Luke 11:1-13
Tenth Sunday after Pentecost - 24 July 2016
Rev. John Derme
Do you know how to pray? Some Christians are very comfortable praying. They spend time each day in prayer. Some Christians are not comfortable praying. Maybe they don't know what to say. Or maybe they don't feel like they are worthy to speak to God. Do you ever wonder whether you are praying correctly? When you pray, how do you know for sure that you are doing it right?
Those may have been some of the questions in the disciples' heads when they saw Jesus praying. In our Gospel of the Day from Luke chapter 11, one of them said, "Lord, teach us to pray." The lessons that he taught his disciples that day are exactly what Jesus wants you and me to know about prayer.
In answer to his disciple, the first thing that Jesus did was to teach them the words to pray: When you pray, say: "Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation."
These are the words that we call the Lord's Prayer. We pray this prayer every Sunday. We're more familiar with the wording that Matthew writes in his Gospel. Luke summarized the prayer with fewer words, for some reason. We also sang this prayer in our Hymn of the Day, just before the sermon began. (I know it was a long hymn, but take some time to think about the words. It is an excellent explanation of what Jesus teaches us to pray about. Also, spend some time reading about the Lord's Prayer in Luther's Small Catechism. After that, read his Large Catechism. There is so much to say about the Lord's Prayer that each small section could be a sermon unto itself.)
Sometimes you may struggle to come up with the right words to use when you pray. But because Jesus has given you the Lord's Prayer, you never have to wonder what you should pray about. Jesus gives you everything you will ever need to pray about in these words. That is not to say that you can't pray in your own words about your individual needs. The Bible has examples of prayers like that. But the Lord's Prayer actually covers all those needs, and every need you will ever have.
In the Lord's Prayer we address God as our Father. We pray that his name be kept holy in our faith and life, that his kingdom would come to us and others by faith, that his will would be done among us, that we would receive our daily bread with thanksgiving, that he would forgive our sins and help us to forgive others, that he would help us to overcome temptation, and that he would protect us from the devil. Everything we need is included in this prayer.
In answer to his disciple, the second thing Jesus did was to teach them to pray boldly: Then he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.’ Then the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man’s boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs. So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
I think that this story is getting harder for us to understand with all the fear of violence happening in our society. If someone were to knock on your door in the middle of the night, you might call the police. But many of you remember a time when people would do just about anything for their neighbors. Even more so when Jesus originally told the parable, it was disgraceful not to show hospitality. So Jesus knew that his original audience would absolutely have given their neighbors what they asked, even in the middle of the night, even if they didn't like their neighbors. With this story, Jesus isn't telling you to be bold with your neighbors. He is telling you to be bold with God. Ask boldly for what you need, and do not be cautious that you are asking too much or at an inconvenient time.
In answer to his disciple, the third thing Jesus did was to teach them to pray confidently. Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!
Would you parents give your children something harmful if they asked for something good? No! Not even evil parents do that. So also God the Father will only give good gifts to his children when we are in need. We know for sure that God will give us good gifts, so we can ask confidently. God has already promised to give us some things. We can be confident when we pray for those things. But even if you are asking for something that God hasn't specifically promised, he has promised that he wants to give you everything that is for your good. So if you ask for one thing, and God knows that it is not for your good, you can still be completely confident that he will give you something that is even better for you.
These promises that Jesus makes to you today are stunning. If you are the type of Christian who is comfortable praying, you may miss how special they are, because you are so used to them and you take these promises for granted. If you are the type of Christian who is not comfortable praying, it would be easy for you to miss how special these promises are, because you think they are out of your reach and you haven't taken advantage of them.
The reason they are so stunning is that we don't deserve anything good. These promises should be out of reach to us. On our own, we shouldn't be allowed to speak to God. We have no reason to be bold and confident toward him. We should be afraid of God, because we have not loved and trusted him above all things. We have sinned against him and deserve for him to hate and punish us.
Nevertheless, Jesus invites us to pray, because he himself has earned the right to do it for us. Jesus loved and trusted his Father perfectly in our place. Jesus died to pay for our sins against God the Father. Because of Jesus, you and I can come before the Father and ask him for anything and everything that we need. Because God the Father loves and forgives us, he will hear and answer every prayer in the way that is best for us.
Whether you are in the habit of praying regularly or not, Jesus invites you to do it. If you are used to praying, reexamine your prayer life and make sure that your prayers are bold and confident words that you speak to God. And if you have not been comfortable praying in the past, trust Jesus' promise. Speak to the Father and be certain that he loves to hear. He commands all of us to pray. He promises to hear all of us. He gives us the words. Take advantage of this marvelous privilege! Do not be afraid! Trust in Jesus! Trust in God your Father! He will bless you! That's why the Lord teaches us to pray.