God Loves It When We Pray!

Jesus’ Teaching on Prayer

11 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.”

2 He said to them, “When you pray, say:

“‘Father,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
4 Forgive us our sins,
    for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation.’”

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 he will surely get up and give you as much as you need. 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. 11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for 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!”

It is tempting to only teach, preach or write on just a section of the above passage, but to do so takes away some of the context of what Jesus is teaching.  The overall theme of the passage is prayer and God's willingness to hear and answer our prayers.  Notice Jesus is praying when His disciples ask Him to teach them about prayer.  This reminds us that Jesus never asked his disciples to do anything he didn't practice.  Before Jesus even entered his public ministry he prayed and fasted for 40 days and 40 nights.  

Then Jesus teaches a short prayer which covers a wide range of things.  Within this short prayer, Jesus gives us the basic elements of prayer.  

1. Acknowledging God and his holy character as we enter into prayer. 

2. Asking God for enough provision for the day. This could be expanded mean not just material needs, but relational and spiritual needs as well. 

3. Asking for God for the forgiveness of our sin. The prayer assumes we would offer the same forgiveness of others. 

4. Asking God to lead us away from temptation.  Notice this assumes we will allow him to lead us away from it.  If we don't allow him to there are no guarantees.  

Then Jesus teaches on how God responds to prayer.  He uses two examples to portray God's willingness to answer our prayers.  One example involves a friend who knocks on a friend's door late at night to get some food for another friend.  Though the man might not normally get up the fact that the man is so desperate and so bold beckons the man to help albeit reluctantly.  The other example is a parent.  Which parent would give their son a scorpion if he asked for a fish? Would a parent give their kid a snake, if they asked for an egg. 

Jesus uses these two examples to point out if friends and parents are willing to hear and give the right provisions for these relationships, how much more will God the Father provide for his children.  It is interesting that Luke's focus is on the gift of the Holy Spirit.  While God is more than willing to meet our daily and earthly needs, ultimate he gives us our spiritual provision as well through the Holy Spirit. 

Lent is a good time to spend more time in daily prayer.  There have been days in my life that I have gotten busy and neglected prayer.  I can usually tell the difference in my attitudes and actions that day.  This passage reminds us that God desires prayer and loves to hear from us.  He desires a personal relationship with us where we go to him daily to ask him to meet our needs.  The passage also reminds us that God delights in giving His children His gifts, especially the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God's gift of His presence, His peace and His power.  

As we are reminded in the words in the ancient hymn, "Oh the peace we often forfeit, take it to the Lord in prayer!"