The Hope of Our Prayer - Luke 11:1-13
Introduction
On what do you place your hope when you pray?
Prayer is a means through which God works. God works through our prayer. God also works through our actions, our words, and our prayers. It is through prayer we can gain clarity for the decisions we need to make. Prayer can help us be more cautious and prayer can make us more courageous. A lot is happening in prayer and through prayer, so, on what do you place your hope when you pray?
We have people in our lives we love, who are going through a difficult time. We love them. We want to help. We want them to thrive. One of the ways they are helped is through the intervention of prayer. They may need medical intervention, financial intervention, mental health or counseling intervention, and because they are a person with a soul, they need the spiritual intervention of prayer.
So, when we pray we are displaying our hope. Did you know that? Prayer is a form of hope. So, when you pray, you have hope, so in what is your hope?
Let’s talk about this.
Jesus Gives the Lord’s Prayer and a Parable
One way we may think about it is that I can place my hope on the character of my praying.
The passage starts with the disciples saying to Jesus, “John the Baptist taught his disciples to pray. Please teach us.” Then Jesus gives them what we call the Lord’s Prayer, and you will notice that this version in Luke is different than the one in Matthew.
After Jesus gives them that form, he tells a parable. We read it and we make conclusions, often instantly. We get a very quick impression and then we take that impression and this becomes our theology of prayer.
In this parable, Jesus is telling the disciples in what they are to place their hope when they pray.
In a time with processed food and a telephone and texting, it is easy to see how this situation would occur. Your friend is on a trip to see you and you know that the trip from their town might take 2 days or 3 days. They may arrive early or later and at any time of day.
In this parable, the friend has arrived late in the night and is unprepared. He doesn’t have any bread. I know, I’ll go ask my neighbor. Bang, bang, bang. “My friend has arrived, and I have no bread. Lend me three loaves of bread.”
Sorry, I’m on the Atkins diet and I don’t keep carbs around.
No, the man says, “The door is locked and the ones I love the most, the ones I’m responsible for are safe and sound. They are sleeping peacefully, so I cannot get up and give it to you.”
Jesus then says, even though they are friends the man sleeping will not give bread, but he will give bread because the neighbor asked in a persistent manner.
We read it and we can think the hope of my prayer being answered is up to my persistence. You see, the man had a need, banged on the door, forgot decorum, asked boldly, did not give up, and finally, the one who had what he needed was stirred to action.
And we think, that is what the parable says about my prayer. I need to be like the audacious asker. I have a need, I need to march up to God and ask and not back down until God replies, “Yes, sir, right away, sir!” That’s what the parable says about my prayer.
How We Think About Prayer Involves How We Think About God
If that’s what it says about your prayer, then what does that say about your God?
That God is reluctant? That God is unaware of your needs? You better not have emergencies. That you need to plan your life so unforeseen needs do not arise?
That prayer is banging on the door of heaven to rouse a sleeping God who seems to only care about those precious few who already have all that they could want, all the while leaving you in the dark.
You see, how we think about prayer is connected to how we think about God.
Let’s go further into this idea about our persistence and actions.
Some translations interpret “persistence” differently because it is a rarely used Greek word that can have various meanings. Some translate that the asker was persistent and others translate that same word as “shameless.” He asked without shame, without the embarrassment of his need. He asked boldly even at midnight. Other translators will combine the ideas, “because of his shameless persistence.”
Jesus tells a parable elsewhere about a widow who sought justice from an unjust judge. She would not give up and because of her persistence, the judge gave her justice. Once again, the idea might be, if that is what the parable says about prayer then what does that parable say about God? That God relents from giving justice? That you have to beg and gravel and suffer unfairness or lack?
And, is it good news that the hope of our prayer being answered and our needs being met is up to you? That you had better pray diligently, persistently, and never ever miss it.
And then when the prayer is answered, who gets the praise? Well, pastor, God answers prayer by grace. I see, but if the hope of our prayer is in us, then that’s not grace. That’s a reward.
And when your prayer goes unanswered, is that because we were not persistent enough, shameless enough? We didn’t bang on the door long enough to wake up a sleeping God?
James, the brother of Jesus, wrote a short book in the New Testament and he writes, “You have not because you ask not.” So, we are to ask and we should be persistent, but our hope is not in the character of our praying.
Okay, so we are getting close to good news. We are to be active in our prayer. We are to be persistent, hopeful, expectant, and audacious.
Jesus, our great Lord and Teacher, directs us. Instead of making our view about prayer inform our view about God, he tells a parable that helps us see that our view about God should inform our view of prayer.
Parable of the Unjust Judge
Instead of making our hope the character of our prayer, Jesus makes our hope the character of God. The parable of the unjust judge is a negative comparison.
You see, God is not an unjust judge who withholds justice. God is not a sleep, lazy, reluctant giver. God is a Father who delights in giving us, his children, good things. The comparison is this, we are flawed people and yet even we are moved to action by the asking of others. God is not flawed so should we not expect our loving God to be attentive to our needs?
Who of you, having a hungry child who asks for fish give them a snake? If they ask for an egg, you’d give them a scorpion? None of you. A fish and a snake are both scaly and share similarities. So it is with a scorpion and an egg – two things that are similar but incredibly different. Would God play such a heinous trick on us? No, because God is loving.
Jesus’ point here is, ‘You are humans and you act this way. You are moved to action by the asking of others. You are flawed, but God is not. Place your motivation and your prayer hope in the goodness and loving kindness of God.
Why should I be persistent? Because God hears and acts. Why should I pray and not be embarrassed? Because God does not shame me or leave me locked outside.
If you and I are dedicated to providing good things when those we love have a need, how much more could we expect our Loving God to hear and act?
We pray and we hope because God is loving toward us. God is not asleep or reluctant. God is not stingy or lazy.
Do all of our prayers get answered?
Do our prayers always get answered in a way that we asked? No. Sometimes what comes to pass for surpasses what we had asked for. And sometimes the prayer remains unanswered or the prayer is answered with a no.
In those cases, it is not because God is punishing you, leaving you outside the locked door in the dark.
And we should be encouraged to persist because sometimes it takes a long time to answer a prayer.
So, the hope of our prayer is not in the character of our praying, but in the character of God.
How to Pray
I want to end this with this question, taking into account our intimate relationship with God and God’s great love for us, people who are always in need, what should the character of our prayer be? Persistent, trusting, unashamed.
And what about unanswered prayers?
First, when you pray for someone, you have no idea how God is using that prayer as a means of help for that person. I have literally lost count of how many times I’ve been in a funeral home and a friend will come up to a family member who has mourning their loss. The friend will say, “I’ve been praying for you.” And I’ve lost count of how many times the family replies, “I know. I have felt it.” How many of us have gone through times in our lives and are so grateful for the love and prayer support we have received. It is like being carried on the wings of angels, in my experience.
Secondly, it is difficult to have your genuine, worthy, earnest, and good request to be unanswered or with a no.
In those moments we join our brother and Lord Jesus Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane and we pray. Jesus was betrayed in that Garden and Jesus knew what was about to unfold and he knew it was going to be difficult. He called his suffering the cup he must drink. In the Garden, he prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass me by.”
Sit with that. My Father, I am your child, and my life has become very dangerous, scary, and difficult. I don’t know if I can do it. If my life could turn out any other way, please let my life change.
And then Jesus prays, “Nevertheless, not my will, but your will be done.”
That, dear people, is the hardest prayer you will ever pray. Not my will, but your will be done.
There is the spoken desire (earnest, right, good) and also the prayer of relinquishment, where, in deep trust, you place your very self in the loving care of God.
Jesus’ Prayer - The Amidah
And now, to close. When Jesus teaches the disciples to pray, Jesus is actually summarizing a prayer he would have prayed every day. The prayer is called the Amidah. What is the Lord’s prayer is Jesus’ shorter summary
The Amidah has 18 blessings, the last three are thanksgivings. As I was reading and praying the Amidah this week I was struck by our passage, Gethsemane, our own needs, and the very difficult call to trust. So, imagine Jesus praying this every day of his life and how it shaped him for thanksgiving even in Gethsemane – where he depended on the character of God’s love.
I will close this sermon with a section of the prayer that Jesus would have prayed. Would you bow your head with me.
We give thanks to You that You are the Lord our God and the God of our fathers forever and ever. Through every generation You have been the rock of our lives, the shield of our salvation. We will give You thanks and declare Your praise for our lives that are committed into Your hands, for our souls that are entrusted to You, for Your miracles with us, and for Your wonders and Your benefits that are with us at all times, evening, morning and noon. Oh beneficent One, Your mercies never fail; Oh merciful One, Your loving kindnesses never cease. We have always put our hope in You. For all these acts may Your name be blessed and exalted continually, Our King, forever and ever. Let every living thing give thanks to You and praise Your name in truth, Oh God, our salvation and our help. (Selah) Blessed are You, Oh Lord, whose Name is the Beneficent One, and to whome it is fitting to give thanks.
