Luke 11:5-13

Luke 11:5-13

Persistent Prayer

I. We must pray persistently to obtain God’s greatest good; so we must continually and humbly seek Him in our great need (Vv. 5-10)

a. After relating the proper pattern for our individual prayers to His disciples, Jesus goes on to illustrate the broader pattern for our prayers in the context of our whole lives. To do this, He begins with a story about a man who received a surprise house guest late at night, and found himself lacking the things he needed to be hospitable. So at midnight, he runs to the house of one of his friends and starts beating on the door, asking for bread. His friend was in for the night with his family, and everyone was asleep next to each other on their mats. If he were to get up, gather up bread, and meet his “friend” at the door, he would stir up his whole house. So, he tells his friend to go away! But Jesus indicates that even though the man won’t get up, stir up his whole family, and give the other man bread just because their friends, he’ll eventually give him what he needs because the man is persistent to keep knocking. (Vv. 5-8)

b. Is Jesus suggesting that the key to getting what we want from God, is being so absolutely annoying and relentless that He caves in just to get us to go away? No, Jesus is saying that in our great need, we must acknowledge it to God and continually, even persistently seek His provision in our lives. He goes on to further apply the point of the story by calling His followers to keep asking, keep seeking, and keep knocking, and promising that those who are persistent to keep doing these things will be answered, will find what they need, and will have doors opened to them. In the parable, the man didn’t go to a stranger’s house asking for bread, he went to the house of someone he considered a friend. The man had a need that he couldn’t meet on his own, and with which he required assistance. In the same way our faithful, persistent, and effective prayers must be made humbly, and in just as genuine a need, as they are offered persistently. It’s also important to note that the man didn’t go stir his friend up in order to satisfy his own needs, but to lovingly and generously provide for someone else. While we must trust God with all of our own needs, the primary purpose in prayer is to see God glorified and His Kingdom advanced. Jesus calls us to persistence in prayer because it’s a mechanism that God uses to shape us and our desires to look and be like Him. Jesus isn’t saying that God is like the man’s friend. God never sleeps, His is door is never shut on His children, and He always desires to meet our greatest needs when we come to Him. So prayer must begin with submitting to Him as the Lord of our lives, and then move forward by persistently asking of God, seeking God, and knocking on His door, and allowing Him to shape us, instruct us, and craft our prayers to match His will. (Vv. 9-10; Matt. 6:9-13; 7:7-8; Luke 11:1-4; Rom. 8:16-18; Eph. 6:1; 1 Thess. 5:17; Jas. 1:5-8; 4:3; 1 John 5:11-15)

II. We must pray persistently to obtain God’s greatest good; so we must continually trust Him to know and provide our greatest good (Vv. 11-13)

a. Our prayers are to begin with our close relationship with our Father, seeking His glory and Kingdom. But by beginning our prayers that way, we’re also constantly reminded of God’s great love and goodness. Jesus addresses the parental nature in us, saying that if your child wanted something to eat, you wouldn’t intentionally give them something dangerous, would you? A parent wouldn’t intentionally put their child in danger, because they love them. If that’s the case in our lives, even though our hearts of sinful, we must trust God, who is inherently good, to act in our greatest good, ultimately through the continual filling of the Holy Spirit. That might mean that if we’re praying and acting out of line with God’s will, He’ll not answer, or give us something totally different than that for which we ask, because to give us our request would be like giving a child who didn’t know any better a snake instead of a fish. When we trust Him like a child, we’ll know we’ll receive not only what we need, but what is best for us in His will. Father-like giving is the Divine response to childlike living! Our greatest need is always more of Him, and God is faithful to give those who humbly, faithfully, persistently, and trustingly ask Him, continually more of Him through His Holy Spirit. Life will not always make sense, especially in light of what we often think we need, and others need. What we need in those times, and what we should desire for others, is more faith to trust in God’s goodness and grace; He’s the only answer to those times and all times, and He’s faithful to supply us richly. (Vv. 11-13; Matt. 7:9-11; Rom. 3:10, 23; 8:32; Gal. 5:22-23; Eph. 1:15-23; 3:14-21; 5:15-20; 6:18; Phil. 1:9-11; Col. 1:9-12; Jas. 1:17; 5:16; 1 John 1:5)