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Luke 11:1-13

¹ Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” ² And he said to them, “When you pray, say:

“Father,

hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come.

³   Give us each day our daily bread,

⁴   and forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.

       And lead us not into temptation.”

⁵ And 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, ⁶ for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; ⁷ and 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’? ⁸ I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his shamelessness he will rise and give him whatever he needs. ⁹ And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. ¹⁰ For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. ¹¹ What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; ¹² or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? ¹³ 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 him!”

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

The student should learn from the teacher. So when this disciple sees Jesus praying, it is good, right, and proper to ask Jesus to teach them how to pray. What Jesus teaches them is likely what He had just finished praying. To you who believe but still struggle with doubt, fear, and anxiety, Jesus teaches you to pray to His Father saying these very words:

“Hallowed be Your name.” God’s name is, of course, holy by itself, but Jesus teaches us to pray this so that God’s name would be holy among us as His believers. This is done when God’s Word is taught in its truth and purity, and when we as God’s children lead holy lives in accordance with His Word. Nothing is more dishonoring to God’s name than false teaching. You know the phrase, “A man is only as good as his word.” There is truth to that. The same goes for God. And as we heard in our Psalm today (138:2), “You have exalted above all things Your name and Your word.”

“Your kingdom come.” God’s kingdom, His rule, His reign, comes even without our prayer, but we pray that it would come to us. God’s kingdom, His active rule over us, comes as He gives us His Holy Spirit so that we believe His Word of love, grace, forgiveness, and mercy. God answers this prayer as you come to church each week, as you read His Word, and as you eat and drink His body and blood in Communion. God answers this prayer now, but you will not fully realize it until Jesus returns on the last day. So, as you wait for Him to return, Jesus continues to teach you to pray just as He did.

“Give us each day our daily bread.” In other words, “Give us everything we need to sustain our life.” But God already gives us the bread we need for each day. God causes the rain to fall upon the evil and the good alike. So why do we need to pray this? To make us thankful. How often, parents, has your child told you, “I’m hungry”? You know what they want, but you make them ask, “Can I have some food?” Jesus teaches us to pray this petition so that we acknowledge God’s gifts to us and receive them with thanksgiving. Food, clothing, house, home, money, goods, parents, children, godly and faithful rulers, good government, seasonable weather, peace and health, order and honor, true friends, good neighbors, and anything else – all of it is God’s gift to us.

So as we wait for Christ to return and as we give thanks for all that God gives to us, Jesus also teaches us to pray, “Forgive us our sins,” or, “Divorce – send away, separate from us so that they have nothing more to do with us – divorce from us the sins of us.” God doesn’t like divorce in marriage, but He loves divorcing our sins from us. If our sins still clung to us, we should expect God to deny our prayers. But God does forgive because of Jesus’ death and resurrection and gives us all things, especially forgiveness, through His grace.

Now, Jesus never sinned, but we do know He prayed the second part of this petition, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do” (Lk. 23:34). As our sins are forgiven, we forgive those who are indebted to us because we recognize that we are all in the same boat. We all need forgiveness.

Finally, “And lead us not into temptation.” Now, God tempts no one to sin. But Jesus teaches us to pray that God would guard and preserve us so that the devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh would not deceive us or lead us into error and unbelief, despair, and other shameful sins. But instead, when we are tempted, we may prevail over it and gain the victory.

If Jesus didn’t teach us to pray this way, who of us would be so bold as to ask God for any of these things? We wouldn’t dare. We would sound even worse than Abraham in our Old Testament lesson (Gen. 18:20-33). “Oh don’t be angry with me. I shouldn’t even speak to you because I am only dust and ashes. I keep asking for things, God, but let me ask just one more thing then I’ll be quiet.” Abraham was very bold to speak to God; he had faith that God was gracious and merciful. But Abraham hadn’t been told to address God the way that Jesus tells you address Him – “Father.”

That one word is all you need to know about how to pray – Father. You are not praying to some sleepy deity in the sky who is lethargic and uninterested in you. You aren’t talking to an angry god who is waiting to hit you with a lightning bolt. You aren’t petitioning a numbskull spirit who doesn’t know what you need. You are praying to your Father.

Jesus tells this parable about the man who goes knocking on his friend’s door at midnight because he was totally unprepared for his guest. There is no chance that the man who is in bed will send his neighbor away empty-handed. The guy in bed is ‘shameless’ in a good sense, he has a perfect reputation. And to keep his shameless reputation, he will give the neighbor not just the three loaves, but whatever else his neighbor needs.

In the same way, when you need something from God, ask Him – even if you think you are inconveniencing God. God will give you whatever you need because He will not allow you, His child, to go away empty handed. God will answer to protect His shameless reputation. God is always your shameless Father.

When you ask God for anything – whether it would be good for you or not – God will give you what is good. God knows the difference between a fish and a snake and between an egg and a scorpion – even when you and I don’t.

So pray. Pray not because there is power in prayer – there isn’t. Pray because there is power in God. Trust in that power. Trust in His good and tender fatherliness to you. Pray whether you feel like it or not. Pray even when you doubt that God will answer. God will provide. He will keep His word to you forever. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.