Do You Pray…

7th Sunday after Pentecost, 7/24/22 Luke 11:1-13 Do You Pray… I. For the right things? II. In the right way? I’m going to make a statement about prayer, and I want you to evaluate it. Do you agree or disagree? As long as your prayer to God is not asking him to help you commit a sin or to bless the sin you want to commit, your prayer is pleasing to God. I’ll repeat that. As long as your prayer to God is not asking him to help you commit a sin or to bless the sin you want to commit, your prayer is pleasing to God. Agree or disagree? If you’re thinking that, since you are a Christian, you have the privilege of praying to God about anything and everything and he promises to hear and answer you, you might agree with that statement. However, if that statement is so broad that it makes you a little uncomfortable, then you probably disagree. For instance, what if your priorities—in God’s eyes—are woefully out of order? What if you’re praying to God for something that would be a blessing in your life, but your attitude—even in the slightest—is that God owes this one to you because you’re so devoted to him? Bottom line: it can be difficult, even for the mature Christian, to pray properly. And I know this doesn’t solve that problem, but it’s nothing new. Followers of Jesus Christ have always been wondering about their prayer lives. It happened on this day in the life of Jesus as recorded for us here in Luke 11. Today’s text opens with the words, “One day Jesus was praying in a certain place.” It’s difficult to determine from Luke’s Gospel at what point in Jesus’ ministry this day occurred. I’m of the opinion that, by this time, Jesus had already spent months, if not a year or so, conducting his earthly ministry. By this time his disciples had witnessed him praying quite often. Perhaps his prayers were audible, so that they heard the things he was praying about. And they noticed that his prayers were so much better than theirs; his prayers were perfect. And so, it doesn’t surprise us to read, “One of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray.’” And Jesus was only too eager to grant his request. In fact, our text makes it clear that he used this opportunity to teach all his disciples about prayer. And, as he does so, our reaction as followers of Jesus is the same as the reaction of this follower of Jesus more than 2,000 years ago. We evaluate our prayers and we’re led to wonder just how God-pleasing they are. What should we pray for? How should we pray? If those questions strike a chord with you, then you’re in the right place at the right time, because Jesus is going to answer those very questions as he teaches us to pray this morning. I. A few days ago, as I prepared this sermon, I Googled the question, “How should I pray?” I’m sure you’re not surprised that I received dozens of pages in response, many of them containing links to videos. So, I decided to check them out. I don’t recommend that. It was a huge disappointment. One of them went so far as to urge me to pray to God for something and then listen for him to answer me. And the presenter even tried to help me discern whether the voice I was hearing was from God or not. Yikes! But even more disappointing, is that none of the links I clicked on urged me to read the words of Jesus himself here in Luke 11. For instructions on praying, why not go to the words of the perfect Pray-er, Jesus Christ? Let’s go there. When these words were read a few minutes ago, I’m guessing you noticed that they’re similar to the Lord’s Prayer as we’re accustomed to praying it, but not exactly the same. Why not? The words we use for the Lord’s Prayer are from Matthew Gospel during Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount which he preached to multitudes very early in his ministry. As I mentioned earlier, Luke’s account records a day for us later in the ministry of Jesus, and his audience is simply his twelve disciples. On this day, he taught those disciples, “When you pray, say: ‘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.’” Let’s take a brief look at our Savior’s prayer lesson. It includes five petitions. Four of them are spiritual. When we pray for God’s name to be hallowed, we’re asking that he would cause his word to be taught in its truth and purity and that he would help us live godly lives according to that word. When we pray for God’s kingdom to come, we’re asking him to send us his Holy Spirit so that we believe in him as the God of our salvation, thus becoming members of his kingdom, and that others would be brought to faith in Jesus as well. When we pray for forgiveness, we’re asking God to declare us not guilty for the sake of Jesus and to enable us to forgive others. Finally, we pray for him to keep temptation away from us or give us the ability to overcome it. Those four petitions all deal with spiritual blessings. Only one deals with physical blessings: give us each day our daily bread. Our daily bread includes everything we need for our bodily lives here on earth. And we not only pray for him to give us our daily bread, but to lead us to be thankful for it. The priority in our prayer life is clear. God-pleasing prayers prioritize spiritual blessings over physical blessings. But please don’t misunderstand. Jesus is not making any rules about prayer here. He’s guiding and encouraging us in our prayers to emphasize the spiritual over the physical. So, now back to our personal prayer evaluation. Do you pray for the right things? There’s nothing wrong with praying for physical blessings such as good health, an improved financial or employment situation, a better relationship with a family member or friend. In fact, all those are included in the prayer for daily bread. But, when you pray for those blessings, are you under the delusion that, if Jesus grants them to you, you will once and for all experience the happiness here on earth that is evading you? No matter if Jesus blesses you with earthly abundance beyond your wildest imagination, your life here will still be in a world of sin and sorrow that ends in death. Jesus did not come to this earth to give you heaven on earth. He came to rescue you from this sinful world and make you an heir of eternal life with him in heaven. He came to make you certain of spiritual blessings. Pray for those spiritual blessings more than anything else and be absolutely certain that Jesus wants them for you and gives them to you. II. Jesus often said things that are difficult to understand. For instance, in one of his parables he commended a dishonest manager. In the second half of this text from Luke 11 he appears to do that same thing. He tells the story of a man who bugs his neighbor at midnight for a few loaves of bread to feed a traveling friend. Couldn’t it wait a few more hours until daylight? The neighbor’s entire family would be disturbed if he granted the man’s request. Is Jesus encouraging us to be rude? Not at all. His point is that, because of the man’s shameless audacity, his neighbor grants his request. So, what’s Jesus’ point about prayer? Ask, seek, knock! Be persistent! In the closing verses of our text, we probably have a little easier time understanding what Jesus is teaching. We understand that no loving father would ever give his son something bad instead of something good. So, what’s Jesus’ point about our prayers? It’s an argument from the lesser to the greater. As sinful people, we know what’s good for our children. How much more does our holy Father in heaven know what’s good for his children! So, pray confidently! The right way to pray to your Father has complete trust in him, meaning that he knows what’s best for you. He sees your future clearly and knows exactly what you need to face it. Since he knows your future perfectly, he knows exactly when to give it to you. And, when he knows that what you’re asking for will not help you, he withholds it. But, if you’d like a “yes” answer from the Lord every time regarding your prayer, then this is what to pray, “How much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” The greatest gift the Father can give you is his Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit uses the gospel in word and sacrament to bring you what you need more than anything else—the forgiveness of sins. The Holy Spirit uses that gospel to strengthen your faith and keep you in that faith until the moment he calls you out of this world of sin and sorrow to your Savior’s side in heaven. Do you pray in the right way? You do when you pray persistently and confidently. There is a temptation to view prayer as if it were a game of chance. In other words, we shake our prayer dice and wonder what the odds are that we’ll receive what we pray for. The truth is, there’s nothing left to chance. You are a child of God by faith in Jesus. Your God has already done everything through Jesus to win your forgiveness and eternal life. You already have his greatest gift—the Holy Spirit—living in your heart by faith. The Holy Spirit will bear your soul home to heaven when you die. And God the Father promises to give you whatever you need for your earthly life until then. So, when you pray, pray for things that matter most—spiritual things. And pray persistently and confidently. Your life now and your eternal life are in the hands of your loving Father. So, Christian, pray! And God will bless you according to his infinite love and wisdom. Amen.