Luke 11:1-13
Ask and Receive
When I was younger, I was always active in my church’s youth group. From elementary through high school, I would go to every church event, mission trip, youth night and so on. And there was always one thing in common about all of these. It’s that inevitably, at some point during the event, we’d be standing in a circle to say a prayer. And it wasn’t enough for us to be standing there in the circle, the leader would always ask one of the youths to lead the prayer. And I’ll tell you, you want to know the easiest way to scare a Lutheran? It’s to ask them to pray out loud in front of a group. It never failed. Every church event I’ve been to throughout my entire life, if the leader decided to ask for a volunteer to pray… every single person in the room suddenly had somewhere else they needed to look. And you know, I think that says something about our prayer lives. Not necessarily in a bad way… but it says that we don’t really know what we’re doing when we pray. I’ve found that so many people, myself included, believe you have to say all the right words in order to pray. We worry that we won’t say something the right way or forget to pray for someone. To say it simply, we’re nervous when it comes to prayer. Part of that is the public speaking aspect of it, I know. But it’s more than that because much of this is still true in our private prayer life.
It should be no surprise that the same was true for Jesus’ disciples. They were no more confident than you or me with prayer. That’s why they asked Jesus. From this question, we get the Lord’s prayer which offers us much to learn about prayer and about God himself. For let us not remain nervous or afraid of prayer, but may we also ask:
LORD, TEACH US TO PRAY!
I.
It was common for a Rabbi to instruct his disciples in a particular prayer. It was expected actually. Each one had his own unique way to pray. It was almost like their signature. The rabbi would give you the particular words and phrases to use. He would teach you when and where to use them. These prayers would be carried by the disciple, that is, the student, for the rest of his life. He would use them and learn from them so that he may gain a new understanding of prayer himself. John the Baptist supposedly had his own form. Jesus’ disciples were familiar with it at least. This is why they ask for Jesus to teach them. As we read, “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. The disciples were looking for the right words to use. They wanted to know how to pray. Thus, Jesus taught them this prayer: our Lord’s prayer.
How often do you use our Lord’s Prayer outside of Church? Do you use it at all? Even as a pastor, if my life is any indication, I’d wager we don’t even think about this prayer except in Church. It’s a shame really if that’s the case. Because for all of us who struggle so much with finding the right words to use, or asking God for the right thing, we literally have the perfect prayer right here… which we don’t use. That’s not saying this is the only prayer we should say. That’s not the point. It’s that we sometimes chose not to pray at all instead of saying a prayer so “simple” as the Lord’s Prayer. On top of that, it’s not always that we don’t want to pray… it’s that we don’t know what to pray for. We feel silly sometimes, at least I know I do, if I’m asking for things like nicer weather, or saying, Lord please, I could really use a million bucks! Our minds are so often focused solely on ourselves when we’re praying that we start mixing up our sinful selfish desires with proper, godly petitions. For we often don’t know the difference between a selfish request and an honest, godly desire. This is so often why I find myself saying exactly what the disciples said: “Lord, teach [me] to pray…”
II.
Yes…Teach me, Lord, to think about those things that please you. Teach me, Lord, to ask for things beyond my comprehension. Teach me to ask for those things which I don’t even know I need. For you see, it’s not just about the prayer. It’s never about what words you use. It’s about what that prayer displays… For so, Jesus taught us to pray… “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. Father. Our Heavenly Father. So much is bound up in this one word, this name; for it’s meant to tell you that God desires to hear from you! He wants you to pray. Even more… He wants to be your gracious father. For that’s who he is, who God is. God is the giver of all good gifts! Through prayer, we begin to see that. We begin to understand the relationship which God has with us. When God answers our prayers, he shows us his very love and compassion. He shows that he wants to give us the greatest things. Even as Jesus also said, “For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened,” Luke 11:10. Don’t take this verse the wrong way, as in, why didn’t God give me my million bucks? No… he who asks receives. He who asks boldly for the things he truly needs. He who asks for the very things of God… for a million bucks is pittance compared to forgiveness, life, and salvation!
In this one prayer, Jesus shows us just how good and gracious a God we have. Unlike your neighbor who begrudgingly gets out of bed to give you a loaf of bread (Luke 11:5-7), God need not be roused. He’s always ready to hear and answer you. He’s ready to give you the greatest gifts. Just as we also read, “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 11:13. God is ready to give you nothing less than his own kingdom. God is ready to give you nothing less than eternity. God, our Heavenly Father, is ready to give you nothing less than Jesus, his own Son! Indeed, God has already given you Jesus, that he may take your sins and die on the cross. How much more will God give you Jesus through water and the Word and in bread and wine, though the power of the Holy Spirit!
For this is why we pray… that we may see and learn how great and gracious a God we truly have. When we pray, God is close at hand to give us all good things through the power of the Holy Spirit. So, may we pray boldly… asking God our Heavenly Father so that we may receive even forgiveness, life, and eternal salvation! In Jesus’ name! Amen!