I really love the Gospel of Luke. Here we have a well-educated believer and a missionary companion of the apostle Paul who was not a part of the original apostolic band which witnessed firsthand the astounding events of Jesus’ ministry, death and resurrection. According to his own words, he has carefully researched those events in order to document them, and he includes some wonderfully poignant moments that the other gospel writers omit, such as the visitation of the angels to the shepherds at Jesus’ birth, the presentation of infant Jesus at the temple with Simeon and Anna, and the one glimpse that we have of his childhood when he was twelve. He also documents the tender words of Jesus to the penitent robber who is being crucified beside him.
In all of Luke’s writings, there is an emphasis on the work of the Holy Spirit and the importance of prayer in the life of the Christian. It is in this light that we will look at Luke’s account of Jesus’ teaching on prayer.
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.” Luke 11: 1 ESV
Note that Jesus taught both in words and by example. The disciples saw him frequently withdraw to pray, and were no doubt curious about how he prayed. They said familiar prayers at the synagogue, and apparently John the Baptist had taught his disciples to pray in a specific manner that was different from the normal Jewish tradition. Consequently, they asked Jesus to teach them how to pray his way.
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, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.” Luke 11: 2-4 ESV
Jesus begins his teaching on prayer with the very familiar words of the Lord’s Prayer, and then moves in to tell a story that illustrates the fundamental theme of this discourse and others on prayer. Luke captures this theme in a later section where Jesus tells the story of the Persistent Widow:-
And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. Luke 18: 1 ESV
This phrase, “lose heart” is only found in Luke’s Gospel and it is as applicable to us as it was to the early disciples. Look at the story that Jesus tells to demonstrate the importance of persistent prayer.
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 (shameless persistence and insistence – Amplified Bible) he will rise and give him whatever he needs. Luke 11: 5-8 ESV
Jesus is not comparing our loving Father with a reluctant man who is too cranky to get out of bed to meet his friend’s needs. He is saying, “Look, if even a grouchy person like this will get up and do as he has been asked because of the willingness of the asker to persist, how much more will our Father who is predisposed to graciously care for us answer our requests? He then goes on to emphasize his point even further:
And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Luke 11: 9-10 ESV
The tense of these highlighted verbs in Greek suggests that this verse might be better rendered by the following from the Amplified Bible: –
So I say to you, Ask and keep on asking and it shall be given you; seek and keep on seeking and you shall find; knock and keep on knocking and the door shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks and keeps on asking receives; and he who seeks and keeps on seeking finds; and to him who knocks and keeps on knocking, the door shall be opened. Luke 11: 9-10 AMP
Do you see what Jesus is after here in his disciples (and us)? Can you hear his deep desire that they would always pray and not lose heart? God is not deaf that he didn’t hear us the first time. But he is after, as always, the building of our character, desiring to make us daily more like Jesus (Romans 8:28-29) and so he does not always answer on our first request. How serious are we? How committed to the circumstance of our prayer are we? How important is it to us? What are we willing to sacrifice in order to take the time to pray? It’s not a matter of impressing God with our long or loud praying, but it is about pressing in to the heart of God and sharing with him those things that matter, for he is the one who has laid them on our hearts in the first place.
Jesus closes this discourse on prayer with a beautiful picture of two loving fathers, one human and one divine:
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!” Luke 11: 11-13 ESV
Jesus appeals to the parent in us by saying in effect, “If you in your frail, fallen humanity understand how to care for your sons and daughters in a loving, gracious way, how much more do you think our Heavenly Father will give us wonderful blessings, including the gift of the Holy Spirit himself, if we will only ask”. He is not promising us a “carte blanche” or automatic answers to our every whim. But he is saying, “Bring me your burdens, your cares and anxieties, your loved ones, your finances, your future. Don’t give up, for I will not give you a snake or a scorpion. I will give you that which I know is in your best eternal interests. Trust me, for I am trustworthy”. Amen!
