Why You Should Come and Pray, Part 1 | How to Pray Well

Luke 11:5-13

One of the notable features about Luke’s Gospel is his emphasis throughout the Gospel on prayer. He, more than any other of the Gospel writers, Luke records various parables and teachings from our Lord that center on the habit of prayer, and teach us how to pray, and encourages us to pray and that’s what we’re looking at today. Having learned how to pray, in the first section of this, Luke 11:1, 1 to 4. Jesus is now interested in encouraging us to go ahead and do it. To pray and to pray as a habit, to pray regularly and often, to come near and draw near to God. We couldn’t find, probably, a more timely text to study during these uncertain times and the parable that we’re going to start out with is one that we don’t find in any of the other Gospels. This is peculiar to Luke. It’s unique to his Gospel.

So, with that, take a look at Luke 11, and starting in verse 5, we’ll read to verse 13. “And Jesus 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” 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 he 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 asked for an egg, will he 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.?”

That has got to be some of the most powerful motivation in all of Scripture to pray, to pray regularly, to pray with joy, with zeal, with rapt attention and utter abandon. Our Lord uses these several verses, that we’ve just read, to overcome any obstacles that may remain in our hearts to encourage us for the regular habit of prayer. And I think that there are many of you who understand this, as you struggle, probably struggle, like many Christians do to make prayer a regular habit. You’re going to struggle, because as time goes by, that is the nature of the Christian life in this fallen flesh and this fallen world that we live in. It is a struggle.

Life is now a struggle to grow in holiness. It’s a struggle in our fight against sin. It’s a struggle in resisting temptation. It’s a struggle to be watchful, at all times, and never let our guard down, lest temptation should entice us and deceive us. It’s a struggle to put all of our thoughts and priorities in the right place, to seek first his Kingdom, to seek first his righteousness.

 So, you’ll need to return to texts, just like this, again and again, in your Christian life, to find encouragement when you struggle to pray regularly. And let’s face it. Some of you struggle with prayer just simply because of laziness, because you’re spiritually immature. You don’t need to remain that way, beloved, it, always adrift in a sea of spiritual mediocrity, it doesn’t need to stay that way.

 If you have a new nature from God and if the Holy Spirit of the living God it lives within you, you can still grow. You must grow. Growing is the only way forward. And what we learned from the Lord today is going to help you immensely. So, pay close attention and just obey what you hear. Obey what you learn today.

Others of you struggle with prayer, because there is a thorny theological question that nags in the back of your mind. And when you bring that question to the forefront, it’s this question: If God is absolutely sovereign, if God does whatever he wills, no matter what, and nothing stands in his way, well then why pray? We can start answering that question with, maybe, what we might call a brute force answer. Which should settle it for us?

 Why pray? Well, because Jesus said so. Pray because he told you to, and there should be no other question. Down in verse 9, you need to realize, in verse 9, those are not recommendations. Jesus does not say, here’s a little, little, suggestion for you. Here’s a little tip to spice up your daily devotions. Why don’t you try praying? Asking, seeking, knocking, Give that a go. No. Jesus says, “And I tell you.” And he’s emphatic about that and then what he says after that emphasis involves three imperatival statements, three present tense commands, ask and ask continually. Keep on asking. It’s continually, keep on seeking, knocking. Keep on knocking. Not suggestions here at all, but bold imperatives, commands from the one who we call Lord.

 All that to say. You don’t have to have all your theological questions answered before you obey. You just need to obey the Lord and devote yourself to prayer, even if you don’t understand how it works, and in time, if you believe and obey, you know what the Lord often does; is he grows us in understanding. He develops our, the maturity of our understanding so just obey.

 He’s got a very good reason for you to pray, namely that it’s one of God’s chief tools to promote your sanctification, to bring you near into the throne room of grace. That grace upon grace overwhelms you and covers you. This is a tool, this gift of prayer, that you neglect to the detriment of your spiritual growth. So just, just, obey. Just pray.

We pray, he acts, that is how our prayers are one of God’s means to accomplish his perfect sovereign will. What an honor. What an honor to be involved in his work that way. So, our struggles in prayer, they are very real, and they can involve a lack of maturity. Maybe a laziness on our part, that’s very true, all of us are dust, flesh, fallen. We all struggle with laziness and immaturity. It could be because of an incomplete understanding of theology that we struggle, as well.

We’ve got unanswered questions and, the, those unanswered questions, then become doubts that cause us to doubt the goodness of God and work our way out of obedience by faith. And we need to see that it is that spirit to whom we pray and whom we enlist when we pray the Lord’s Prayer. It is that spirit that we, that is enlisted to our aid when we come. When we come in humility. When we come in prayer. When we ask, and seek, and knock like our Lord has commanded us to. We come, expressing our concern for God’s glorious name, to see his kingdom come, to see his will be done on Earth, as it is in heaven.

 In humility, we request our daily bread. Always coming to him. Knowing that he’s good. Knowing he’ll provide. We come to him turning from our wicked ways, repenting of sin. Praying, forgive us our sins, and lead us not into temptation. God listens to that prayer. He listens to humble prayer. He will be found by those who seek him, those who repent of their sin, he will forgive, he will heal.

We must walk before God in humility and with one another in meekness. The Lord knows that this pattern of prayer, that he just taught us, the Lord’s Prayer verses 2 to 4 of this chapter. This pattern, it’s inherently good. This pattern is effective to sanctify us. But listen, beloved. It is only effective if we use it. If we actually pray the words or pray the pattern. The words are good, but they’ll only be useful to us, if we actually pray them, and if we actually get into a habit of praying them. So to encourage us, to encourage us, as his disciples, Jesus, he taps into the very marrow of our lives. He gets to the root and the heart of our nature and identity as Christians, as born-again believers.

 And it’s this identity we have, by God’s grace, a relationship with the God of the universe. We are beloved children of a kindhearted father. He’s become a friend to us by his grace and a father to us by his adoption and like our older brother, Jesus, who is, by the way, completely secure in the affection of his father, our older brother, Jesus, treats us like adopted brothers and sisters. He is thrilled to have us in the family. He’s thrilled to introduce us to the father, to bring us into the treasure room, the storehouse of his glorious riches. He tells us about this newfound privilege we have of access to the father, by virtue of our adoption as sons. He loves to show us around.

 So, in the verses that are before us today. Jesus wants to remove all obstacles from us. Anything that exists in our hearts that make us reluctant to pray and reluctant to pray regularly, eagerly, zealously. He gives us here two reasons for assurance in this text. Two reasons for security in our relationship with God that will motivate a regular habit of praying. Encouraging us to take advantage of the access that we have to God. Two reasons in this text to motivate us to regular habit of prayer.

 First reason: For our security, for our assurance. The first reason that motivates us to come to God in prayer, as a lifelong habit, that grows richer and richer by the day. We are to number one, come and pray on the basis of friendship. Come and pray on the basis of friendship. That’s just a summary of what we find in verses 5 through 10. We’ll start looking at Jesus’ parable there in verses 5 to 8. And then we’ll make sure we understand the meaning of that parable and then we’re gonna see how Jesus applies the parable in verses 9 and 10.

 Let’s start with the parable itself in verses 5 to 8. I’ll read that again. “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, my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything”? I tell you, though he 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.’”

 As we know through our recent study of Luke’s Gospel, Jesus has been traveling through the towns and villages of Judea, visiting all the communities, that has, that have received his 72 messengers, and he’s proclaiming to them the good news of the kingdom, and he’s healing left and right. He’s eradicating disease and anything out of every community he comes into.

 This parable then, is set in the familiar scenery of one of these small villages that he’s encountered along the way. A small hamlet, as, as it were. The imagery, the setting, the characters, even the need, all of this would be easily imaginable in the minds of the original hearers and the readers of this parable. As Jesus begins, we are invited along to imagine this situation. By Jesus saying this, introducing it this way: Which of you? Which is another way of saying, can you imagine? Or imagine with me for a moment that you’re in this situation.

 What Jesus wants us to imagine here is the tension that we would certainly feel, if we ourselves felt caught like this person does, between two responsibilities of neighbor love. The arrival of a friend at midnight is never convenient, even in our day, but when there is a shortage of supply, those who are the first century hearers and readers of this little scenario, they would, they would understand immediately that this presents a problem at a whole another level, because this is rubbing with the tension, of the demands of hospitality.

 For first century middle easterners, hospitality was an immensely important duty. It was a great responsibility that they felt. It was, it was for them, a matter of shame and honor that was embedded into the very fabric of culture, it’s what they were raised with, it’s what they were raised to tend toward all the time. Bad hospitality meant disgrace. Good hospitality meant esteem.

So, a weary traveler arriving at a very inconvenient time, with a shortage of supply, this is, this is a challenge to them and that’s why showing hospitality for travelers is such a matter of common courtesy, that it became worldwide, in every single culture, a matter of expected duty. Not offering hospitality, not only was that a mark of incivility, it was an insult. When someone didn’t offer hospitality, it sent a message to that person, you are not welcome here.

Could even put a traveler in a life-threatening situation, because journeying in those times, on many unimproved roads, and then navigating some rough terrain, preparing for uncertain weather, there were no weather apps on their smartphones, nobody could look and see what tomorrow’s weather is predicted to be. Jesus here is portraying the man traveling and arriving at midnight, which means he’s traveling in the cooler hours of the evening. He’s avoiding the extreme heat of the day.

 What do we do when we’re traveling through desert part of the country? We turn on our air conditioning. That’s not the same for this guy here. People traveled roads; they’re always on the lookout for bandits. They had to be prepared to protect themselves and in the event of some health emergency, some accidents, some injury, should that occur, that just delayed travel, while they’re trying to care for the victim. And depending on the length of their delay, they could face the risk of running out of provisions like food, water. Could become very dangerous very quickly.

 So, all that to say, receiving guests, showing hospitality, caring for basic needs, like food and shelter. It was an expected kindness even for strangers, even for people you didn’t know. But the kindness of hospitality was especially important for friends. Those, who are the, that’s who arrived on this particular night, as a friend. Jesus says, imagine yourself. This happened to you. Go to a friend at midnight. If there were any shops in the village, they’re all closed. But the village that’s pictured here is probably too small for shops anyway.

 Jesus has set the scene in a hamlet, a little farming village. It’s a very humble community of some single room dwellings where people lived. Whole families, slept together in those single roomed dwellings. Either, either, slept together on a mat on the floor or on a raised platform, and some of their animals were inside the, the living space, sharing the space indoors.

And so, he says, imagine you go to this friend of yours at midnight. So, next door neighbor in your little village. You try to borrow several loaves of bread. Now don’t, don’t think, like large loaves of bread like a bakery loaf. Context makes it clear that he’s just looking for three pieces of flatbread, like pita bread for something to dip into, the oil or dip into the little tapenade that they would make for flavor.

 There’s nothing extravagant here, just a small meal for this man, sufficient to, to, feed a single guest. Satisfy the friend’s hunger so that he can tuck him away for the night and let him sleep. It’s not that the petitioner, the one who comes asking, it’s not that he’s poverty stricken here. He has, doesn’t have enough money to buy bread, needs to ask because he’s extremely poor. It’s just that the arrival time is, it’s such a time they didn’t have any bread available. They’d used up their daily supply. Women made fresh bread every morning, but it’s not morning, is it? It’s midnight, so there’s no provision for a midnight snack in this home. This is just an unexpected need, at a very inconvenient time, with a shortage of supply.

 So we’re to imagine ourselves in this situation. We’re 21st century readers, listeners, hearers, we’re to imagine ourselves caught between love for our visiting neighbor, who’s weary from travel, he’s hungry, he’s tired and then caught between that, and then love for our resting neighbor. At warm, at home, warm in his bed, nestled in with his family, wife and children, probably fast asleep. It’s an unenviable position that we would want, that we would be in, and none of us would want to be in this position.

 Caught between these two friends. We’re in an awkward spot here. We’re feeling the pinch between one duty and another. Between one friend’s need and another friend’s comfort. So, what’s the right thing to do? When you are faced with a tension like this, what is the right thing to do? Well, for any first century audience, there’s only one answer to that question. For a 21st century audience, it’s look, don’t bother me at midnight, go to the hotel, or why didn’t you call first, right?

 So, we’re not to think, in that, in those terms. We’re to put ourselves into this tension and for the first century reader, hearer, there is only one answer to the question, and it’s, this is, this is the answer, show hospitality to the traveler. Take care of the need of the weary traveler. That love rises to a higher priority than inconveniencing a neighbor.

 Put in the same difficult spot, that is what every individual listening to Jesus here, what every one of these villagers, that’s exactly what they would do. It’s a no brainer. And still, even so, they all feel the tension. They all feel the discomfort here. They, they can imagine being caught in this situation.

 So, you leave your weary traveler guest with a tub of hot water and a towel to refresh himself and you go to your friend’s house. You knock on the door. You’re knocking lightly at first and then harder. You can hear the snoring inside, so, you got to overcome that. You start knocking harder and harder until you hear someone stirring.

 And when he ask, when he asked you, what? Who is it? What do you want? You answer, as it says in verse 5, “Friend.” That’s a really good way to start, isn’t it? Reminding him that you’re friends after all, your pals. You continue your appeal and you say, “Friend, lend me three loaves.” Then in verse 6, you offer an explanation for your, in your, inconveniencing him. A friend of mine has arrived on a journey. I have nothing to set before him.

 If you’re a friend is like some members of my household, they’re completely out of it, when awakened from a dead sleep. You may have to repeat that request. You may have to repeat it over and over. You may have to repeat it rather loudly or in a way that they think is too loud for the moment. So, you keep asking your question. Giving the same explanation until you get your friends reply.

 You sort of cringe when he starts to speak. When you hear him say it, because you know what you’re asking him to do and if you were in his situation, you wouldn’t want to respond either. You know he’s not going to like it. So, you imagine this Jewish fiddler on the roof voice responding. Oyvey! Don’t bother me! The sense here is stop bothering me; like you’re knocking over and over. You keep talking. Shut up and go away is what he’s thinking. Don’t bring me trouble. Don’t cause difficulty to, to me. The word here is kopos. It’s labor. Don’t make me work; I’m sleeping.

And your friend, as he responds to your request, straight out, then he counters your explanation with his own explanation. His own reasoning. He’s hoping you’re gonna withdraw your request. He says, “The door is now shut. My children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything.” Funny how some things never change. Right? Cannot, you mean, will not, you mean, I don’t want to. This is not a matter of ability, it’s a matter of desire, right? Getting up was rather inconvenient, in this day.

The door is now shut. That refers to the cumbersomeness of opening a wooden door, in that day, with, had an iron bolt that passed through iron rings to keep the thing shut. So, the process of unbolting the door required some forced, some heft. Not to mention the noise that would occur, and that means, opening a secured door wakes up all the babies in the house. You families with young children. You know exactly what this is like.

So keep on asking. Keep on seeking. Keep on knocking. Because those who are characterized by asking, and seeking, and knocking, and get this, anyone and everyone who is so characterized, from the scholar to the simpleton, from the rich to the poor, from the old to the young, from the immature to the mature, and everyone in between, anyone and everyone who makes asking, seeking, and knocking their habit of living, they’re the ones who receive the promise.