God’s Supreme Purpose For Prayer
Luke 11:1-13. Vr # 1-2. And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. And he said unto them, when ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.
We wish to major on the PARABLE of this story so I will be brief in the first four verses of the prayer our Lord prayed. (We notice several things about the prayer)
1. Jesus was teaching us whoTHE PERSON OF PRAYER is and how we are to direct our prayers.
Luke 11:1. And he said unto them, when ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. (Jesus wanted the disciples to know who God was, and the desire of the Father’s Heart).
2. Jesus was teaching aboutTHE PURPOSE OF PRAYER.
Luke 11:1 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. Jesus wanted the men to know that the Father wants His WILL BE DONE on EARTH as well as in HEAVEN.
3. Jesus also wanted them to knowTHE PROVISION OF PRAYER, that our Father will give us our daily bread. Luke 11:3. Give us day by day our daily bread. Phil 4:19.
4. Jesus also wanted them to knowTHE PARDON OF PRAYER, that our sins can be forgiven.
Luke 11:4 And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us.
5. Jesus wanted his followers to knowTHE PROTECTION OF PRAYER, that He would be with us and He wanted them to know how to walk.
Luke 11:4...... “And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.”
In the Parable that follows this we see several things. Dr. John R. Rice was the first person that I heard preach on this as a young preacher of twenty four years old.
I. THE DEMAND FOR BREAD.
Luke 11:5-6 And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him?
A. THE CONCERN OF THE MAN.
Luke 11:5 And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves;
The Company came unannounced. To day some would consider it rude to show up at a close friend’s house in the daylight hours or atmidnight unannounced. (We live in a different world than we use to)
B. THE CATASTROPHE AT MIDNIGHT.
Luke 11:5...... “And shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves;”
Midnight crises come to all of us sooner or later, and they are best met with earnest, persistent prayer.
The PROBLEM is a man has company that has come to his house at MIDNIGHT and he has NOTHING to set before him. (Preachers on Sunday morning have you ever been their?). THE PERIL that surrounds the story, his friend is sleeping with his children in bed and is not willing to help him.
II. THE DENIAL OF THE BREAD.
Luke 11:7. And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.
We see two things with the denial of the bread:
A. THE REJECTION.
Luke 11:7. “Trouble me not:” (gr. “Stop providing troubles, weariness to me”) (Strong’s)
The friend was not at all happy about being awakened in the middle of the night. His response to his friend was “Go away, I don’t care about your troubles, I’m not interested in your problems at this late hour.
B. THE REASON.
Luke 11:7...... “Mychildren are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.”
We see the reason for the denial, there was a Shut Door and Sleeping Children who were in bed. We must however state another fact; the sleeping families excuse just added another obstacle that tests all of our faith. We will find that there are many obstacles that oppose our prayer life. And all of these obstacles speak symbolically of the need to continue in prayer if we are going to get anything form the Lord.
III. THE DISPENSING OF THE BREAD.
Luke 11:8-13 say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth. And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
A. IT IS A SIMPLE PROMISE.
Luke 11:9 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. (ASK, SEEK, KNOCK)
1. ASKING - Jeremiah 33:3. Call unto me and I WILL ANSWER THEE, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not. (See Matt. 21:22, Mark 11:24, John 15:7)
2. SEEKING. - Read Psalms 27:4, Hebrews 11:6. “.... WithoutFAITH it is IMPOSSIBLE to PLEASEHIM.
3. KNOCKING. - II Cor. 6:2 “For he saith, I have HEARD THEE IN A TIME ACCEPTED, and in the DAY OF SALVATION have I succoured thee: behold, NOW IS THE ACCEPTED TIME; behold, now is the day of salvation. (Revelation 3:20 .... “Open the door and I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”
B. IT IS A SURE PROMISE.
Luke 11:10. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.