Luke 11:5–13
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.
“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!”
Jeremiah 31: 31-34
“The time is coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord.
“This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbour, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord.
“For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
Hebrews 4:14–16
Jesus the Great High Priest
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Jesus encourages us to be bold in prayer
Today we're thinking about prayer. Lots of books have been written about prayer. If you search Amazon online with the title ‘How to pray’, it generates 7,000 hits. And here are the top 4 hits:
How to pray in Islam, a step-by-step guide
The Power to Pray: prayers and scriptures that work
Spiritual Warfare Prayers for Men: Prayers to Conquer Fear, Lead with Courage, and Stand Strong in Faith
How to Pray: A Simple Guide for Normal People
No doubt some of these books are helpful but isn’t it remarkable how such an apparently simple process - praying - has generated so much literature? Well today, we turn to the Master himself, Jesus, for our guidance.
We're continuing in our series of how to Feed our Faith - and this week we find ourselves in Luke's Gospel. That chapter begins like this:
One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples." (Luke 11:1)
It was a bit of a Jewish thing to seek wisdom from the Rabbis. They were esteemed and respected, and individual rabbis would have their disciples who followed them and looked to them for guidance.
And so too with Jesus' disciples. These men wanted to know how best to pray. And so Jesus teaches them the Lord's prayer - we didn't read that part because today we're going to be concentrating on the verses straight after that prayer, as Jesus continues in his teaching.
The Lord's Prayer itself is for another day, another sermon - maybe a series of sermons - all I plan to say about the Prayer itself today is that it's a radical prayer for a Jew because it assumes that God could be spoken to as a Father, with intimacy.
‘Abba, Father’. The Scribes & Pharisees hated that, for in their eyes God was remote and holy. And yet here's Jesus effectively calling him ‘Daddy’. And so John tells us:
For this reason, the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. (John: 5:18)
Jesus' teaching about prayer was fresh and radical. So as we follow in the footsteps of those first disciples, we also come before Jesus and ask, 'Lord, teach us to pray'.
I'm assuming we are familiar with the Lord's Prayer. But we're thinking for a few moments about what came next in Luke's narrative. How did Jesus follow up his prayer? What did he want the disciples to grasp that day? And what about us in our turn?
Well, we can sum up what Jesus taught in our Luke reading in one word: Boldness. He was teaching boldness in prayer - that our prayers be bold, genuine, true, wholehearted.
1. Boldness
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. (Luke 11:5-8)
Jesus loves a parable. We're enjoying our Lent series on Parables at the moment - if you haven't come to one so far, why not join us - each evening is a standalone discussion on a famous parable. And we're really enjoying what we're learning.
And here's a parable that may or may not be familiar. A visitor arrives late at your house. It's midnight; maybe he got delayed on his journey or perhaps it was just more comfortable travelling when the heat of the day had died down. But he's arrived and Middle Eastern custom dictates that you must offer him a meal - but the cupboard is bare. No matter, Joe up the road is bound to have some bread so I'll go and knock him up and see what he'll let me have.
But it's midnight and Joe's been tucked up in bed for hours. It's a real imposition asking him to disturb his whole household to find some food - our bibles use the word 'boldness' in that request, but the Greek word is nearer to 'shamelessness'. Have you no shame, waking up this man's whole family at an unearthly hour demanding bread for your visitor?
But Joe obliges, not because he's our friend but simply because of the boldness - the brass-necked cheek of the man - disturbing the whole household at such a ridiculous hour.
So, what's the lesson? Well, it's one of those ‘if you… then how much more God’ parables. If this man gives in to the request for bread because of his friend's effrontery, then how much more will God answer our requests. It's about the request being bold, not lukewarm or tentative - the man didn't tap very lightly on his friend’s door and then whisper, 'Oh no he's already in bed I'll creep back down the garden path and close the gate really quietly so as not to wake him'.
No, he hammered on the door and woke the poor man and all his family and the dog and the animals. He was intent on getting an answer to his prayer.
It's about a bold, wholehearted request - a genuine request, from the heart. This is something I really need, even at this late hour, so I will ask loudly until I get an answer. It's about boldness. Secondly:
2. Certainty
Jesus continues:
"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. "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? (Luke 11:9-12)
In the light of this story about asking boldly, what will be the result? Simply that God will answer. He will not let us down. He will hear and respond.
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
God will answer. He won't necessarily answer in the way we expect; for it's not always best for us that we actually get what we ask for. From time to time we'll simply ask for the wrong thing. But there will be no duplicity. Maybe God won't give us a fish every time we ask for one - but what he won't do is give a snake instead. His gifts, his answers are always good.
The point is that we are not praying into a vacuum - God will answer. And God's answer may be a clear No as much as a clear Yes. Both represent answered prayer - even if the answer is No.
We may trust God to answer in accordance with our good. And of course the Lord's Prayer itself encourages us to ask for our daily bread - our daily need for sustenance. Ask God for it, encourages Jesus. He will not give you a stone when you asked for bread. Just make your prayer wholehearted, bold, and expectant. And he will answer. Although sometimes it's only with hindsight that we understand God's method.
3. Generosity
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!" (Luke 11:13)
It's another ‘if … then how much more’ construct. If you earthly fathers, with all your limitations - yes indeed, your sin - can give good gifts, how much more will God? How much more will God what? … Give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.
It's fine talking about bread and fish and eggs and so forth, but what needs to underpin all these things? The Holy Spirit of God indwelling our hearts.
The Holy Spirit is the greatest gift that God offers in response to our prayers - and he promises to give his Spirit freely. For it's through him that we really get to connect to God. It's through him that we get to know God as our personal Lord and Saviour. In the words of the prophet Jeremiah:
No longer will a man teach his neighbour, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest," declares the LORD.
And it's the Holy Spirit who is the engine of our prayers:
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. (Romans 8:26)
It's the Spirit who prompts and leads our prayers. And the more we are aware of his leading, the closer our prayers become to aligning with the will of God.
So, three lessons about prayer: Boldness, Certainty, Generosity. So what do these look like in practice? We need to overcome three pitfalls in prayer:
1. Hesitancy: I wonder if sometimes we are a bit hesitant, a bit tentative with prayer. We're a bit scared to ask in case we don't get what we hoped for. We're like the man going to his friend for bread but only knocking softly then creeping back down the garden path because 'he probably won't hear me'.
Jesus is saying, no, come and ask me... tell me what's on your mind. If it matters to you, then it matters to me.
When I conduct a wedding, we always have a rehearsal the evening before. We walk the service through and then I pray with the couple and their friends before we go. And I always pray that there will be some sunshine for the great day - at least for their photos. Is that a risky prayer? Maybe. But I can't tell you how often that prayer is answered in the affirmative. Let's not be hesitant in prayer. Let's be bold.
2. Vagueness: we often hedge our bets and pray something vague rather than something specific. Perhaps that's easier for God to answer.
When my mum was languishing in the John Radcliffe recently with a fractured pelvis, I prayed hard that she would be transferred to Moreton hospital to rehabilitate before she went home. Instead, she was moved to the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre where she got specialist care before she was discharged. With hindsight, it was a better outcome. My very specific prayer was answered with a No. That's the danger with specific prayers.
On the other hand, a friend of mine once prayed for a new motorbike.... and his specific prayer was answered with a Yes. Lucky man. Let's be bold in praying specific prayers.
3. Persistence: Jesus tells parables elsewhere about being persistent in prayer. Persistence in prayer is surely all part of this boldness that Jesus encourages - we're not to be shy in telling God more than once what our concerns are.
I know of people who have prayed every day literally for years that a family member might come to faith - and eventually after decades that prayer is answered. Again, it's about how much something matters to us - if it's important, it's on our minds all the while, and I think God is pleased that we share that with him. Let us not give up or lose heart in prayer - persistence is part of boldness.
So: Boldness, Certainty, Generosity.
Prayer is, at the end of the day, about relationship: it's about sharing our concerns and our joys, our hopes and our fears with the God who loved us and gave himself for us. And Jesus himself encourages us to be bold as we do just that.