a friend come over, and I don’t have any food!” BOOM BOOM BOOM. “Can you hear me?” “Come on, friend! Just give me three loaves of bread!”
“Go away!”
BOOM BOOM BOOM. BOOM BOOM BOOM. “Come on!” “I’ll owe you!” “Hey, I’ll go away if you give me the bread!”
“All right. Just hush! Don’t wake the baby. I’ll get you your stinking bread.”
He stumbles over sprawling children, and perhaps some animals, and gets the bread.
“Thanks! You really saved me here!”
“Just go away!”
“All right.”
Jesus says that the man didn’t get up because of friendship, but because of the man’s “boldness.” I think a more descriptive word is shamelessness. Because of the man’s shamelessness, he will get up and give him the stinking bread.
What is Jesus’ point? Why tell this silly story? (And His listeners would have laughed just as you have.) It is not that God is like the sleeping man! Let me say that again: The point is absolutely not that God is like a grumbling sleeping man that only responds to shamelessness! Here is the point:
"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. – Luke 11:9-10
The point, in fact, is that God is not at all like that grumbling man. Jesus tells the story to make the contrast. If you ask, no begging is needed – it will be given to you. If you seek you will find. If you knock, the door will be opened right up! The point is this: if asking boldly gets a grumbling, sleeping old man to open the door and give, how much more willingly will your heavenly Father give to those who ask!
Now, like the friend of the sleeping man, sometimes we need to be persistent in prayer. There are many reasons why God sometimes does this. Sometimes the time is just not right for the good thing we are asking. Sometimes God delays His answer because He wants us to grow more dependent on Him. And sometimes He withholds what seems to us to be a good thing because He has a better thing in mind. And sometimes our ideas of “better” do not agree with God. But God has an eternal perspective, and He evaluates all of our prayers with an eternal perspective.
"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
Now, the verses are not specific, but when I think of a snake, I presume it is a poisonous snake. And certainly scorpions are poisonous. Again, Jesus draws a contrast between the behavior of a normal father, whose motives and heart are not pure (Jesus lays it out bluntly and says they are sinful) and the behavior of our loving heavenly Father who will even give the Holy Spirit to those who ask. And I will remind you that Scripture says that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in all believers required that Jesus first be crucified. So what Jesus is saying is that how much more will God not hesitate to even sacrifice His own Son for those He loves!
So why pray? Because our heavenly Father delights to answer our prayers, even giving more than we ask! Now, this does not mean that God’s answer to prayer can not be “no.” It can often be “no,” if we ask for things we shouldn’t. I think the converse of these statements is every bit as true. If your silly son asked for a poisonous snake or a scorpion, would you give it to him? No. But if he was hungry, you might give him some fish or an egg instead. Or maybe even some chocolate cake! Our Father gives good gifts to His children.
Next weekend, by the way, is Father’s Day. I would encourage you this week to make every day your heavenly Father’s day by continuing on in prayers modeled after the prayer Jesus taught us to pray. Let us pray well this week. It may be true that everything worth doing is worth doing poorly, but how much more is it worth doing well!
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