March 18, 2010, Luke 11

Key Verse:

So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

(Luke 11:9)

Central Truth:

Pray with shameless persistence.

BE BOLD

Jesus teaches His Disciples how to pray in this chapter. Father, hallowed be your name… He begins by praising God. This gives you perspective. When you pray, you are speaking to "The One True God," the "King of Kings." Hallowed means to be holy; in other words, we are praying that the name of the Lord always be regarded as holy or set apart.

Next, He asks God for daily provisions. He doesn’t ask for every little thing He wants right now. He trusts God to meet His needs daily.

Then Jesus tells us to ask God’s forgiveness for our sins as we are to forgive those who have sinned against us. Because we have been forgiven by God, we should forgive others who we have wronged us in some way. “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.” (Mt 18:35)

“And lead us not into temptation.” Jesus tells us to ask for God’s help in resisting temptation.

But Jesus doesn’t stop his lesson on prayer there. He also tells us to be BOLD. Jesus tells the parable of the man knocking on a friend’s door late at night asking for bread and not giving up even when he is told “Don’t bother me. The door is already locked and my children are with me in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.” (Luke 11:7) The man does not give up. He keeps knocking and asking with persistence until the friend gets up and gives him the bread. Jesus wants us to know that if we really want something we should keep praying. “[B]ecause of the man’s boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs.” (Luke 11:8)

My Amplified Bible says it this way, “Ask and keep on asking and it shall be given you; seek and keep on seeking and you shall find; knock and keep on knocking and the door shall be opened to you.”

It’s not that you have to keep reminding God of what you want or because He wants you to ask a few more times before He gives in and lets you have what you want. It’s because through persistence we change our own hearts. I once worked with a lady who drove me crazy. I knew that I should love her, but it was really hard because I just wasn’t feeling it. I prayed everyday for God to help me see her as He saw her. And you know what? It worked. God wasn’t changing her. He was changing me, changing my heart.

So keep praying. Be bold and persistent, and God will change your heart too.