WWUTT 2386 Jesus Prayed and Taught to Pray (Luke 11:1-4)

In Luke chapter 11, Jesus taught his disciples how to pray, but this is not the only place that Jesus prayed. It's also not the only place that Jesus taught his disciples something about prayer when we understand the text.

This is when we understand the text, a daily study of God's word, that we may be filled with the knowledge of his will. For questions and comments, send us an email to whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com.

Here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe.

Thank you, Becky. In our study of the gospel according to Luke, we started chapter 11 last week. At the beginning of this chapter, Jesus teaches his disciples how to pray. It's Luke's rendition of the Lord's prayer.

So let me start reading that again, and I'll read through verse 13. Hear the word of the Lord. Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray as John taught his disciples.

And he said to them, when you pray, say, 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.

And he said to them, which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, friend, lend me three loaves for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey and I have nothing to set before him.

And he will answer from within, do not bother me. The door is now shut and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything. I tell you, though we will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence, he will rise and give him whatever he needs.

And I tell you, ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be open to you. For everyone who asks receives and the one who seeks, finds and to the one who knocks, it will be opened.

What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish, give him a serpent? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?

One of the things that I said that I was gonna do this week when we came back to this section in Luke is I was gonna talk about where else Jesus prayed in the gospel of Luke. This isn't the only spot.

In fact, it's kind of a misnomer for us to call this the Lord's prayer. It's actually the disciples' prayer for Jesus is teaching his disciples how to pray. How else did Jesus pray? So let's look at a couple of references.

Well, a couple of references, actually several references, but separated into a couple of categories.

How about that?

So first of all, those mentions of Jesus praying and some of these mentions don't actually have the prayer that Jesus prayed, but then there's other parts in Luke's gospel where Jesus teaches about how to pray, not just here in chapter 11, but in other references as well.

So first of all, these different places where we have references to Jesus praying, the first one is in Luke 3 .21. And this is at the baptism of Jesus. Interesting to note here that at his own baptism, Luke records Jesus praying.

And I don't believe that's recorded in the other two accounts, in Matthew or in Mark. So in Luke 3 .21, it says, now when all the people were baptized by John the Baptist, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove.

So at his baptism, Jesus prayed. And not only did the people witness the Father speak from heaven, you are my beloved son, with you, I am well pleased. Not only did they see the Holy Spirit descend upon the son in the form of a dove, but they also heard the son pray to the Father.

It's not like Jesus was just silent there at his baptism. They witnessed him praying as well. The next place we have Jesus praying is in Luke 5. And this is in verse 16, where Jesus had cleansed a leper.

And after doing this, many people tried to come to him to get healed of their infirmities. But verse 16 says, he would withdraw himself to desolate places and pray. Indeed, he had compassion on the people.

He wanted to do what was best for them. He was moved in his heart for them, and he would heal them of their infirmities. It happened all the time. But sometimes he had to just get away from people and go off and pray.

And this brings us back even to what we read about Mary and Martha. That was last week, wasn't it? Remember where Martha was constantly busy and Mary sat at the feet of Jesus to learn from him. And Jesus had told Martha that she needed to join Mary and learn at the feet of the teacher.

And so it's the same sort of a thing in Luke 5 .16, where Jesus at times, though he loved the people and he wanted to heal them of their infirmities, he got away from everything just to spend time with his heavenly father in prayer.

And that's fine for all of us as well, that we might separate ourselves from the busy work, even responsibilities we might have just to spend time with God in prayer. I think it was, this is attributed to Martin Luther who said, I have so much that I have to do today that I'm gonna spend the first three hours of my day in prayer.

You can't be too busy for prayer. You gotta stop what you're doing and spend time with God, meditating upon him and letting him know your heart. Thinking of people that you need to pray for, interceding on their behalf, Jesus did that for us.

And so we should do that for one another. The next account we have is in Luke 6, verse 12. And this is where Jesus called the 12 apostles. But first, before calling them, it says in Luke 6, 12, in these days, he went out to the mountain to pray.

And all night he continued in prayer to God. And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them the 12. Even Jesus didn't make big decisions without spending a great deal of time in prayer.

And if it was for the son of God to pray to his father, then how much more does it behoove us that we would go to our father in prayer when it comes to any decision that we have to make? The next time Jesus prays is in 9, 18.

And this is where Peter confesses that Jesus is the Christ. Now it happened that as he was praying alone, the disciples were with him and he asked them, who do the crowds say that I am? And they answered John the Baptist, but others say Elijah and another prophet.

But then he said to them, but who do you say that I am? And Peter answered the Christ of God. So before that exchange even happened, it says it happened that as he was praying alone, the disciples were with him.

So spending time in prayer before he even asked them this question and they confess of him that he is the Christ. See how often it's even mentioned here in Luke that Jesus is praying. Though we won't have the prayer explicitly spelled out for us, it's still told to us that he prayed.

Skip down a few more verses and you have the transfiguration, Luke 9, 28. Now about eight days after these things, he took with him Peter and John and James and went up to the mountain to do what? You know the answer to this.

He went up to the mountain to pray. And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered and his clothing became dazzling white. All of that happened even while Jesus was praying in the company of Peter, James, and John.

Next up, this was the last chapter that we were in. Luke 10, beginning in verse 21. In that same hour, he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children.

Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. Remember when we read that prayer and considered that one. Well, now here we are in Luke 11 and you have, of course, the instruction concerning the Lord's prayer.

We don't have another mention of prayer after this until chapter 22. So this is at the Lord's table. And when he is taking the bread and dividing it up among the disciples and passing a cup among them, it says in Luke 22, verse 17, he took a cup and when he had given thanks, he said, take this and divide it among yourselves.

In verse 19, he took bread and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them saying, this is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. So Jesus prays that the Father blesses the bread.

He prays and asks that the Father would bless the cup. He's God himself, but he appeals to his Father in heaven. That even these elements that he passes to his disciples and becomes an institution that we continue to practice to this day, the Lord's table communion, it was not just Jesus instituting this, but even praying that the Father would bless it.

And so when we come to that table, we're not only in the company of the Son, but the Father and the Holy Spirit who are with us as well. The next occasion of Jesus praying is just a few verses later. And you probably know without me telling you what's coming next, the garden of Gethsemane where he prays, right?

Well, that's not yet because first of all, Jesus says to Peter, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you that he might sift you like wheat but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail.

And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers. So Jesus saying, I have prayed on your behalf. Jesus prayed for his disciples and Jesus is still interceding for us now. He intercedes for us before the Father.

We have an advocate before the Father, as John said, Jesus Christ, the righteous. So then the next occasion of prayer, now this one is in the garden of Gethsemane and this is in verse 41. He withdrew from them and knelt down and prayed.

And you remember what Jesus prayed there in the garden. Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me, nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done. Even Jesus prays that to the Father. The Son of God says to his Father, not my will, but your will be done.

As Jesus said numerous times throughout the gospels, he came to do the will of his Father. So even here praying that it would be the Father's will that would be accomplished. Jesus is looking for another way for this thing to be accomplished.

But first and foremost, he desires that the Father would accomplish his will. And so it's good for us to pray like that whenever we pray. We ask, we petition that God may hear our prayers, heal our diseases, help us in financial difficulty, whatever it may happen to be.

But no matter the answer, we are willing to say, not my will, but yours be done. I recently read the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to my kids. And remember that when they refused to bow to the golden statue, Nebuchadnezzar called them before him and said, when the music plays, you're gonna bow down to my statue?

If you don't, I'm gonna throw you in a fiery furnace. And Shadrach and Meshach and Abednego replied, our God is great enough to rescue us from your hand. But even if he doesn't, we're still not gonna bow down to your idol.

And that's Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego saying, not our will, but God's be done. We're still gonna be obedient to God even if he doesn't rescue us from the flames. But we know how that went. Jesus did indeed rescue them from the flames.

And by Nebuchadnezzar's sight appeared to him, like Jesus, one who was the son of the gods is the way that Nebuchadnezzar put it, was right there in the midst of them in the flames. And so not our will, but God's be done.

It's good for us to pray that way, to think that way. So then now that we have looked at these different occasions that Jesus prayed, what about where Jesus teaches about prayer? He does it in more places than just here in Luke 11.

If you go back to Luke 6, verse 28, Jesus says, I say to you, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. So who did Jesus say that we should pray for?

He said, pray for your enemies. The way that you're familiar with hearing it out of Matthew's gospel, you have heard it said, love your neighbor, hate your enemy, but I say to you, love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you.

So even here, pray for those who abuse you. That God would either turn their heart or bring judgment upon them. God's justice will be done either way. The next occasion that Jesus taught on prayer was in Luke chapter 10, just in the previous chapters, right at the very beginning.

After this, the Lord appointed 72 others and sent them on ahead of him two by two into every town and place where he himself was about to go. And he said to them, the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.

Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. So Jesus teaches the people to pray earnestly for the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers, more evangelists that will go out and preach the good news, preach the gospel that many will be saved.

Next up, of course, we have it here in Luke chapter 11, Jesus teaching his disciples how to pray in the disciples' prayer. Then right at the start of chapter 18, verse one, it says, he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.

And it was the parable of the persistent widow. We'll wait for that one, I'll get to that one, you know, weeks down the road here, but we will get to it eventually. But Jesus telling them to pray and not lose heart, a very important instruction.

And then a little bit later on in verse nine, he also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and treated others with contempt. He said, verse 10, two men went up into the temple to pray.

You know this parable, right? One a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. How was it that the tax collector prayed? He beat his chest and he would not even lift his eyes up to heaven, but he said, God, be merciful to me, a sinner.

So in this, Jesus teaches us to pray, not like the Pharisee who says, God, I thank you that I'm not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all I get.

Who's his focus on in his prayer? He's just congratulating himself, even in his prayer before God. But our attitude would be more like the tax collector, humble and saying, be merciful to me, a sinner.

Next up in chapter 19, we have in verse 45 and 46, Jesus cleanses the temple and he drove out those who sold saying to them, it is written, my house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers.

So we are to pray even with other believers and go to the place where we gather together that we may pray together. In chapter 20, right at the very end of chapter 20, Jesus warns the disciples to beware of the scribes.

And he says of them that they devour widow's houses and for a pretense, make long prayers. So don't go on and on in your prayers with flowery language and colorful words to impress other people. We are to pray to God.

It is just you and the Lord. Luke 21, beginning in verse 36, Jesus says to his disciples, stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place and to stand before the son of man.

So we pray earnestly that we would have strength to endure in the midst of trials. Finally, the last mention of prayer, the last teaching that Jesus gives on prayer is where he says to his disciples there in the garden of Gethsemane, pray that you may not enter into temptation.

And he withdrew from them a stone's throw, knelt down and prayed, father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. So before he prays that, he tells the disciples to pray that they would not enter into temptation.

And that brings us back to the Lord's prayer. Forgive us our sins as we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one, as Matthew says.

As said in 1 Corinthians 10, the Lord will not allow us to be tempted beyond our ability to resist, but even with the temptation, he will provide the way of escape. So let us draw near to Christ. If you draw near to God, as James says in James 4, resist the devil and he will flee from you.

Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. And we draw near to God through prayer. Spend some time praying to the Lord today. Let me conclude with a little bit of prayer. Father, your name is great.

Your name is holy. Lord, we ask that your kingdom would come, that there would be many who would go out to proclaim the gospel, that many come to faith and that kingdom grows. We desire that Christ would come back again.

As John prayed at the end of Revelation, Lord Jesus, come quickly. And that'd be the yearning of our heart as well. Give us each day our daily bread. Give us those things that we need today for sustenance that we may endure.

Forgive us our sins. And may we also have a heart willing to forgive anyone. Even if they do not ask for it, the disposition in our heart is not toward bitterness or keeping grudges, but we have already surrendered these things unto the Lord.

And lead us not into temptation, but today lead us in paths of righteousness. For your name's sake. It's in Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

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