October 24, 2004
Service Theme – “Our God Is
Our Friend”
Luke 11:5-13
When We Practice the
Presence of Christ, We Experience the Privilege of Authentic Prayer
B.
Context
– Isn’t it interesting that a censor who had no belief in God believed in the
power and strength of prayer? After
watching Jesus pray, His disciples asked Him for some lessons. First He gave them what we know as the
Lord’s Prayer. Then He encouraged them
to pray. So let’s read Luke 11:5-13 to
find out how He encouraged them, and I’m reading from the New Living Translation.
II.
Scripture
Passage
A.
Luke
11:5-13 (from the New Living) – (NEW SLIDE) Then, teaching them more about prayer, he used this illustration:
“Suppose you went to a friend’s house at midnight, wanting to borrow three
loaves of bread. (NEW SLIDE) You would say to him, 6 ‘A friend of mine has just arrived for a
visit, and I have nothing for him to eat.’
7 He would call out from his bedroom, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is locked for the night, and we are
all in bed. I can’t help you this time.’ (NEW
SLIDE) 8 But I tell you this –
though he won’t do it as a friend, if you keep knocking long enough, he will
get up and give you what you want so his reputation won’t be damaged. (NEW
SLIDE) 9 And so I tell you, keep
on asking, and you will be given what you ask for. Keep on looking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened. 10 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And the door is opened to everyone who
knocks. (NEW SLIDE) 11 You fathers
– if you children ask for a fish, do you give them a snake instead? 12 Or if they ask for an egg, do you give
them a scorpion? Of course not! (NEW
SLIDE) 13 If you sinful people
know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly
Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.”
III.
Authentic
Prayer Works!
A.
(NEW SLIDE) Jesus teaches us in this
passage that authentic praying is persistent praying. What’s our first impression of the man
pounding on his friend’s door at midnight?
He’s a pest. He’s insane. He’s being selfish. We’d all react like that if any friend were
pounding on our doors at midnight asking for bread. We’d yell out the window something like, “Shut up and go to
7-11!” But this man was out of
options. He had unexpected
company. Travelers often journeyed late
into the evening to avoid the heat.
Hospitality was considered a sacred duty, and there were very few inns
and they were not always the nicest places to stay. So here’s the host.
What’s he supposed to do? He’s
out of bread because it usually goes stale overnight. There’s no 7-11, and if he doesn’t feed his guest the man is
insulting his guest. So he pounds on
the door at midnight.
B. The friend eventually gives
the host what he wants. Is it out of
friendship? No. As the NIV puts verse eight, 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. (NEW SLIDE) The word translated
“boldness” means “shamelessness” in the Greek.
The NASB translates it as “persistence.” This is the only place this word is used in the entire New
Testament. The host was shameless
in his approach because of his obligation to his guest. Now remember that Jesus is talking about
prayer in this passage. So think about
the implications. Jesus is telling us
to be bold, to be shameless, to be persistent, in praying and in asking for
what we need.
C. Look at the
contrasts in this passage. The friend
was rude, but God is our special friend who won’t be rude. The time was bad for the friend, but God
never sleeps or slumbers and doesn’t mind if we bother Him. The friend considered the need too small to
be worth getting out of bed for, but no need is too small for God. The friend acted selfishly, but God never
does. (NEW SLIDE) As the Greek puts verse nine and ten, we’re commanded
to keep on asking, keep on seeking, and keep on knocking. If we do that, we will receive from God,
find His will, and He will open doors for us. This is what all believers are promised if we will be persistent,
bold, shameless enough in telling God what we need through prayer.
D. Illustration –
Dr. Wilbur Chapman was pastor of First Presbyterian Church in
Philadelphia. After his first sermon,
an elderly member came up to him and promised that he and two other people
would pray for him every Sunday during the service. As they persisted in prayer, the group grew from 3 to 219 over
the next few years. In three years, the
church grew by 1100 people from conversion growth alone. They were persistent and wouldn’t let
Chapman preach unless he was bathed in prayer (as cited by Dr. John White, source: Mainstay
Ministries). Prayer has to be
persistent if it’s going to touch the heart of God.
E.
Persistence
in prayer is good, but Jesus adds another requirement for authentic prayer in
this passage. (NEW SLIDE) Jesus says that authentic praying is confident
praying. God is good and will give His
Spirit to all those who confidently ask.
Look at what Jesus said about fathers.
If their kids ask them for a fish, will they give them a snake
instead? Or if their kids ask for an
egg, will they give them a scorpion instead?
Of course not! Fish and eggs
sustain life, while most snakes and scorpions in the Middle East are deadly
poisonous, especially for children.
Only the most vile and evil fathers on earth will give their kids poison
instead of food. God’s not like
that. God is the epitome and definition
of goodness. So Jesus says, “13 If you sinful people know how to give
good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the
Holy Spirit to those who ask him.”
F.
Now
think about this for a minute. In
prayer, God sees us at our neediest, our worst if you will. And in return, He offers us His best, His
Holy Spirit. There is and will never be
anything we need more on this earth than the infilling of the Holy Spirit. (NEW
SLIDE) If we boldly, persistently, shamelessly keep asking Him, keep
seeking Him, keep knocking on doors, He will give us His Spirit to fill us to
overflowing. His power will overwhelm
our hearts and our lives, and we will be changed people. Instead of being fearful, we will be bold
and courageous. Instead of being
tentative, we will jump at God’s calling to do His will. Instead of circling the wagons, we will
dream big and do big because God is calling and empowering us to do big things
for Him. All this is possible when we
pray persistently and confidently.
G.
Illustration
– Carole Mayhall wrote, THE GUEST
ROOM—DONE IN BLUE with its own bath —was inviting but cold. By the time I
unpacked my small suitcase, got ready for bed, and shook out an Excedrin P.M.
for a slight nagging headache, my feet were freezing. Knowing that after a
stimulating and exhausting weekend women’s conference—too much to eat and too much caffeine—it would be difficult
enough to sleep even without cold feet, I tried everything to get warm. Rubbed
them. Put my slippers on. Rubbed them
again. Nothing worked. The late March wind whistled through the
eaves. Defeated and shivering, I crawled into bed, drew my feet up as close to
my body as I could, and tried to sleep. For three hours I tossed and turned,
wondering why the medication hadn’t cleared the headache or helped me relax,
and finally fell into a restless sleep.
The next morning as I groggily smoothed the covers of the double bed, I glanced down at the floor and saw a
familiar cord pushed almost out of sight under the bed. I drew it out and
discovered that the cold bed I’d slept on had an electric blanket, ready to be
turned on to make the bed toasty warm. I groaned. Then I went into the bathroom to brush my teeth, glanced down at
the countertop, and discovered the pill laying there where I’d put it. I
groaned again. An electric blanket
can’t warm me unless I turn it on. A medication can’t get rid of a headache and
help me relax unless I take it. Then I
glanced at my Bible resting on top of my suitcase and smiled as the analogy
struck me. I realized full well that
I’d just been shown a truth we’d
talked about that weekend—graphically. (NEW SLIDE) God won’t answer prayers that I don’t pray. The Word of God can’t revive me, make me
wise, or give me direction unless I open it. (CAROLE MAYHALL, WHEN GOD
WHISPERS, COLORADO SPRINGS: NAVPRESS, 1994, PP. 58–59) We’ve got to pray persistently and
confidently if we want to see God move among us.
H.
There’s
one other thing God wants us to learn about prayer this morning. It’s found in John 15:5-7: “Yes, I am the vine; you are the
branches. Those who remain in me, and I
in them, will produce much fruit. For
apart from me you can do nothing. 6
Anyone who parts from me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be
burned. 7 But if you stay joined to me
and my words remain in you, you may ask any request you like, and it will be
granted! (NEW SLIDE) Jesus says that authentic praying is praying
according to His will. It’s working
at consistent relationship with Him so that He is our everything and we finally
act like He is. The more we pray, the
more we know God, and the more effectively we pray. The more we pray, the more we know we need to pray. The more we pray, the more desperate for God
we become. When we fully realize that
God is our life, then we will spend time in His Word and in prayer, and we will
pray according to His will. Know
what? God will always answer prayer
that is according to His will.
I.
Illustration
– One of David’s favorite authors, Madeleine L’Engle wrote, PRAYER IS LIKE PLAYING THE PIANO. You won’t
do it well everyday but unless you do it everyday, you will never do it well.
(MADELEINE L’ENGLE, QUOTED IN THE OTHER SIDE)
She’s right. When we pray
consistently, we are abiding in Jesus and learning what His will is. It is impossible to pray according to God’s
will without daily prayer. And when we
know His will, we can ask for anything that goes along with His will and we
will get it. That’s what Jesus said,
and that’s a powerful promise! (NEW SLIDE) We’ve got to pray
persistently, confidently, and according to His will if we’re going to see our
hearts, our lives, our church, and even our society transformed.
J.
Illustration
– Theologian Frederick Buechner wrote, ACCORDING
TO JESUS, by far the most important thing about praying is to keep at it. The
images he uses to explain this are all rather comic, as though he thought it
was rather comic to have to explain it all. He says God is like a friend you go
to borrow bread from at midnight. The friend tells you in effect to drop dead,
but you go on knocking anyway until he finally gives you what you want so he
can go back to bed again (Luke 11:5–8). Or God is like a crooked judge who
refuses to hear the case of a certain poor widow, presumably because he knows there’s nothing much in it for him.
But she keeps on hounding him until finally he hears her case just to get her
out of his hair (Luke 18:1–8). Even a stinker, Jesus says, won’t give his own
child a black eye when he asks for peanut butter and jelly, so how all the more
will God when his children— (Matthew 7:9–11).
(NEW SLIDE Be importunate, Jesus says—not, one
assumes, because you have to beat a path to God’s door before he will open it,
but because until you beat a path maybe there’s no way of getting to your door.
(FROM WISHFUL THINKING BY FREDERICK BUECHNER)
May all of us learn to pray persistently, confidently, and according to
God’s will! That’s what powerful,
authentic praying is all about.
IV.
Conclusion
A.
Our challenge this morning is to pray. If you’re willing to commit to pray for our
worship service for five minutes every Sunday morning, please circle the “F” at
the bottom of your communication card.
If you’re willing to commit to praying for our worship services for ten
minutes every Sunday morning, please circle the “T”. If you’re willing to commit to praying for our worship services
for fifteen minutes every Sunday morning, please circle the “Q”. I’m not asking at this time for anyone to
pray during the service in a separate room.
Just to pray before you come Sunday morning. That’s “F” for five minutes, “T” for ten minutes, and “Q” for
twenty minutes. Every Sunday before you
come to worship. Now, if you’re willing
to commit to praying for our church for at least three minutes every day,
please circle the “C” at the bottom of your communication card. If you’re willing to commit to praying for
our church and our area for at least five minutes every day, please circle the
“W” . That’s “C” for three minutes
daily for our church, and “W” for five minutes daily for our church and our
area. Pray for God’s will to take place
and His Spirit to be poured out in our worship services, our church, and our
area.
B.
Why
do this? Because praying for our
services and praying for our church and praying for our area are all according
to the will of God. And if we’re going
to make an impact for Jesus Christ, we’ve got to pray. By circling those letters, you will be
telling me and God of your commitment, and I will pray for God to help you keep
this commitment. Let’s pray together.