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Book: Luke
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Luke 11:1 Asking and Receiving
I. The subject is prayer.
A. The discussion is prompted by the disciples watching Jesus as
He was praying.
1. They had observed Jesus praying on many occasions, they
knew that He was a man of prayer.
2. The request was made by one of His disciples, "Lord,
teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples."
a. They wanted to know about the subject of
prayer.
b. They saw that prayer was such an important part
of His life, and they no doubt felt that it
should be of greater importance in their lives.
B. Jesus first gave to them a model prayer.
1. We note the great similarity between this and the model
prayer in the sermon on the mount.
2. The first important thing in prayer is the address.
a. To whom are you addressing your prayer.
b. Many prayers are addressed to people.
c. Many prayers have a very impersonal address, "O
loving and eternal spirit that pervades the
Universe."
d. "Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be
Thy name." Holy or sacred be Thy name. "The
name Jehovah is a strong tower, the righteous
run into it and are safe.
e. When we truly understand the One to whom our
requests are being made, our faith rises.
3. Prayer is petition, and the first petitions are
concerning the kingdom of God. Jesus said that if we
would seek first the kingdom of God and His
righteousness, all the other things would be added to
us.
a. "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done as in
heaven so in earth."
b. In this is a recognition that the earth is in
rebellion against the will of God.
c. Man is actively promoting and advocating the
very things that God has forbidden.
4. Jesus then speaks of petition for the personal needs.
"Give us day by day our daily bread."
"Forgive our sins."
"Lead us not into temptation."
"Deliver us from evil."
II. Next Jesus speaks of persistent prayer. This he does by illustration.
A. The situation, you have a guest that comes to you at midnight,
and you find that you have no bread to set before him. You go
to your neighbors house who is a friend and you knock on the
door.
1. From within the house you hear his voice asking who it
is.
2. You tell him your plight and he tells you to go home
His family has all gone to bed, and he cannot get up
without disturbing them all.
3. But you keep on knocking shamelessly until he comes to
the door and gives you all the bread you need.
4. He did not give to you because of friendship, but
because of your shameless persistence.
B. The parable is not teaching that persistence is necessary to
get prayers answered. Oft times the force of the parable was
made in the contrast.
1. Jesus gave another parable concerning prayer, the story
was of an unjust judge who did not fear God neither did
he regard any man. Every day a little widow lady was in
his court seeking to be avenged for a wrong. He ignored
her for a time, but after a while said, "Though I do
not fear God or man, I am going to judge in her favor,
or else she is going to drive me crazy.
a. Jesus said to note what the unjust judge said.
b. He then said, "And shall not God avenge His own
elect which cry day and night unto Him? I say
unto you that He will avenge them speedily."
c. The idea is that if an unjust judge can be
moved to action by the persistence of a little
widow, how much more is your heavenly Father
moved to help His children who call unto Him.
2. Again in this parable the contrast is made. If a friend
is not moved by your need, he will move because of your
persistence. But your heavenly Father is moved by your
need. Our God neither slumbers or sleeps.
C. "Ask and it shall be given unto you."
D. "Seek and you will find."
E. "Knock and it shall be opened unto you."
III. The full application to the lesson on prayer. "If a son shall ask
bread from any of you who is a father, will you for bread, give him a
stone."
A. Note it is not now a neighbor asking a friend for bread at
midnight, but a son asking a father for bread.
1. Will he give him a stone?
2. That is totally unthinkable.
3. If he ask for a fish, will he give him a serpent?
4. If he ask for a egg, will he give him a scorpion?
B. Note now the contrast. If you then being evil, know how to give
good gifts unto your children; how much more shall your
heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him.
1. Food is essential for physical life, and it is the obligation
of the father to provide food for his family.
2. The Holy Spirit is essential for our spiritual life,
and it is the responsibility of our heavenly Father to
provide for our spiritual well being.
3. Jesus said to the disciples that they would receive
power when the Holy Spirit had come upon them and they
would be witnesses unto Him both in Jerusalem and Judea
and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the world.
a. You witness more by how you live than by what
you say.
b. It is said of Jesus that He was a true and
faithful witness. Witness of what? Witness of
His Father.
1. He could say, "If you have seen Me, you
have seen the Father."
2. Do you want to know what God is like?
Look at Me.
c. The Holy Spirit will give you power to be like
Jesus. Your life will become a witness of what
Jesus is.
d. This is the purpose of your heavenly Father.
EPH 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the
knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the
measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ:
2CO 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory
of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to
glory, [even] as by the Spirit of the Lord.
4. We need the power of the Holy Spirit, and our heavenly
Father wants to give us that power. All we need to do
is to ask for the fullness of the Spirit.
C. I want to warn you of a danger. This scripture is being grossly
misapplied today in some quarters where all kinds of strange
phenomena is being manifested, such as animal noises, laughter,
pinned to the floor, and acting as though inebriated, they say
if you ask your Father for bread, He will not give you a stone.
They thus seek to validate these bizarre activities.
1. Note that they are not really asking for the Holy
Spirit, but are seeking the various unscriptural
manifestations.
2. Paul tells us that when we become matured to the
measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ that
we will no more be as children tossed to and fro and
carried about with every wind of doctrine by the slight
of men and the cunning craftiness whereby they lie in
wait to deceive.
3. It is a blessing to know that you are spiritually
mature enough as to not be deceived by these false
prophets whose primary goal is to line their pocket
books with the dollars of the gullible babes.
4. The purpose of the gift of the Holy Spirit is to make
me like Jesus, conform me into His image. For the life
of me I cannot conceive of Jesus barking like a dog or
cackling like a hen. I cannot picture Him staggering
around as though drunk or engaged in uncontrollable
laughter.
D. Let us get back to the real issue. You need the Holy Spirit to
sustain your spiritual walk. Your Father knows your need, if
you will just but ask Him now, He will fill you with the Holy
Spirit, and the true manifestation of the Spirit will be your
life transformed into the image of Jesus Christ and His love
flowing forth from you.
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