Luke 11

The Lord's Prayer

00:00

¹ Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”

² So He said to them, “When you pray, say:

Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
³ Give us day by day our daily bread.
⁴ And forgive us our sins,
For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.”

• Mary and Martha
  • In the last chapter, the Lord visited the house of Mary and Martha and He venerated Mary for "choosing the good part" and told Martha that "one thing is needed"
  • The good part is the live with the Lord through prayer, bible, fasting
  • This chapter starts with prayer
• He was praying
  • St Luke's gospel has as one of its themes, prayer
  • Why would Jesus pray? Isn't He God? He doesn't need prayer..
    • He took flesh and was incarnate and His humanity is 100%
    • He is showing us the complete humanity - just as we have physical needs like eating and drinking and sleeping, we also have spiritual needs like prayer
• Teach us to pray
  • Prayer wasn't foreign to them - the Jews had prayers
  • They saw something different in how He prayed, and asked Him to teach them to pray
  • It is a good request for us to make of the Lord - teach us to pray, give us focus in prayer, give us the spirit of prayer, give us time to pray, give us words in prayer
  • The disciples lived a life of discipleship - they saw Him praying and wanted to do/be like Him
  • Discipleship is the foundation of all Christianity...
    • instead of telling someone to pray, let them see you pray... then they will ask you "how do you pray?"
    • instead of telling someone to love, let them see you love... then they will ask "how do you love?"
    • First live, then ask
• When you pray
  • Not "if you pray" - because we WILL pray A LOT
• The Lord's Prayer
  • This prayer is going to be the curriculum or template for all future prayers
  • It's a prayer that is pleasing to God
  • A prayer given to us directly by the Lord
• Our Father
  • It's a new thing for the Jews
  • In the Old Testament, the idea of God as Father is present:
    • "The Lord has spoken: 'I have nourished and brought up children, And they have rebelled against Me;" (Isaiah 1:2)
    • "A son honors his father, And a servant his master. If then I am the Father, Where is My honor?" (Malachi 1:6)
  • But the Jews never called God "Father" - but rather "Great God" - "Almighty" - etc.
  • Christian worship is not based on being afraid of God, but on love for God
  • A servant doesn't talk to his master unless he needs something... but a son goes and speaks with his father even if he doesn't need anything.
  • In prayer, you are speaking to your Father, not a stranger
    • Scared? Tell Him!
    • Need something? Tell Him!
    • Worried? Tell Him!
  • I don't need to know everything about my dad to know that he loves me or to talk to him
    
    • Even if you don't know anything in Theology or the Bible or Hymns or anything... God is still Your Father! You can still say this prayer! You can still speak to Him. He can still speak to you.
• Our Father in heaven
  • The Lord came to earth so that we could go to heaven
  • Every time we say "Our Father in heaven" we remind ourselves that we are not from here nor will we be here long... it raises us to a heavenly state.
  • Even if praying alone, we still say it in plural: "Our Father in heaven" no one says "My Father in heaven" - the Lord didn't teach it to us this way. He taught it to us in the plural as a Church, even if we are praying alone
• Hallowed be Your name
  • Half of the prayer is "Your" to God - "Hallowed be Your name" - "Your kingdom come" - "Your will be done"
  • The other half is "Us" - "Give us this day..." - "Forgive us..." - "As we forgive..." - "Lead us not into temptation..." - "Deliver us..."
  • Hallowed be Your name is a prayer for the whole world to know the holiness of His name - "I wish that everyone would know You"
  • It's a prayer for myself, who carry His name on myself - "Christian", but I don't hallow it. It's a prayer to ask God to make me holy so that I can carry His name.
• Your Kingdom Come
  • The Kingdom of God is within you
  • The Kingdom of God is in the Church
  • The Kingdom of God is in eternal life and fellowship with God
• Your will be done
  • 29:00
• We added "In Christ Jesus our Lord"
  • Some say "well how can you add to the Lord's prayer?!" - but of course it's not a wrong thing to add
  • The Lord told us to ask anything in His name (John 14 and John 16)

A Friend Comes at Midnight

47:20

⁵ And He said to them, “Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; ⁶ for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; ⁷ and he will answer from within and say, ‘Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you’? ⁸ I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs.

• s

Keep Asking, Seeking, Knocking

54:59

⁹ “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. ¹⁰ For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. ¹¹ If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? ¹² Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? ¹³ If you then, being evil, 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!”

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