04-21-2024 – “God Loves to Hear and Answer Our Prayers”

Bible Text: Luke 11:5-13 | Speaker: Pastor Mike Hale | Series: book study of Luke | Above is the link to YouTube and audio recordings.

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April 21, 2024
“God Loves to Hear and Answer Our Prayers”
     Luke 11:5-13
 

It has been two months since I taught from Luke, therefore we need a short refresher from where I left off.

Please turn to Luke 11:1-4.  This is a shortened version of what Jesus taught several years earlier, at the beginning of His ministry.  He teaches us how to pray (Matthew 6:9-13), “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is 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 debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’]”

Jesus teaches His followers to focus on God as Father, Creator, Sustainer, Savior and Judge over all.  Prayer is between God the Father and His children, for although God is the Creator of all He is the Father only of those who are born-again by God’s Spirit, in response to believing in God’s Son for salvation.

      God’s children (Christians) are to pray for God’s kingdom to come. How does God’s kingdom come?  Every time a person repents of their sin and believes in Jesus Christ, the kingdom of God expands; and so we pray for people to be saved, we tell them about Jesus Christ.

God desires intimate relationship with His children through His Word, His Spirit, and through prayerful and unceasing communion with Him.

God is a loving Father who provides for us not weekly or monthly, but “daily,” for He wants to hear from us every day.

As Christians, we have received God’s unconditional love and forgiveness for all our sin through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross; therefore we ought to love others and forgive them for any offenses they have committed against us.

We are told to pray for God’s wisdom and strength so that, wherever we go, whatever we do, we will not give in and do that which is sinful.  We need God’s help to avoid the influence of world, the devil, and our own flesh, and so we confess our need for God’s protection and deliverance from sin.

We must recognize and acknowledge that God has granted us everything we need for life on earth and life in heaven, we are given everything we need to know Him, love Him, serve Him, trust Him, and proclaim Him to those who will listen.

2Timothy 3:16-17, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof [rebuke], for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”

Romans 12:2, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

2Peter 1:3-4, “His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.”

We are to pray to God joyfully, continually, and thankfully (1Thessalonians 5:16-18), “Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Please turn to Luke 11:5–13…  So, in Luke 11:1-4 Jesus teaches us who to pray to, how to pray, and what to pray for; in today’s text (Luke 11:5-13), Jesus teaches us how much the Father loves to hear from us and to answer our prayers.

      What starts out as a parable about persistent prayer, ends up being a rather confusing story about fathers who thankfully give their children fish rather than snakes, and eggs rather than scorpions, or is there something else more important?

Prayer is the means by which God’s infinite wisdom, unconditional love, sovereign power, and eternal purpose are brought together to accomplish His will.  And so, we are to pray to (Matthew 6:9-13), “Our Father who is in heaven,” our Father who is Holy and Loving and Faithful and desiring to save sinners like you and me, and to bring us to heaven to be with Him for eternity; for that is what He wants (cf. 1Timothy 2:3-4), “God our Savior, desires all men [women and children, all of humanity] to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.” Jesus says (John 14:6), “[He is] the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through [Him].”

We are to read God’s Word and talk to Him through prayer, we are His children and He cares for us.  We are to pray for our daily provisions, and be thankful for the forgiveness that comes through Jesus Christ the Lord.

We are to be forgiving people, not holding offenses against others, but instead forgiving them when they sin against us, because we have been forgiven all our sins (past, present, future) through the once for all, for all time, sacrificial death and sovereign resurrection of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, who is both Judge and Savior.

Read Luke 11:5-8…  God wants us to come to Him with our needs, He is a loving Father who provides for His children (Hebrews 4:16), “Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Jesus taught His disciples how to pray in Luke 11:1-4, and now He tells them a story, in verses 5-8, about one neighbor going to another neighbor to borrow some bread for an unexpected traveler who has arrived in the middle of the night.

These neighbors are friends, and it was not uncommon for neighbors to borrow from one another, as most likely they didn’t have markets or convenience or hardware stores near by, so when they needed something immediately that they didn’t have, they would ask a neighbor, with the intentions of returning it when they were finished using it, or if it was food like in Jesus’ story they would pay back the three loaves the next time they baked bread.

Jesus now makes it personal saying, “Suppose one of you has a neighbor and goes to him at midnight to borrow bread,” because a friend of yours has arrived in the middle of the night after making a long journey; he is hungry, but you have nothing to give him, so you go to your neighbor’s house to try and get some food.

Perhaps you call to your neighbor from outside his door, asking if you can barrow three loaves of bread [flatbread, like large thick tortillas].

Normally a family would make enough bread for the day (keeping flour, oil and salt on hand).  We aren’t told why your neighbor would have extra loaves of bread, but it is clear from the rest of the story that he does have extra loaves and he finally gives you what you are asking for, even though it is inconvenient. Your neighbor and his children, and no doubt his wife, were in bed, probably asleep for hours, because it is midnight.

The houses in Israel were normally one large room, with a small cooking and kitchen area, and an open area where a large mat would be placed as a bed, and commonly the children slept with their parents.

So in this parable, you go to your neighbor and begin calling to him from outside his door, “hey John, its Mike, sorry to wake you, but I need some bread for a friend who has arrived unexpectedly, I know it is very late, but he is hungry, and even if I could get to a store, it would be closed.  Can you help me out?”

John says he is not getting up, that door is already shut and the kids are asleep.  The doors were made out of wood and metal and were heavy, and commonly were secured to the wall structure using large iron rings and rods.

John tells me to go away, quit bothering him, but I persist because my visitor hasn’t eaton for many hours, is hungry, and I have nothing to give him.  I remain persistent in asking John for help until he finally gets up, opens the door, and gives you bread.

As a side note: most Hebrews didn’t keep much food on hand, as they didn’t have fridges or other means of keeping foods from spoiling.

Also, it is important to understand that hospitality was expected among the Jewish people, for it was a big part of their social duty and cultural practice, but also part of their religious duty (Luke 10:27), “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”  Be a Good neighbor!

Read Luke 11:9-10…. Clearly this parable is teaching us about prayer, about being resolute and persistent in our prayer life.  We are to ask, seek, and knock!

If you are a Believer and Follower of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, then God is your Father and you can pray to Him, anytime, anyplace, in any situation. God wants you to talk with Him all the time, and you do that through prayer.

God never sleeps, you don’t have to worry about waking Him up from a nap to hear your prayers (Psalm 121:1-4), “I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; From where shall my help come? My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel Will neither slumber nor sleep.”

Why does Jesus say we must ask, seek, find, because (Luke 11:10), “everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened.”  God wants us to come to Him continually and with expectation.

Can you pray for anything and expect to receive it?  No!  We read in James 4:2-3, “You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives.”

Can you pray in Christ’s Name, according to God’s Will and expect to receive it? Yes!  We read earlier, in Matthew 6:9-13, that we are to pray according to God’s Holy Name, and for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.

John 14:12-14, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.”
 
John 15:7, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” 16, “You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.”

To pray in Christ’s name, is to pray as God Himself would pray, for things that God is pleased to provide for His children.

Read Luke 11:11-13…. For the most part, fathers care for their children. Some of the disciples Jesus is talking to are fathers, so Jesus says, “suppose one of your sons is hungry and he asks you for a fish. Would you give him a snake instead of a fish?  Your son is asking for food, would you give him something that could kill him, like a poisonous snake?  Of course not!

Jesus then says, “If your son asks for an egg, would you give him a scorpion?” What a strange question, of course you wouldn’t do that to your child!

But you know, your going to have to come back next week in order to find out why Jesus posed these weird analogies about snakes and scorpions, and what, if anything, they have to do with prayer!

 

 

 
Pastor Mike Hale
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