Luke 11:1-13
“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for.” – Luke 11:9
“shameless persistence,” “impudence” – Luke 11:8
Jesus teaches us to make our requests of God with persistence.
Impudence – lack of sensitivity to what is proper, audacity
Persistent in spite of opposition, obstacles, discouragement. Tenacious.
They looked to Jesus as the example of persistent prayer: daily, privately, publicly, for forgiveness, for healing, over Jerusalem, for the salvation of souls, and in the Garden of Gethsemane.
There are times when the answer from God is: yes, no, not yet
“You don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong – you want only what will give you pleasure.” – James 4:3
Jesus teaching about persistent prayer in the context of giving his pattern for prayer.
“Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.” Luke 11:1-4
“Trust” – Proverbs 3:5-6
“My ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts,” – Isaiah 55:8-9
Jesus followers later reminded each other of this truth repeatedly in various ways:
Luke found this to be important, from the eye witness accounts, to be helpful for each believer to “be certain of the truth of everything” they were taught.
Praying for Peter’s release from prison, in Acts 12.
“having done all to stand firm,” – Ephesians 6:13
“Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Jesus.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
“The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.” – James 5:16
Careful to note that Jesus is not teaching us that God is our genie in a bottle. There’s a difference between asking God for a miracle or asking God for magic.
Miracle – by God, in His will, for His purpose, point to Him, Jesus as Savior.
Magic – for our purpose, to make us special.
Here’s a few relevant quotes:
“God is never late, but he has missed several golden opportunities to be early.” – E. V. Hill
“Too often we get faint-hearted and quit praying at the point where we ought to begin.” – E. M. Bounds
“To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.” – Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr
“We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.” – Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr
“Never try to arouse faith from within. You cannot stir up faith from the depths of your heart. Leave your heart, and look into the face of Christ.” – Andrew Murray “Let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.” – Hebrews 12:1-2
“Faith in a prayer-hearing God will make a prayer-loving Christian.” – Andrew Murray
“While real trolleys in Newark, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Boston languish for lack of patronage and government support, millions of people flock to Disneyland to ride fake trains that don’t go anywhere.” – Kenneth Jackson
Do we avoid prayer because we don’t believe it’s going anywhere? It’s good to know that your prayer is going somewhere.
What do we learn about God?
God wants to hear our prayer requests.
God gives good gifts.
God responds to persistent faith. .
Jesus is an example of prayer.
Jesus teaches us to pray with persistence.
Jesus teaches us to ask God for miracles.
How should we respond?
Ask God for specific miracles.
Pray with persistent faith.
Ask God for help as you grow in endurance.
Walk your faith journey with the help of others.
Never give up praying with faith.