STUDY
NOTES on previous study
Lord, Teach Us to Pray (Luke
11:1-13)
Once again we have arrived at a
chapter that will consume three weeks of our study. Even though the daily readings have been
brief, they are full of meaning. There
is nothing quite as intimate in an individual’s spiritual life as one’s
approach to prayer. Jesus is pictured in
Luke as spending much time, often, in prayer.
His constant prayer life is what calls the disciples to ask him to teach
them how to pray. Apparently, John the
Baptist had taught his disciples a specific way of praying, and they joined him
in his appeals to God. Jesus’ disciples
wanted to join Him in His prayers as well.
What is there to say about the
Lord’s prayer that has not already been said?
Luke’s version is shorter than Matthew’s, but the basic structure is the
same. It is a very simple prayer. It begins with an acknowledgment of the holy
nature of God’s name. Secondly, Jesus
calls for the arrival of God’s kingdom.
God’s kingdom is where His will is done.
It certainly is appropriate for us to continue to pray that His kingdom
come in ever increasing measures – not only in all the world but specifically
in our own hearts! Next Jesus
acknowledges His dependence on God for the basic necessities of life. “Give us this day our daily bread” recognizes
it is God who sustains life. Clearly we
need to recover this thought. We often
live as “practical atheists.” Though we
would never deny the providence of God, we do not think of him as the constant
provider for all our needs. Jesus
reminds us that in any country of any age, we are totally dependant on God for
our needs, whether we are willing to admit it or not.
Not only do we have a continual need
for our physical provisions from God, we also have a constant need of
forgiveness. In Luke’s account, it
sounds as if Jesus is suggesting that we merit this forgiveness because we
forgive those who sin against us. It is
more likely that Jesus is acknowledging the practical lesson learned from God’s
amazing forgiveness. Because we are
forgiven, we forgive. We plead to God
for forgiveness and in turn forgive those indebted to us. Jesus’ final petition is asking for God to
not bring us into temptation or trial.
This is again an acknowledgment of the frailty of the flesh. It is a request for God to be gentle with us
in life. When the entire prayer is
considered, it clearly expresses an attitude of absolute dependence on
God. It is also amazingly brief. The length of our prayers is sometimes an
indication of how much we have of which to inform God. Rather than prayers of humble submission and
acknowledged need, we tend to pray long prayers of petition. What can we learn from Jesus’ short
prayer? Most importantly, we need to
begin every day with an acknowledgment of our total dependence on God. Jesus’ model prayer is a wonderful way to do
this – praise God’s holy name, ask for His will to be done in your life as it
unfolds that day, acknowledge your dependence on Him by asking Him to provide
your basic needs (food, air, your molecules staying together – you know, those little
things that God does every day whether we realize it or not!), express your
desire to be forgiving as you live in His forgiveness, and then ask a prayer of
gentle handling, because we are indeed weak.
I dare say that if everyone in a given congregation would commit to
praying this simple prayer in a meaningful way every day, it would have a
tremendous impact on the life of that church.
The next story is an interesting and
humorous way of using a story. It is an
absurd comparison used for the sake of making a point. It is not so much calling us to “bug God”
with our incessant prayers. Jesus tells
of a man who is not prepared to host an unexpected friend. This story makes little sense to us because
we could run out and buy anything needed at a 24 hour grocery. Obviously, this wasn’t a possibility in
Jesus’ day. You baked your bread early
in the day for the entire day, and there was nothing in the cupboard for an
unexpected friend. So, this would have
been a believable story. This man,
embarrassed for his lack of preparation, asks a neighbor to help out. Originally, the neighbor doesn’t want to be
bothered, and his friendship is not sufficient to get him out of the comfort of
his bed. But the man’s persistence
causes the needed response.
Now, what does this story have to do
with God? Nothing!! Does God sleep? Is He limited in any way to provide what we
need? No!! This is a parable in which we laugh with
Jesus and acknowledge the joy of praying to a God who is never caught off guard
and is unlimited in His ability to answer our requests!
So, we should expect what follows:
“Ask, and it will be given; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will
be opened!” God is more reliable than
any man or any friend. Jesus is calling
us to a radical faith in a God who invites us to walk with Him. And this is a God who will give us exactly
what we need! As Jesus continues to tell
of the extravagant love of God, He uses another absurd story. If we, who are basically self centered jerks
(read, “evil” – come on, admit it, Jesus here nails us for who we are without
Him) will give our children what they need, how much more will God do
this? This is a very important
thought. Prayer never goes
unanswered. However, God will not give
us what is not best for us or for His over-arching purposes in our lives. But if we are hungry and ask for food, God is
not capricious. Can you imagine a father
giving his hungry son a poisonous scorpion?
How absurd! God is infinitely
more loving than any father – be assured He will give us just what we need!
There is one final teaching in this
story on prayer, and it may be the most important. However, in my experience, it is not often
taught. If earthly fathers provide what
their children need in order to be properly nourished, how much more will the
perfect Father in heaven give us exactly what we need most – the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has been a major player in
the gospel of Luke. Not only that, but
the Holy Spirit will also be a major character in the dynamic story of the
church as Luke tells it in Acts.
Unfortunately, because we have tended to have a weak understanding of
and even a fearful attitude toward the Holy Spirit, we have not acknowledged
the central role He must play in our participation in the redemptive story of
God – another way of saying “the life of authentic discipleship.”
The greatest gift of the
Remember at the beginning of this
study when we said the theme of the gospel of Luke was not Jesus himself, but
the ancient purposes of God? The point
of the gospel is that we can now live the life for which we were originally
created! God is one who provides all
that we need to allow this to happen. He
sent His Son as the perfect embodiment of the obedient life. He received the Holy Spirit at baptism who,
since then, has clearly led Jesus every step of His life. Jesus remains submitted to the will of the
Holy Spirit by staying in constant contact with His Father through prayer. It is a prayer of total submission to the
direction of the Father. And now, Jesus,
commenting on prayer and its purpose, affirms that the greatest gift of the
Father is given in the humble request of the obedient heart – the Holy
Spirit! If we would only ask, we would
receive. If we would but seek God’s
will, we would find it. Just knock on
the door of heaven, and it will be opened.
The Holy Spirit waits to enter the surrendered heart. He will then guide us to the life of praising
God for which we were created. Can there
be a more beautiful story that this? The
very doors of heaven await your request to enter. Will you pray with me?
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.
Lord, Teach Us to Pray (Luke 11:1-13)
After having read the study notes, answer the
following questions
1. What
is the most important aspect of “the Lord’s prayer” in your opinion? Why?
2. What
does the story about the man asking his friend for bread at
3.
According to the passage of scripture (Luke 11:1-13) studied last week,
what is the most important element of prayer, in your opinion? Why?
4. What
does the Holy Spirit represent in terms of God’s response to our prayers?
The Kingdom
Perspective (Luke
Read Luke 11:14-23
1. Why do you think some accused Jesus of using
Satan’s power to cast out demons?
2. What was Jesus’ response when accused of
working by Satan’s power?
3. What did Jesus announce had come if indeed
He were working by God’s power?
4. What does that say about the nature of that
which Jesus said had come?
Read
1. What was Jesus teaching about the nature of
ridding oneself of an unclean spirit?
2. What specifically does this passage teach us
about our fight against sin?
3. What point was Jesus making by not accepting
the woman’s adulation?
4. What does this mean to us?
Read
1. Why was Jesus upset about the asking for a
sign?
2. What was “the sign of Jonah”?
3. What is Jesus’ warning in these verses? What does this mean to us?
Read
1. What do you think Jesus was saying in His
discussion of a lamp?
2. What do you think Jesus meant when He said
your eye is “the lamp of the body”?
3. How can our bodies be “full of light”?