One of the great privileges a believer has is to come to God in prayer anytime, anywhere, with anything. By the Spirit we have unrestricted access to the Father.
Even so, many of us don't know where to start. Today we'll listen with the early disciples when they asked Jesus, Lord, teach us to pray. From Chicago, welcome to The Moody Church Hour with Pastor Philip Miller.
In a moment, a time of worship and teaching, we'll turn to Luke chapter 11 for a lesson on how to pray direct from the lips of Jesus. Stay with us. Here now is Pastor Philip. Well, good morning everyone and welcome to The Moody Church.
We're so glad you're here. Today we're talking about one of the greatest privileges we have as the people of God and that is that we can pray. Jesus invites us and teaches us how to come before our Father anytime, anywhere, anyplace.
What a privilege. Would you stand and let's begin with prayer. Father, we thank you that in Christ we have full and undiminished access to the throne room of grace where we can come to find help in our time of need. And we gather here this morning people with great need.
We need you to come and teach us. We need your forgiveness, your cleansing. We need your power in our lives.
And so we come desperate and needy. We ask that you would meet us and draw us close to your heart today. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.
This is God's holy word. Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds. For you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God who gives generously to all without reproach and it will be given him. I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the Lord.
Let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.
Those who look to him are radiant and their faces shall never be ashamed. This poor man cried and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him and delivers them. Rest and see the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack. Every Praise His name, I'm fixed up, God, in the name of God's redeeming love.
Praise His name, I'm fixed up, God, in the name of God's redeeming love. Jesus, our King, when a stranger, wondering from the fold of God, needs to rescue me from danger, walking with His precious love. O to grace, how great a debtor, daily I come, strange to be. Let thy goodness, light the weather, find my wandering heart to be.
O to wonder, how I feel it, won't you be my God of love. Here's my heart, Lord, take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above. Above all else, I adore your name. Above all else, tune my heart to sing your praise. Above all else, I adore your name. Above all else, tune my heart to sing your praise. Above all else, I adore your name. Above all else, tune my heart to sing your praise.
Above all else, I adore your name. Praise, praise, praise. What gift of praise is Jesus my Redeemer?
There is no more for heaven now to give. He is my joy, my righteousness, and free. My steadfast love, my deep and boundless peace. To this I hope, my hope is only Jesus. For my life is only bound to Him.
Oh, how strange and divine I can sing. All is fine and not I, but through Christ in me. The night is dark, but I am not the Savior. For by my side, the Savior He will stay. I labor on in weakness and rejoicing. For in my deep His power is displayed. To this I hope, my shepherd will defend me.
Through the deepness valley He will lead. Oh, the life has been won and I shall overcome. All is fine and not I, but through Christ in me. No fate I dread, I know I am forgiven.
The future sure, the price it has been paid. For Jesus bled and suffered for my heart. And He was raised to overthrow the grave. To this I hope, my sin has been defeated. Jesus now and ever is my King.
Oh, the chains are released, I can see. I am free and not I, but through Christ in me. With every breath I long to father Jesus. For He has said that He will bring me home.
And day by day I know He will renew. Until I stand with joy before the throne. To this I hope, my hope is only Jesus. All the glory ever born to Him. When the grace is complete, still my lips shall repeat. And not I, but through Christ in me. To this I hope, my hope is only Jesus.
All the glory ever born to Him. When the grace is complete, still my lips shall repeat. And not I, but through Christ in me.
When the grace is complete, still my lips shall repeat. And not I, but through Christ in me. And not I, but through Christ in me.
And not I, but through Christ in me. For my waking breath, for my daily breath. I depend on You, I depend on You.
For the sun to rise, for my sleep at night. I depend on You, I depend on You. You're the way, the truth and the light.
You're the world that never runs dry. I'm the branch and You are the light. Draw me close and teach me to bind. Where the Spirit leads as I'm following You. I depend on You, I depend on You.
For the victories still in front of me. I depend on You, I depend on You. You're the way, the truth and the light.
You're the world that never runs dry. I'm the branch and You are the light. Draw me close and teach me to bind. Be my strength, my song in the night. Be my own, my treasure, my prize. I am Yours forever, Your light. Draw me close and teach me to bind. When I pass through death as I enter rest. I depend on You, I depend on You.
For eternal life to erase with us. I depend on You, I depend on You. You're the way, the truth and the light.
You're the world that never runs dry. I'm the branch and You are the light. Draw me close and teach me to bind. Be my strength, my song in the night.
Be my own, my treasure, my prize. I am Yours forever, Your light. Draw me close and teach me to bind. You're the way, the truth and the light. You're the world that never runs dry.
I'm the branch and You are the light. Draw me close and teach me to bind. I depend on You.
I depend on You. One of the greatest privileges we have as children of God by grace through faith in Christ is the fact that we can come to God in prayer anytime, anywhere, with anything. Isn't that great? In Christ, by the Spirit, we have total unrestricted access to the Father.
We get to talk with God. Is that not amazing? Oh, come on, come on. I don't think you've heard. Is that not amazing? Most of us don't even get to talk to the manager of our favorite department store. And yet you and I have total access to the throne room of the universe, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
What a privilege. And yet so many of us don't even know where to start. You know, how do you strike up a conversation with the God of the universe?
Huh? I mean, your God who doesn't verbally reply like in normal conversations. It can feel awkward or intimidating. We can feel clumsy. Where do we even begin? Fortunately, we're not the first humans in history to wonder about prayer, to feel uncertain, unsure as to how to do it. In the passage we're going to look at today, Jesus' disciples come to him with a simple and yet bold request. They say, Lord, teach us to pray. Lord, teach us to pray. And Jesus' response is full of breathtaking wonder and practical wisdom.
It's what we need. So grab your Bibles. We're going to be in Luke chapter 11 today. Luke chapter 11 verses one to 13. Today's reading is on page 869 in the pew Bible.
If you want to grab that, you can join us. Page 869. I'm going to read here these verses if you'll listen. Luke 11 one to 13. Now Jesus was praying in a certain place and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray. As John taught his disciples. And he said to them, when you pray, say, Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins as we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation. And he said to them, which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, friend, lend me three loaves for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey and I have nothing to set before him.
And he will answer from within. Do not bother me. The door is now shut.
My children are in bed with me. I cannot get up and give you anything. And I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence, he will rise and give him whatever he needs. And I tell you, ask and it will be given to you.
Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be open to you. For everyone who asks receives and the one who seeks finds and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you if his son asks for a fish will instead of a fish give him a serpent or if he asks for an egg will give him a scorpion.
If you then who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children. How much more will the heavenly father. Give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him. Thanks be to the Lord for the reading of his word.
Hey, the outline here is really easy this morning. Okay, we're going to see what we pray, how we pray and why we pray. Okay, what we pray, how we pray and why we pray as we jump in. Would you pray? Let's pray and ask the Lord to teach us to pray. Father, we need help in this most basic thing of coming to you in prayer. And so father by your spirit, show us the words of Christ that we might follow and learn to pray as you would have us. It's in Jesus name we pray and all God's people said. Amen.
Amen. So first of all what we pray what we pray 11 one now Jesus was praying in a certain place and when he finished one of his disciples said to him Lord teach us to pray as John taught his disciples just pause there for a moment. I think sometimes we read past statements like this and we miss what's actually going on. We don't realize what we've read the disciples here are observing something. They're observing the inter Trinitarian conversation of the son who is full of the spirit praying to the father. Okay, they're peering into the deepest relational union in all the cosmos. The eternal loving mutually indwelling communion that is existed between the father, son and spirit from before time began and which shall endure beyond the ending of the world. The disciples are watching this and the disciples see Jesus in prayer and they realize something special is going on here.
Something amazing, something profound. Nobody prays like Jesus prays. And so they say Lord would you teach us to pray like you pray.
Would you teach us? Now it's significant that one of the disciples makes the ask but the request here is in the plural. You notice that teach us to pray. So this disciple is asking for a communal prayer. A prayer that the band of disciples can pray together regularly as a group. John the Baptist apparently gave his disciples a prayer, a communal prayer that they could pray as a group and now the disciples of Jesus are asking Jesus would you give us a prayer like that as well.
Lord teach us to pray. So Jesus begins in verse 2. He said to them when you pray say father hallowed be your name. You might know this but Jesus is the very first person in all of history to pray to God as his father. In the Old Testament people would speak of the creator God as father of mankind and the kings would refer to themselves as sons of God but no one dare to dress God in prayer as father until Jesus showed up.
And of course this makes sense. He's the son of God. He's the second member of the Trinity. We would expect this at one level but what's shocking here is that Jesus teaches us to pray the same way he prays which is amazing. He tells us to pray father just like he does. Jesus is saying look you pray like I pray. You come as I come.
You speak as I speak. How on earth seriously how on earth can we address God in the same way and manner that Jesus does. Oh but you see Jesus has come for this very purpose. He's come to reconcile us to the father through his death burial resurrection and ascension so that we might by grace through faith in him become adopted as children of God so that we might have access to the father the same access that Jesus has. In John chapter 1 verse 12 yet to all who received him Jesus who believed in his name he gave the right to become children of God which means friends we no longer face this life alone. We are not orphans. We have a father and we're not only children. We have a family. This term father is is an address of dependency a childlike dependency on the father.
It's a word of belonging and trust and closeness and home. Father amazing. Hallowed be your name.
In a world that so often ignores and snubs and solis and abuses your name father. We pray that your name might be honored everywhere as holy in this world. May you receive the honor that you are due. May you be glorified in all the earth. May you be exalted among the peoples for when the son of your righteousness rises with healing in its wings. May we the dawn of all things made new and good and real and true and beautiful once more for when your name is hallowed in all the earth then all things shall be well. God's glory is our good. Hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come.
Father we need your kingly rule to break into this messed up sin cursed dying world. There's so much here that has gone wrong and we are asking that you set things to rights. Father would you mend what is broken? Would you heal what is wounded? Would you right what is wrong? Would you straighten what is crooked? Would you beautify what is blighted?
Would you make everything sad come untrue? And father even now would you begin in me? Because you are my king and I am at your service so father would you have your way in me? You'll notice that Luke's version here is shorter than the one we have of the Lord's Prayer in Matthew. In Matthew chapter 6 it's a bit more expanded.
Your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. The settings are different between Luke and Matthew. In Luke we have private instruction with a handful of disciples whereas in Matthew it's part of the Sermon on the Mount where the crowds are listening in.
So most scholars think that Jesus probably taught this material more than once but at least twice privately and then publicly. So we have different accounts here. But the same basic prayer is there in both accounts.
You see it. Although the added material in Matthew does give you a little color and depth to what's being prayed here. Your kingdom come is to long for God's will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. Father we're praying father make the world as it was meant to be and begin in my heart, my life, my world even now. I give you myself.
I hold nothing back. Give us each day our daily bread. Verse 3. Father you're our provider. We look to you just like the Israelites look to you for manna in the wilderness when they were wandering all those years. They look to you for daily bread.
So we also look to you for our daily bread. You taught us that man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Deuteronomy 8 3.
Jesus quotes that in Luke 4 4. And so we acknowledge our hunger for you the living word. Bread of heaven come down for our famished souls.
As the psalmist cries out in Psalm 63 1. Oh God you are my God earnestly I seek you. My soul thirsts for you.
My body longs for you in a dry and weary land where there is no water. Friends we are both physically and spiritually desperate for the living God. He is our portion and our provider. Verse 4 and forgive us our sins. For we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. Father would you forgive us our sins. For we have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Daily, hourly, minute by minute. And we need your grace desperately. So we confess our sins knowing that you are faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness as you promised in 1 John 1 verse 9. And friends the humbling awareness of our massive indebtedness to God's mercy and grace makes us turn around and be quick to forgive those whose sins have put us in their debt. Because forgiven people forgive people. Forgiven people forgive people. It takes humility to ask for forgiveness, yes? And it is that same humility that makes it easier to forgive those who sin against us.
We can't have one without the other. Forgiveness flows in and out of our lives or not at all. We forgive because we've been forgiven. We forgive as we've been forgiven.
This is the way of Jesus. For be and lead us not into temptation. The word rendered temptation here is notoriously hard to translate. Its core idea is a test. A test. A test in life that might turn out to end up being a trap or a temptation. In other words that test is something that you could fall down when it comes. It could trap you. It refers to unexpected hardship in life.
Tragedy, pain, loss, crisis. And there's all kinds of things in life that could come and trip us up, yes? That could tempt us to fall.
There's so many things that could take us down. After all we know our frailty don't we? We know our weakness and so we are praying here for our Father's protection. From the trials of life and should they come we're praying Father would you preserve us from failing and falling into temptation.
Protect us from losing our way. Watch us Father. Hold us Father. Keep us Father.
Lead us safely to the other side oh Father. Now zoom out from this prayer for a moment. From beginning to end what is this prayer about? It's a prayer of dependency isn't it? A prayer of childlike dependency and I think that is Jesus' point. In prayer we are acknowledging our deep dependency. In prayer we acknowledge our deep dependency. Jesus is teaching us to offer prayers that reflect our utter helplessness and our total reliance upon God. As children looking to their father, longing for his glory to heal the world, for his rules to set all things to right.
Looking to him as our portion and provider, the forgiver of our sin riddled souls, the protector and keeper in the face of whatever trials might come our way. When we pray this prayer Jesus is teaching us we are acknowledging our deep dependency upon our God because apart from him we can do nothing. So Jesus gives us this communal prayer. This is what we pray. This is what we pray. Secondly, how we pray. How we pray. Verse 5, and he said to them which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him friend lend me three loaves. For a friend of mine has arrived on a journey and I have nothing to set before him and he will answer from within do not bother me the door is now shut and my children are with me in bed I cannot get up and give you anything. I tell you though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. This is such a comical setup, isn't it? I mean just imagine this happening to you, right? Hospitality was a huge deal in the first century Judaism, a world of Judaism.
It's still a big deal in much of the Middle East today. And to be empty handed when a guest shows up would be hugely shameful, hugely shameful. And since the markets aren't open in the middle of the night and the need is so great in desperation this guy wakes up his friend at 2 a.m. at midnight even though he and his family are tucked into their family bed, the common palate that everybody slept on, very common in those days.
And all of this for three loaves of bread. Jesus says if you had the audacity to wake him up like that he'd give you whatever you want, right? No matter how annoyed he might be because of the sheer nerve of you sitting there at his door knocking in the middle of the night. Now the point here is not that God is like this fellow in the bed, annoyed by your asking and reluctantly giving in in the last minute. God never slumbers nor does he sleep.
He loves to give good gifts to those who ask him. So God is not like the sleepy friend. No, Jesus emphasis here is on the kind of desperation that would drive you to wake up a friend in the middle of the night. Which one of you has a friend and would do this?
That's the question. So just think if you were this person. If you found out you got a last minute call and knew that somebody was showing up within minutes on your doorstep and you were not prepared and you needed something and you were desperate. You would exhaust every conceivable option you had, anything you could think of before you wake up your friend in the middle of the night. But if you were desperate enough, if you were out of options, if everything depended on it, if it was a real crisis, you'd wake up your friend, wouldn't you? You'd ask, you'd seek, you'd knock. How many of you have a 2 a.m. friend that if there's an emergency in your life, you can call him? You would call him. Yeah, that's Jesus point.
If you're desperate enough, you call your 2 a.m. friend. And Jesus says in verse 9, I tell you, ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and it will be open to you. For everyone who asks receives, the one who seeks finds and the one who knocks it will be opened to him. You see, Jesus is getting at something here that I think many of us struggle with. And here's what we struggle with. Here's what I know about you. You don't like to ask for help.
You know why I know that about you? Because I don't like to ask for help either. We don't like asking for help. And in case you didn't notice, the prayer that Jesus gave us is full of asking for help. And so many of us are tempted to think it must be so annoying to God for me to keep coming day after day asking for the same old needs to be met, the same old sins to be forgiven, the same old temptations to be dealt with. What am I doing bothering God all over again with all these asks all the time?
I should probably just leave him alone, give him a rest, let him have some peace and quiet. Have you ever felt this way? And Jesus says, not if you're desperate enough. Not if you're desperate enough, you won't give up. Not if he's your only option. Not if everything really does depend on it. Not if you're in real crisis here. You'd wake up your friend if you had an emergency. When you realize you're desperate enough and your need for grace is your life depends on it, when you realize all that the Father has to offer you, that you're spiritually desperate for him, you're going to ask him too.
You'll ask him at midnight if you need to because your life depends on it. In prayer, friends, we are acknowledging our daring desperation. In prayer, we acknowledge our daring desperation. You only call a friend at 2 a.m. if you're desperate and you're only going to pray when you realize you're desperate for God. That's how Jesus is teaching you to pray, with daring desperation, knowing that without him, everything will fall apart. Friends, do you pray like your life depends on it? Because it does.
All of your seeming independence is an illusion. You need him more than life itself. So ask, seek, knock with daring desperation. So that's what we pray, how we pray, now why we pray, why we pray. Verse 11, what father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent?
Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Heavenly Father give you the Holy Spirit? Give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him. You want to know why you pray?
Why we pray? Because you have a good father who loves to give good gifts to his children. That's why you pray. Even sin tainted fathers like me and you know how to give good gifts to your kids. If your son asks for a fish to eat, no father with his salt gives him a wriggling venomous snake. No one would do that. Or if he asks for an egg, you drop a stinging scorpion in his mouth.
I mean, no, no, you wouldn't do that. And if earthly fathers like us, who are evil in comparison with the holy and pure goodness of God, if we know how to give good gifts to our kids, how much more will the Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him? You want to know why we pray? We pray because God is so good. Because he's able to give you something way better than anything you've ever asked for yet.
You ask for daily bread. You ask for the forgiveness of sins. You ask for protection from the trials of life. And not only will he not ever give you a snake or a scorpion, he will give you abundantly beyond all that you ask or imagine. He will give you the Holy Spirit. The Spirit, friends, the Spirit who bears testimony, the Spirit who bears testimony with our spirit that we are children of God crying out Abba Father, the Spirit who will hallow the name of God in and through our lives as he sanctifies us in his image day by day, the Spirit who leads us into the life of the kingdom of God as we walk with him and bear his fruit, the Spirit who sanctifies us by the living and abiding word of God, the bread of life come down from heaven, the Spirit who applies the oil of God's divine forgiveness to the brittleness of our cracked and weary souls, the Spirit who is always with us in the tests of life to empower us to resist temptation enthralling us with the love of righteousness who will seal us and keep us for eternity. Don't you see, friends, this Holy Spirit is God's greater yes to everything Jesus just taught us to pray.
Everything. So not only does God give to the one who asked and answered the one who seeks and open to the one who knocks. God goes above and beyond and gives a gift that is greater than anything we've ever dared ask for. He gives us the Holy Spirit himself, the third member of our triune God to come and live on the inside of our lives. Remember, it was the intimacy the disciples saw between the Son and the Father that prompted them to ask, Lord teach us to pray. And so not only, listen, not only does Jesus give them a prayer, Jesus is about to give them his life.
Remember, he's on the way to Jerusalem. He set his face to Jerusalem and he's going to go to the cross and he's going to die in their place and for their sake and he's going to rise again to make them right with God so they might be adopted as children of God forever. And Jesus is going to give them full access to the Father and the Father is going to give them the Spirit and the Spirit is going to give them abundantly beyond all they ask or imagine. The Spirit is going to give them more of the life and love and intimacy of the triune God. But you see, they're being invited by Jesus into the deepest relational union in all the cosmos, the eternal, loving, mutually indwelling communion that has existed between Father, Son and Spirit from before time began and which will endure beyond the ending of the world. By the indwelling of the Spirit, we have been brought into union with Christ and in utter dependency upon the Father, we have entered into the heart of heaven itself. And so much more than what they prayed for, what they asked for.
Lord, teach us to pray, they said. And Jesus said, yes, and so much more. I'm going to usher you into the triune community of love that subsists between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And in love, the Father gives us the incarnate Son. And in love, the Son gives us access to the divine Father. And in love, the Father gives us the indwelling Spirit so that in love, the Spirit might give us more of the Father and more of the Son and more of Himself because God is a self-giving God. It's what God loves to do.
It's who He is. So friends, don't you see in prayer we're acknowledging our Father's devoted delight here. We're acknowledging our Father's devoted delight.
The Father loves to give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him. He's not stingy. He lavishes. He's not reluctant. He's eager. He's not bothered. He's delighted.
He's not disengaged. He's devoted. He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also along with Jesus, graciously give us all things. Romans 8 32. The Father loves to give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him. So what's the takeaway?
Simple. Ask, seek, and knock. Ask, seek, and knock. Friends, prayer is the greatest privilege of the children of God by grace through faith in Christ. We have an audience with our Father. We have communion with the Son. We have fellowship with the Holy Spirit. We get God Himself. And so in desperate dependency upon our God, daring desperation as if our life depends upon it because it does, and in light of the Father's devoted delight, let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace that we might receive mercy and grace in our time of need. Amen?
That's Hebrews 4 16. So let's pray. Oh Father, teach us what it means to be invited into relationship with you, the triune God, that we might know the Father's love, and the joy of the Son, and the peace of the Spirit, that we might be welcomed into fellowship with the greatest communion possible in all the world. Father, this is wondrous what you have done. We thank you for Jesus who has made the way. We thank you that you're a good Father, that you are eager to give good gifts to your kids, and we thank you for the Spirit by whom all of our prayers ascend.
We are rejoicing in you. Father, we want to pray now these words that you taught your disciples to pray as we pray together, all together. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our deaths as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
And Amen. On today's Moody Church Hour, we heard Pastor Philip Miller preaching on Teach Us to Pray, taken from Luke chapter 11. The people of God have a great commission to go and make disciples of all nations.
This command of Christ was given right before he ascended to heaven. It's the marching order for the church. And next time, we'll hear Pastor Philip help each of us find our place in the story. Plan to join us. The Moody Church Hour is a listener-supported ministry.
We count on the ongoing financial support of listeners like you. Together, we share solid biblical teaching that transforms lives across America and around the world. You can call us at 1-800-215-5001.
That's 1-800-215-5001. Online, you'll find us at moodychurchhour.com. That's moodychurchhour.com. Or write to us at Moody Church Media, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60614. This broadcast is a ministry of The Moody Church.
