(Through the Bible) Luke 11 — Chuck Smith

Luke 11 and Jesus' Prayer Life

Tonight, chapter 11 of the Gospel According to Luke. Again, as Luke is pointing out, the human side of Jesus. Though He was God, He became man. He is the God-man. He is divine, and yet He is human. The perfect balance.

And whereas John points out the divinity of Christ in his Gospel, which we will be entering into next, Luke points out the humanity of Jesus. And because this is the special emphasis of Luke, he does record more than any of the other Gospel writers concerning the prayer life of Jesus Christ.

And so Luke mentions many cases where Jesus was praying. And again, in beginning, the 11th chapter, Luke tells us, and it came to pass that as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, one of His disciples said unto Him, Lord, teach us to pray as John also taught His disciples.

Learning to Pray Through Practice

Prayer is something that can be learned, but learned best through practice. I have observed that those men who are engaged in the all-night ministry of prayer here at Calvary Chapel have really learned to pray.

As I am in a group of men and we are praying, as one of them leads out in prayer, I can always tell the men who are engaged in that all-night ministry of prayer, it shows in their prayers. It is reflected.

They've really learned how to pray. Of course, you spend a few nights in prayer and you really learn. You've got a lot of chance to practice. But it really shows. It's really a skill that can be developed through practice.

And the disciples, one of them asked the Lord, Lord, just teach us to pray. And it's something that we all need to learn. We need to learn how to pray more effectively. And there is much to be learned on the subject of prayer.

The Lord's Prayer Begins With Relationship

Now, Jesus taught by an example. Giving to them a model prayer. Not one that was to be memorized and recited verbatim. But in the model, there is the basic structure for all prayer. So Jesus said to them, when you pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

Prayer always begins with relationship. If there is not an established relationship, there is no basis for prayer. The Father's ear is always open to the children's cry. And if you have that relationship with God where you can say, Father, then you've established that relationship that opens prayer for you.

Effective prayer for you. But if you do not have that relationship, then prayer is meaningless. There's only one prayer that God wants to hear from you if you're not His child, and that's the prayer, God be merciful to me, a sinner.

And that establishes then relationship and opens this glorious opportunity of prayer for each one of you. But prayer begins with relationship. Our Father which art in heaven, and that reverence of God, hallowed be thy name, or reverend be thy name.

The name of God is a name that in the Hebrew was an active verb, which meant the becoming one. How it was pronounced is something that we are not certain of. There are those who say Jehovah. There are those who say Yahweh.

All we have are the consonants YHVH. They left out the vowels so that we do not know what was the actual pronunciation. But most scholars conclude that it was Yahweh. But it is the Hebrew verb, the becoming one.

The name of God is significant because in it God expresses what He wants to be to you. He wants to become to you whatever your need may be. So, the Jehovah or the Yahweh was used in compound forms. You had Yahweh to Sid Canu.

The Lord has become our righteousness. Yahweh Rapha, the Lord our healer. Yahweh Yaira, the Lord our provider. And all of these compound forms of the name of Yahweh by which God expresses His nature and that which He wants to be to you.

In prayer, it's helpful if you understand that God desires to become to you whatever your particular need might be. If you are praying for healing, then He becomes the Jehovah Rapha or the Yahweh Rapha, the Lord our healer.

He becomes what you need. And whatever might be the need that will be expressed in the prayer is exactly what God wants to become to you, the One who will provide that need in your life. Hallowed be Thy name.

And let me say that as far as I am concerned, the only name that is reverend is the name of the Lord Yahweh. I do not like the title of Reverend Charles Smith. Whenever I get mail to Reverend Charles Smith, I know that they don't know me.

Because I don't think there's anything reverend about the name Charles at all. And some write, The Reverend Charles Smith, which is supposed to be a little more impressive. And I like it that much less.

And then there are those who go all out and write, The Most Reverend Charles Smith. Just call me Chuck, please. Hallowed be Thy name. The reverence due to the name of God. Now, the purpose of prayer is not to get your will done.

Prayer Seeks God's Kingdom and Will

The purpose of prayer is to accomplish God's will. So prayer moves in a cycle. It begins with God, His purposes, His desires, which He makes known to our hearts, which we utter as our prayer back to God, which then God fulfills.

And so prayer moves in a cycle. But the cycle begins with God and the purposes of God. It is tragic that there are many people today who look upon prayer as an instrument for the accomplishing of their will upon the earth.

Now, God, this is what I want. And I demand, God, that You do this. And they hold the Scripture up to God and make their demands. Prayer is never intended, was never intended, to be an instrument by which man's will could be accomplished upon the earth.

And the primary thrust of prayer is always the will and the purpose of God. And so it is significant that the first petition in the prayer is, Thy Kingdom come. God's will. God's purposes. That's what prayer is about.

Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done. As in heaven, so on earth. And so the purpose of our prayer should be to see the will of God being done here upon the earth. You say, but didn't Jesus give us some pretty broad promises in prayer?

Didn't Jesus say, and whatsoever things you desire when you pray, believe that you receive them and you shall have them? Didn't Jesus say, and if ye shall ask the Father anything in My name, I will do it that the Father might be glorified in the Son?

Didn't He say, ask and ye shall receive? Yes, He did. But in each one of these cases, who was He talking to? Was He talking to the multitudes? Or was He talking to His disciples? And if you will read the Scriptures carefully, you'll find that in each of these cases, He was addressing His disciples.

And what constitutes discipleship? If any man will come after Me, Jesus said, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. So, whatsoever things you desire when you pray, believe that you receive them.

Who is He talking to? The disciples who have denied themselves and have taken up their cross to follow Him. Therefore, their prayers will be reflective of the life of self-denial and the purposes of God being wrought.

It would be the thrust of the prayer of that person who has denied himself and has taken up his cross to follow Jesus. Prayer was never intended to be an instrument for the accomplishing of man's will upon the earth, but the instrument for the accomplishing of God's will upon the earth.

For you see, the earth is in rebellion against God. The earth is under the power of Satan. His will is being done upon the earth. Satan is sitting upon the throne, ruling over the earth, the world system.

Now, it is God's desire to bring the earth back under His government, under His kingdom and His reign. And so, God gets men upon the earth who are aligned with Him, and He establishes through them a beachhead here on the planet earth.

And then He uses them as instruments to enlarge that beachhead to take back the world for God. We're in a battle. And the purpose of the battle is the control of the earth. And we who have come in submission unto God then exercise prayer, that power that God has given to us, in order that we might expand the beachhead that God has upon this planet and bring His love and grace and His power and His kingdom into other lives of those around us.

And that's why God has you here. And if you are using your time for any other purposes, you're just wasting your time as far as God is concerned. He has a purpose and a plan for you being here, and that is the expanding of His kingdom upon the earth.

But there are many evangelists today that would change this prayer to, My kingdom come, My will be done on this earth even as it is in heaven. But that's not what Jesus prayed. And that's not what we're to pray.

There is so much selfishness in our prayers. So many prayers for personal gain and personal possessions and those very things that could be extremely detrimental to our walk with the Lord. Having established first things first, then He moves on to the personal petitions.

Daily Bread, Forgiveness, and Deliverance

And there is nothing wrong with personal petitions as long as they are in the proper place. Give us day by day our daily bread. Interesting, isn't it? Lord, give me enough bread for the 1983 that's coming up.

No, God gives us day by day our daily bread that we might live a life of constant trust in Him. As thy day is, so shall thy strength be. So often, God does not give us more than just enough for today.

And you shouldn't be concerned or worried if you don't have enough for tomorrow. For the Lord said you shouldn't really be worrying about tomorrow. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. Give us day by day our daily bread.

God took care of us today. And the Father will take care of us tomorrow and the next day and each day that comes. And we don't have to worry. Forgive us our sins. Oh, what an important prayer. For we also forgive everyone that is indebted to us.

Forgive us, Lord. And Jesus teaches that we will be forgiven as we forgive others. There is much to be said by Jesus on the subject of forgiveness. Suffice it tonight that we just say it is one of the signs of true conversion.

And it is one of the most important things for your mental health that you have a forgiving spirit. There are a lot of people today who are in institutions who don't have to be there. But there is a bitterness, an unforgiving spirit that has tormented them and has driven them to that point of being beside themselves.

It is so important that you forgive. Now, we've asked God to forgive us. It's important that we be forgiven. But it is equally important that we forgive. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

Persistence in Prayer and the Father's Good Gifts

And so, the model that He established for prayer. Relationship, that purpose of prayer, the accomplishing of God's Kingdom and His will upon the earth. And then, our own personal needs. Now, continuing on the subject of prayer, Jesus said unto them, which of you shall have a friend and shall go unto him at midnight and say unto him, Friend, loan me three loaves of bread, for a friend of mine is on his journey and he's come to my house and I don't have anything to set before him.

And he from within shall answer and say, Don't trouble me, the door is shut and my children are with me in bed. I cannot rise and give to you. Now, it is helpful to understand a little bit about the culture of the Middle East.

Where hospitality is considered one of the highest virtues and an essential. Whenever you have guests come, you are obligated as the host to set out food before them. And, however, they all lived in one little room, the whole family.

And when they would go to bed at night, they would actually just have mats that they would roll out on the floor. And the whole family would sleep close together for warmth. There would be a little fire in one portion of the room and often the animals would be in the room too.

The chickens and the lambs or whatever, they would be in the one little room and sleeping with them at night. And here you'd be all huddled together with your family and someone's knocking on the door.

Now, once the door is closed, it was really considered impolite to knock on a closed door. When you closed the door, that meant don't disturb. When you woke up in the morning, you'd open the door and you'd leave the door open all day long and the people just come and go all day long, get coffee or tea or whatever.

But when at night you closed the door, that was a signal, don't disturb. And so you get ready to go to bed, you'd close the door and that was it. You'd huddle close with your family. Now, if you get up in that kind of circumstance, the whole family wakes up.

Everybody, you know, is disturbed. The animals start squawking and you know, it's just a real mess inside. So, Jesus paints a scene. Midnight. Family's all asleep. The animals are all asleep. Here's some guy knocking on the door.

Your neighbor, your friend. He said, I need to borrow some bread. Three loaves of bread. I've had some company come. I don't have anything to give to them. And of course, he was in a bad way because if you have company coming, you don't have anything to lay before them.

That was disgraceful too. And so the guy inside the house says, go away, don't trouble me. Now he said, I say unto you, though he will not rise and give him because he is his friend. Even though you're my friend.

Hey, that's no friend now. You know, go away, friend. But because of his importunity. Now that word in the Greek is because of his continued shameless knocking. Hey, he's not going to go away until he gets the bread.

Waking everybody up. You know that you've had it. You know, he's not going to go away. He continues his shameless knocking at the door. So because of his continued shameless knocking, you get up and you go to get him his bread.

Something you wouldn't do just because he was a friend. But something you do because the guy just won't go away. His continued shameless knocking. He will arise and give him as many as he needs. Get out of here.

Take it, you know. Now, Jesus is giving us an illustration of prayer. But it is important to note that Jesus often illustrated with contrast. So that the man knocking at the door is a type of a man praying.

Asking for a need of a friend. And this man is persistent. He continues to knock on the door until he gets his desired response. Now, does that mean that we have to continue to pray until we break God down?

Until he gets so sick of hearing us that he finally gives in and gives us what we want? No. Again, we have a contrast. If a man, a friend, will do something because of persistency, how much more will your father?

In other words, he's using a bad illustration as far as the prayer was concerned. Here's a man who is being moved because of importunity. The persistency of the one knocking. But with God, you don't have to be persistent.

Your father knows. We get another contrast down here. Again, if a son asks bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?

And if you, then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your father? You see, it's contrasting. If you earthly fathers know how to give good gifts, how much more?

So, the contrast is intended not a parallel with God in the illustration. And so, Jesus said, I say unto you, ask, and it shall be given you. Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

For every one that asks, receives. And he that seeks, finds. And to him that knocks, it shall be opened. Now again, on the subject of prayer, Jesus is saying, ask, seek, knock. James tells us that we have not because we ask not.

And that is so often true. People come and they pour out their tale of woe. Don't know what I'm going to do. Oh, I just don't know what I'm going to do. Well, have you prayed? No. Well, you have not because you ask not.

Now, it is also possible according to James to ask, but ask amiss because my desire is to fulfill my will. It's prayer according to my will. I'm trying to do something to fulfill my own desires. You ask amiss that you might consume it upon your own desires.

So, prayer is asking. It is seeking. It is knocking. And the promise is that if you ask, you will receive. Now, you may not always receive what you asked for. Sometimes God has something better. And so there are many times that I have asked God for something and He didn't give me what I asked for, but He gave me something so much better.

And many times His answers of no were much better than His answers of yes would have been, as I learned later. And though I moaned and complained because of the no answer, there always came that day when I said, oh, thank you, God.

You're so smart. And I'm so glad that You didn't answer that prayer that I asked You for a while back. Oh, thank You, Father. I realized the mess that I could have gotten into had God answered that prayer.

Well, He did answer it, but He answered it no. If you ask, you will receive. If you seek, you will find. If you knock, it shall be opened. And then again, another illustration. Earthly fathers. The son is coming to you and he's asking, Dad, I want some bread.

And the dad hands him a stone and says, chew on that, son. Daddy, I'd like a tuna sandwich. And gives him a snake. Daddy, can I have an egg? You offer him a scorpion. He says, no, you don't do that. You earthly fathers.

You wouldn't do that to your own children. Now, if you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him? I'm sick and tired of the boogeyman stories concerning God.

Of someone who was seeking that God might fill them with the Holy Spirit and they became possessed by some demon. What is that declaring? Exactly the opposite of what Jesus said was the case. It's saying that our Heavenly Father is evil.

That someone was asking for bread and He gave them a stone. They were asking for fish and He gave them a serpent. Not so. That is a blasphemous concept of God. The Bible says that God delights to give good gifts to His children.

I've heard people say, oh, you better be careful how you open yourself to God. You know, you just be careful now. You never know what's going to happen. Again, boogeyman stories. And they are blasphemous because they condemn the very nature of our righteous Holy Father.

Let me say this. I'm not afraid one iota of anything that God has for me or God wants for me. I want to always be totally open to God and my only fear is that I might not be open to something that God is wanting to do in my life.

I'm not the least bit afraid of anything that God may have for me or want for me. I'm not concerned that God's going to make some kind of a fool out of me. I'm perfectly capable of doing that for myself.

What I am fearful is that I might have a closed door somewhere to God and that He cannot do for me what He is wanting to do for me because of my limited faith or my presuppositional ideas that have limited that work that God is desiring to accomplish in my life.

I want to be totally open. I want everything that God has for me. I need everything that God has for me. And I don't want to have any closed doors when I come to God because I know that my Father loves me so much and His desire for me is for the very best for me because that's the way He loves me.

Jesus' Authority Over Demons

And thus, I'm not afraid at all of any work that God is seeking to accomplish in my life. Now, as Jesus was casting out a demon, the demon had taken over the motor functions of this particular person's speaking apparatus and caused the person to be dumb.

I am in total disagreement with people who see demons in every malfunction of the human body. There are people that have gone overboard on this demon bit and it's dangerous. There are demons, I recognize that.

They are powerful, I recognize that. They are able to possess a human body and to distort the motor functions, I recognize that. But every malfunctioning motor function of the body does not indicate demon possession.

And that is a very sad and tragic concept that has hurt a lot of wonderful people. In this particular case, the person's speaking ability was hampered by the demon. And so it came to pass when the devil was gone out that the dumb spake and the people wondered.

But some of them said he cast out devils through Beelzebub, the chief of the devils. And others, tempting him, sought from him a sign from heaven. But he, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, knowing that they were suspicioning that maybe he was doing this by the power of the devil, he showed the inconsistency of the idea.

He said, every kingdom that's divided against itself is brought to desolation. A house divided against itself falls. And if Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? Because you say that I cast out devils through Beelzebub.

And if I, by Beelzebub, cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore, they shall be your judges. Now, they did have exorcism rites, according to Josephus, that were handed down from Solomon.

They say that Solomon, in all of his wisdom, did devise certain drugs and all, and incantations for the exorcising of demons. And there were those in those days, according to Josephus, who, using these ancient rites of Solomon, were able to exorcise demons.

And Jesus was probably referring to these widely practiced and totally accepted exorcism rites of which Josephus spake. And he said, if I am casting out demons by Beelzebub, then who are your sons casting them out by?

They'll be your judges. But if I, with the finger of God, am casting out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God has come to you. He's just asking them to use their reasoning powers. Jesus is reasonable, and he asked you to be reasonable.

They're making a ridiculous accusation. He's casting out devils by the power of the devil. Jesus said, hey, that's ridiculous. If that's going on, then Satan's kingdom is divided against itself. It's gonna fall.

You better be rejoicing at what I'm doing. But that's not the case. If I am casting out devils, I'm doing it by the power of God, then you better realize that the kingdom of God has come among you. And when a strong man, armed, keeps his palace, his goods are in peace.

But when a stronger than he shall come upon him and overcome him, he takes from him all his armor wherein he trusted and divides his spoils. Now, here we have a very important lesson concerning prayer.

The strong man in this case is Satan. He is armed. He's keeping his palace, his domain. But thank God we can come against the domain of Satan in the name of one who is stronger than Satan. In the name of Jesus Christ.

And we, through the power and the authority of the name of Jesus Christ, can spoil the stronghold that Satan has in people's lives. I am amazed at the control that Satan is able to exercise over people.

I have seen people's lives who are so bound by the power of Satan that they do not possess good common sense. They're irrational in regards to spiritual things. And there are those that when you listen to them talk, you observe their habits, you see the power of Satan manifested in such a strong way, we oftentimes just sort of back away and say, man, there's no help for that person.

They're really gone. But that is because we are so overawed at the power of Satan to take hold of a person's life that we fail to realize that there is One who is stronger than Satan. The Bible says, greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.

And God has left us here in order that we might exercise that authority and power of the name of Jesus by destroying the work of Satan in the lives of those people around us, by binding Satan's power in the authority of the name of Jesus, setting them free from that terrible hold that Satan has upon them, and giving them the opportunity without that coercive force and power of Satan perverting their reasoning processes, let them make a reasoned decision concerning their relationship to Jesus Christ.

And so, when One that is stronger comes, He overcomes them and takes from Him all of His armor. Satan's armor has been stripped. His authority has been stripped. We have authority and power over Him. We have authority and power over Him in the name of Jesus Christ.

And we need to exercise that authority and power. Then Jesus said, He that is not with Me is against Me. There is no neutral ground. What do you think of Christ? Well, I don't know. I think He was a good man.

He was a pretty good philosopher. Are you for Him? Oh, no, I'm neutral. No, you're not. Jesus said, if you're not with Me, you're against Me. If you're not gathering, you're scattering. Two types of people.

The builders and the destroyers. Those who gather, those who scatter. If you're not gathering, you're scattering. You can't be neutral concerning Jesus Christ. He was a radical. You can't be neutral concerning a radical.

The Danger of Returning to Spiritual Bondage

You've got to have an opinion. You've got to form a decision. And not to be for Him is to be against Him. Now, Jesus, having cast out this demon, teaches a little bit concerning demons. And He said, when an unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he walks through dry places seeking rest.

So there is the intimation that demons, when they are not inhabiting a body, are restless. They seek to find a body to inhabit. And so when an unclean spirit is driven out of a body through the authority and the power of the name of Jesus Christ, they wander through the wilderness areas restless, seeking rest, seeking a body to inhabit.

And finding none, He said, I will return to the house from whence I came out. Now, evidently, there are certain conditions which open the doors for demons to enter into a person's body. There are other conditions which prohibit a demon from entering into a person's body.

Jesus teaches that they look for a body to inhabit. Evidently, there are things that can restrict their entrance into a body. And I believe that that which can restrict and does restrict is the will of man.

I do not believe that a demon can enter into a person against that person's will, whether the person be born again or not. I do not believe that they can violate the free will of man. As far as taking possession of a body.

But people are often getting involved in the occult, into those areas of spiritism where they are opening themselves to the entrance of demon entities. And by dabbling in the occult, by playing around with Ouija boards or any of these things that have an occultish aspect to them, you are opening the doors for these demons as you are seeking them to somehow mystically guide your destiny with the movement of the marker or with some other type of manifestation.

And I believe that when you start getting into these areas, that you are beginning to open the door for demons to come and begin to advise you, begin to direct you. They can inspire people in writing interesting detective stories.

They can bring you fame and the spirit writing and all of these things are doors by which you can open yourself to being possessed by a demon entity. And so, I cannot warn you too much against the dangers of dabbling with those areas of spiritism, contacts with spirits and all, because it is in those areas where you can open the door that demons can come in.

But I do not believe that they can come into a person against that person's will. As God honors the free will of man, I think He forces Satan to honor the free will of man. So, Satan comes in by guise.

A Testimony of Occult Oppression and Deliverance

He leads you into the areas of dabbling into the occult where gradually you become open to these things. Several years ago in the little chapel, we had a young man come into the office. And he sat down and he was obviously troubled.

And he introduced himself to me. He said, my name is Dave Hunt. And he gave me a Time magazine that I had read. A Time magazine that dealt with organized crime and dealt with Lucky Luciano. And in this particular Time magazine, it had one of these little insert articles and the picture of this young man, Dave Hunt, and said, the mystery man, the associate of Lucky Luciano.

And this young man told me his story of how as he was growing up, he had an intense fascination for power. And when he was 19 years old, he determined that he was going to possess power at any cost. And he said, as he looked at society, he realized that one of the strongest powers in society was the mafia.

Stronger than our judicial system because it had bought off the judicial system. It had bought off the government leaders. And so he theorized that Lucky Luciano at that time was the most powerful man in the world.

And because his ambition was for power, he decided that he was going to get next to Lucky Luciano and learn the secrets of power. Which, somehow, he was able to get in and become the associate, the constant companion of Lucky Luciano.

And it was written up in Time magazine. This mystery kid, young man, where he came from, nobody knew. But he was constantly with Lucky Luciano and was the protege of Lucky Luciano. And he said he enjoyed the power and all of the money and the power that he had through these associations, the control over people, over circumstances.

But he said then he began to study the reign of Hitler. And he realized that Hitler was one of the most powerful men in the world. And he learned that Hitler was being guided by men who were involved in what was known as the White Magic Fathers.

Men who were into the occult. Men who were in contact with demons. And so, he decided to go down to Peru where at the fall of the Fifth Reich, many of these men, the masters of the White Magic who were guiding Hitler, fled to Peru at the end of the war.

And he decided to go down and to look them up and to learn from them the secrets of power. And so he went to Peru and he got hold of these white masters and he began to sit at their feet and learn the White Magic.

He began to dabble into this area of Spiritism. And he said he was in his hotel room and he was going through these incantations and all, when suddenly this presence came into the room. He said he was very aware of it.

This Spirit. And he said the Spirit began to enter into his body. And he said, somehow I realized that if this thing enters into me, I'll no longer have power. I'll become its slave. I'll be under its power and control.

And he said, I became extremely frightened. And he said, though I'd only been to Sunday school a few times when I was a kid, I began to cry out, Jesus, Jesus, help me, Jesus. Because he said, I knew that if this thing took over, I'd be lost.

And he said, I immediately packed my bags. I ran down to the airport, got a cab to the airport. And he said, I waited at the airport for the next plane out of Peru. And he said, I checked in, got back to Texas.

I checked into a motel. And he said, I was so shook, I didn't call anybody. I didn't let anybody know where I was. He said, I was just so shook over this experience. And he said, as I was sitting there in the motel, just thoroughly confused, he said, the phone rang.

And the fellow on the phone called him by his name and gave him a cryptic message. And he recognized that these white masters spoke in these cryptic messages. And so, he was figuring out the message. And he just about had the message all figured out, but there was one part that the fellow gave to him that he couldn't remember.

And he knew that if he could remember that, that he could put the whole message together. And so, he was just sitting there thinking, oh, if I only knew that one part, if I only knew that one part of the message.

And the phone rang again. And the fellow said, the part of the message that you can't remember is this. And he said, wait a minute, who are you? He said, hey, man. He said, I don't know what's going on, but you guys are weird.