Please turn in your copies of God's Word to the Gospel of Luke, chapter 11. Our focus will be verses 5 to 13, but we'll just, for the sake of context, back up to the beginning of Jesus' teaching on prayer, and I will read from verse 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. And he said to them, when you pray, say, Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins. For we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us and lead us not into temptation. 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, 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, 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 a 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 opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and 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 asks for an egg, will 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 him? So ends the reading of God's word. Well, let us follow Jesus and let us ask. Lord, we thank you that now we have the privilege of having heard your word read, and now we have the opportunity to hear it proclaimed to us. And Lord, we come asking, seeking, knocking that you might answer, that you might open, and that you might reveal to us the greater knowledge of who you are and who we are before you. Lord, continue now to teach us how to pray. We pray these things in Jesus' name, amen. Well, the minister J.C. Ryle once made this all too honest observation about prayer. He said, it is far more easy to begin a habit of prayer than to keep it up. Thousands take up a habit of praying for a little season after some special mercy or special affliction, and then little by little become cold about it, and at last they lay it aside. I think we can all relate to Ryle's words to some extent. Each of us can probably think of a particular time in our lives where we had some sort of affliction or trial come upon us. It might have been a trial like sickness, where perhaps you went to the doctor for something that was going wrong in your body, or perhaps even your mind, and they weren't able to diagnose it. Or maybe they were, and it was something very serious. Or perhaps it was the death of a loved one. Or it may even have been a time of great financial hardship where you lost your job. That job that was secure, you were going to have it until you died, you know, the rest of your life, until you retired. And you lost your job. Maybe that stock that you were heavily invested in crashed. You lost everything. And in that hard time, the Lord helped you to see the emptiness of what this world can offer, even at its best, what it offers is so fleeting and passing, it withers like the grass. And you became abundantly aware of your own helplessness and how you needed the Lord for what you could not provide for yourself. And you were driven then to prayer, to ask, to seek, to knock, to ask of the Lord what you could not do for yourself. But then sadly, as so often happens, that time of affliction kind of passed along and then that fervent habit of prayer sort of faded away a little bit and then all at once. But our Lord is such a great shepherd of his people. When the disciples approach him, asking him, teach us to pray, Jesus doesn't respond. Really, you don't know by now? He doesn't make them feel guilty for not knowing how to pray, or perhaps not praying often enough. No, instead, he takes the opportunity to instruct them, saying, when you pray, say this, Father, hallowed be your name. And we consider that prayer that he gave to his disciples last week. Our Lord is such a tender shepherd that he not only gives his disciples the pattern or the form that our prayers should take in the Lord's prayer, but he also provides us with the motivation and the encouragement that we need. So often we fail to persist in prayer because we have a deficient view of what prayer is. Or greater still, we have a deficient view on the one to whom we pray. And Jesus knows our hearts so well. He knows that we're fickle. That's why one of the very lines in the Lord's Prayer is, Lord, forgive us, we're sinners. As I said last week, the Lord's Prayer is very much a sinner's prayer. The Lord knows we're weak. And that's why not only does he give this nice, short form of prayer, but he goes on to teach his disciples and to teach us. how we're to pray. He gives us the motivation through these short stories and teachings. So let's consider then what our Lord teaches us about prayer as he shows us how we pray, who we pray to, and what we're to pray for. How, who, and what. Well, first Jesus teaches us how we're to pray. We're to pray with faith. Last week we saw how one of the disciples asked Jesus to teach him how to pray. He didn't know and he wanted Jesus to teach him. And so Jesus provided that short but ever so sweet Lord's Prayer. As I said, the prayer begins with that glorious declaration of the identity of God as the Heavenly Father, whose name is to be revered and hallowed and worshiped. But then it kind of raises the question, doesn't it? If God is one who is so majestic, whose name is to be revered and hallowed in our lives, how should we approach such a God? Perhaps we should keep our requests to a minimum. Or perhaps we should be careful not to bother him with the little details of life because he is so sovereign after all. He's managing the whole universe. Why would he be bothered with our little things? How do we approach a holy, majestic God? one before whom angels cover their faces. Well, that's what Jesus goes on to teach us now in verses five to seven. Jesus begins his teaching here with a short story that's designed to show us something. And it's not a real story. He's not describing something that actually happened. Rather, it's parabolic. It's also quite humorous and absurd. Well, Jesus begins his story in verse five. 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. So the one man has a friend who has arrived late at night after a long, long journey. He's been traveling for a long, long time. Children, maybe some of you will be traveling to see grandparents or other relatives this time of year, and maybe you have a long, long journey. Well, this man had a long journey, and at the end of it, he is hungry, and he needs to be fed. But there's a problem. The friend whose house the traveler has come to doesn't have any food in his house. Perhaps he thought he had some leftovers from dinner the night before in his fridge, but when he goes to open the fridge, there's nothing there. When he goes to check the cupboards, there isn't even a can of beans. There's no food in the house. And in first century Palestine, food was not as readily available as it is today. There was no 24-hour Walmart or some other kind of supermarket. And remember also that in the ancient world, as we've been shown multiple times in recent passages, hospitality was everything. This man had a duty to provide for his weary traveler friend. He was honor-bound. But the traveler is hungry, he has no food, what should he do? Well, that's when he decides to call upon his neighbor. So at the stroke of midnight, He goes to his neighbor's house, he knocks on the door. Could you imagine being that neighbor? Imagine you've all the kids tucked into bed. You've just gone to bed yourself maybe an hour or two ago and then you hear this rapping on your door. So you drag yourself out of bed and you tiptoe down the stairs and you're thinking, what does he want now? What could this possibly be at this hour? Well, in this story, the man requests bread for his neighbor. This was, bread was the typical staple diet of the day and it would have been enough to have a meal with this weary traveler. You see the response of the neighbor in verse seven. 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. The neighbor's quite annoyed, isn't he? What are you doing knocking on my door at this hour of the night? My kids are all asleep. Now at this time, families, they didn't live in these sprawling mansions that we live in today relative to ancient times. No, they usually just had a one-room house, that was it. That's all they had. Maybe they had sort of a roof or an attic. So everyone is sleeping essentially in this one room. And hence, if he opens the door and goes fumbling to find some bread, well, he could wake the whole family. And those of you with small children know how hard it can be sometimes when one of the little ones wakes up to try to coax him back to sleep. It can be a lot of work. And so that's exactly what he's saying here. I mean, babies weren't any different in the first century. He said, I just got the baby to bed. Stop banging on my door. Go away. And of course, Jesus is being deliberately humorous here. The story is humorous, and it's absurd. And yet it's also very grounded because we can all relate to the frustration of being woken at midnight. And you can picture them, can't you, having that conversation where they're kind of shouting, whispering back and forth at each other, go away or wake the baby. Those kinds of conversations through the doors. Well, Jesus concludes the story in verse eight. Jesus says, 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. So even despite the late hour and despite the bother to his family and the potential that he'll wake the baby, the man of the house will still get up and give him the bread. But notice that he won't give him the bread out of love. It won't be because of mercy or friendship or generosity. Jesus says he will do it because of his neighbor's impudence. yet because of his impudence he will rise and give. What does that word impudence mean? Well, it basically means shamelessness. Now, we need to do some digging into the context and the social background that will help us to understand what's happening here. Basically, in the first century, everything, all of life and society revolved around honor and shame. And basically, you did all that you could to avoid social dishonor. And you did whatever you could also to gain honor, if you could, before the eyes of other people. What this friend did was very shameful. First of all, he was a very bad host. To not be prepared for his weary traveling friend, who he knew was visiting him, not having the house stocked with food, that was quite shameful. He was failing as a host there. But then to get up in the middle of the night and to knock on his neighbor's house and potentially wake his family, well, that was also shameful. That was very rude. It was rude then, it's rude today. And yet, out of pity, seeing his neighbor lowering himself to this state of shame in order to get some bread, the neighbor will give him what he wants. So it's not out of love, it's not out of kindness. It's rather seeing the shame, like, oh, you've brought yourself to this level. Well, I feel sorry for you. Here, I'll give you some bread. Well, that's the explanation of the story. But what does it mean for us? How do we apply it to ourselves? Well, the very next thing Jesus says is verse nine. And I tell you, ask and it will be given to you. So somehow this story is supposed to motivate us to pray to God and to ask him for the things that we need. However, we need to recognize how the story does that. Well, clearly the story is presenting a negative kind of picture, a negative example. It's not designed to directly portray either us or God. We are not the needy neighbor who shamelessly asks in the middle of the night, nor is God the neighbor who is irritated, groggy, and bothered by his neighbor's request, who only gives out of pity. Rather, Jesus' argument, as is the case throughout this passage, is one that's made from the lesser to the greater. His point is that if even an inconvenienced neighbor will answer a request like this, how much more will your heavenly Father give to you when you ask? Even tired, annoyed neighbors will share their bread at midnight, perhaps even with less than honorable motivations, and they'll still give bread. How much more will your father give to you of the things that he has promised? What this teaches us is that, well, first and very simply is that we should ask. Just do it, ask, pray. But more than that, it teaches us how we pray. We're to pray with boldness. and expectation. In other words, we're to pray with faith. God has revealed himself to us as one who is willing to hear and to answer. He is not the neighbor who gives begrudgingly. God is not like the man in his bed at all. For a start, we know that God neither sleeps nor slumbers, and that he loves to give to those in need, Psalm 34. Prayer is not a way of getting God to do what we want, nor is it kind of like twisting his arm to make him do something that he doesn't really want to do, like the man had woken up at midnight. Rather, prayer is a bold request, asking God to do what he has promised to do. Our catechism summarizes prayer this way. Question 105, what is prayer? Answer, prayer is an offering up of our desires to God by the assistance of the Holy Spirit for things agreeable to his will in the name of Christ, believing with confession of sins and thankful acknowledgement of his mercies. The point to take from this is that prayer is not offered in doubt. When we go to God in prayer, we don't go kind of cap in hand, groveling, no, we go Believing, we're to pray believing that God is hearing and will answer and will do all that he has promised to do for the believer. How do you go to him this way? Do you go to him in times of trial, in times of trouble? Do you go to him when You experience in great measure perhaps the joys of life and the good things that come. Do you take time to pray and offer thanksgiving as our catechism says? Do you go to him when you've nothing to pray about other than to praise his name, when you don't feel like you have a particular list, but simply going to worship him and to pray to him? And do you go confident that he will answer as you petition him in the ways he has taught us to pray in the Lord's Prayer? Beloved, God is not, not like the inconvenienced neighbor in his house at midnight. And you, you'll be pleased to know, are not the shameful neighbor who's banging at his door and inconveniencing him in the middle of the night, waking his kids. No, he is your heavenly father. You are his child. So go, pray. Assuming his willingness, go and ask in faith. How are we to pray? We're to pray with faith, believing that he will do the things he's promised to do. Secondly, who do we pray to? We pray to a generous Heavenly Father who gives good gifts. Well, Jesus next reinforces this call to prayer by reminding us of who the Father is. In the prayer that he just provided, he taught us to pray, father in heaven, or as Matthew says, has our father. And so he teaches us here more about who our father is, and he does so by comparing and even contrasting our heavenly father with earthly fathers. Look at verse 11. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent? Or if he asks for an egg, will 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 to those who ask him? Well, any dad who has sons can certainly relate to this. If you have sons, you know that they're like my sons. They're always hungry. No sooner have they finished their dinner than they're asking for a snack. They just have these stomachs that are like bottomless pits. And they're always asking for food. And so, again, here's perhaps another humorous but very grounded illustration from Jesus. And back then, fish and eggs were the common food of the day. It provided people with the proteins that they needed in their diet. And so Jesus poses this question. If a son asks for the basic things of life, if he asks for the bowl of cereal or the hot dog for his lunch or whatever it may be, will his dad hand him a bottle of poison? Will he give him a snake or a scorpion instead? And the very obvious answer is, of course not. Snakes and scorpions are poisonous and therefore harmful, even deadly. So if a son asks for the necessities of life, What father would hand him something that could put his life in jeopardy or even seriously harm him? Now of course, sad to say, there are exceptions in the world. Some fathers are cruel and have perhaps have been this cruel. But as a rule, even sinful fathers do not act this way. Dads will not give death to their sons when their sons ask for life. Even dads who are less than great dads, who maybe rank low on the dad scale, even they will not give a snake to their hungry son who asks for a fish. And so again, Jesus is arguing from the lesser to the greater. If even sinful dads will not withhold life from their sons, how much greater is our sinless heavenly father? And how much more will he give? That's the how much more argument where he says in verse 13, if you then who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly father give? This teaches us even more, doesn't it? About the one to whom we pray. We don't pray to a God who is bothered by our coming like the inconvenienced neighbor, nor do we pray to a God who is cruel, a trickster, someone who may give us bad things. You know, ancient pagan mythology is full of examples of the gods playing tricks on humanity and even on one another, and generally being deceitful. Even Zeus, the king of the Greek gods, engages in deception and the deception of mortals, often promising one thing, only to deceive and then take advantage of the one who has placed their trust in him. Sometimes they just do it for their own amusement and pleasure. They trick and connive. This is very much how people in the ancient world thought about the gods and the divine and even the troubles that came in their life. Anything bad that happens to you is a result of some kind of trick of the gods. You've displeased him or he's taking advantage of you. But Jesus makes clear that our Heavenly Father is nothing, nothing like Zeus and his pantheon of deceivers. If you ask him for fish or for eggs, that's what he'll give you. There are no tricks, there are no traps. Just as even a sinful father will not trap or trick his son with a snake, so much more will our loving father give us the good things we need. Why do we need to be reminded of this truth? Well, are there ever times where we're tempted to think that way about God? We would never say it, of course, but are there times when we question in our hearts whether God will answer our prayer with a snake or a scorpion instead of fish and eggs? What do I mean? Have you ever been praying to God and perhaps asking for growth in sanctification, and then suddenly you've put the brakes on your prayer because you've thought to yourself, well, I better not ask for this, because I know how this works. I pray for sanctification, God gives me a trial. Or you've prayed for patience, and then you think that, well, I'm praying for patience, but now God's gonna trick me and trap me with some kind of testing of patience that's gonna make me fail. Instead of giving me the good things I'm asking for, he's going to trick me. Well, it's subtle. But in these moments, we fail to think of God in right ways. And that's why we need Jesus to correct our thinking and to help us to see that our God is a good heavenly father. He's not a trickster or a cheat of his people. The Apostle James, after calling us to ask God for the wisdom we lack and reminding us that God is a generous giver, then continues in verse 13. Let no one say, when he is tempted, I am being tempted by God. For God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is fully grown, brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. When you pray, remember who God is. That's why the doctrine of God is so important. That's why I'm meeting with several brothers at the moment. We're reading through the doctrine of God. It's probably one of the most important doctrines we can know. And so far from being heady or esoteric or angels dancing on pinheads, we need to know the doctrine of God. This is why it fuels our prayer. If we don't know who God is, Who are we praying to? Who are we praying to? And why would we pray if we don't know the God of Scripture? And Scripture teaches that God doesn't tempt, he doesn't trick or trap us, and that all that he gives us is good, and it's far our good. And as James teaches, even when sinful man, perhaps, out of sinful intentions, performs wicked acts against us, Even then the Lord can use those things and does use those things for our sanctification, for our growth, to be made more like Christ. And none of this is a trick or a trap. No, God is good and he has good purposes in all that he does. And so we don't ever have to fear him or praying to him. We don't ever have to fear that he'll change, for he is the impassable, immutable God, in whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. He is the father of lights, the one from whom all blessings flow. So we're to pray with boldness. We pray to a generous heavenly father. Third, Jesus teaches us what we are to pray for. and how God answers that prayer with the greatest gift of all. On verses nine and 10, Jesus drives home the imperative that we are to pray. We are to ask, just like the neighbor who bangs on his neighbor's door in the middle of the night, and just like the child that asks dad for a snack even after he's just had his dinner. We're to go and we're to ask the Father, and the Father will give us all good things. And look at what he says now in verse nine and following. 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. For everyone who asks receives, the one who seeks finds, and the one who knocks, it will be opened. In these verses, Jesus assures us that our prayers will be answered. He offers this assurance not just once or twice, but six times, three in verse nine, three in verse 10. With each ask, seek, and knock, there's a corresponding receiving, finding, opening. So God will give, God will reveal, God will open as we come asking, seeking, knocking. Now does that mean Does that mean that we can then simply ask for whatever we want? You know, we just need to name it, we need to have faith that's big enough and we can claim whatever we desire. Of course, the answer to that is no. Context always matters. And Jesus is saying this in the context of the prayer that he just provided his disciples. Whatever you ask under those petitions of the Lord's Prayer, then the answer is yes. The Lord will provide and will answer all things that are agreeable to his will. Even the words themselves, ask, seek, and knock, are not these sort of nebulous catch-all words and these code hooks that we can just put whatever we want upon. No, even these are drawn from the larger context of Scripture. The word ask is, of course, a reference to prayer, to petition, something we see throughout the Bible. What about seek? Well, how often do we find this language of seeking in Scripture? and particularly with reference to seeking what? Or seeking whom? Seeking God. Psalm 27, verse four. One thing have I asked the Lord, that I will seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all of my days, to gaze upon the beauty of my Lord, and to inquire in his temple. And verse eight, you have said, seek my face. My heart says to you, your face, Lord, do I seek. So Jesus here isn't writing a blank check for perhaps whatever we may want. He's not telling us and giving us the means to pray for the flashy new car or the upgrades to our home or the dream spouse that we may desire. No, in fact, he's giving us something far greater. Greater than all that? Yes. Yes, he's calling us, not to seek those things, but to seek him. God gives us prayer, and he gives himself to us through prayer. as we come seeking him through that means. And what could be greater than that? What could be greater than being told that you can seek God through prayer? And what you seek, that you shall find. Seek my face. Yes, Lord, I will seek your face. And Jesus makes clear, you will find the Lord through prayer. What could be a greater motivation than this to pray? Then that prayer is communion with the living God. The third word there is knock. Jesus says knock and it will be opened. Knocking of course implies that there is some kind of gate or door that needs to be opened. It may be a reference to his illustration that he just used of the neighbour who knocks at midnight and gets what he receives. It may be that, and it also, or instead, may be a reference to the kingdom. In the coming passages, Jesus is going to speak of the kingdom. And the kingdom is often portrayed as a city with a gate or a door. And we need to, as Jesus teaches us, strive to enter that door. And here, Jesus says, if you knock and if you seek to enter, well, you will by faith. And so therefore, it's a call to strive to enter the kingdom And so as we survey these words, ask, seek, and knock, and when we understand their context, they inform our prayers and they show us that our prayers ought to be lifted heavenward. It's not that we don't pray for our daily bread, of course we do. But these words, as Jesus teaches us, lift the focus of our prayers merely from earthly things to glorious things that are ours in heavenly places. like seeking God's face, dwelling with Him and living in His kingdom. But the greatest thing that we're offered through prayer, the greatest gift that the Father gives us is the Holy Spirit Himself. Look at verse 13 again. 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? So Jesus is taking us very much so from the lesser to the greater, from asking for bread and for fish and eggs to now asking for the Holy Spirit, from asking for food from an earthly father to now asking from the hand of a kind and generous heavenly father. Why is the Holy Spirit such a great gift for the Lord's people? You know, it's sad to say, but I think it's true to say that of the persons of the Holy Trinity, God, the Holy Spirit probably gets the least mention by certainly most many sermons in many churches that don't have maybe an appropriate awareness of the Spirit's work. And yet the Spirit plays an essential role in our salvation. Without the Holy Spirit, there is no salvation. Think about it. How do we receive the benefits of Christ? How does what Christ did on Calvary and what he did in the tomb and in his resurrection and what he presently does in heaven at the right hand of the Father in his session, how does that get to us now? How does it get to us? How does it get inside of us? Well, the answer is it comes through the work of the Holy Spirit. You may have heard the term redemption accomplished and redemption applied. The Holy Spirit applies the redemption accomplished by Christ to our souls. Now, of course, in all aspects of salvation, the whole triune God is at work, since they never operate independently, they are one God, of course, and yet certain activities are more ascribed to one person over another. To the Father is ascribed the sending of the Son and the sending of the Spirit through the Son. To the Son is the incarnation and all that the Son accomplished through his true humanity. And the Spirit is the one who applies the benefits of Christ. He is the one who converts our souls through the preaching of the word. He is the one who regenerates us and leads us in faith and repentance to Christ. It's only through the spirit that we receive the benefits that Christ has won for us, justification, adoption, sanctification. The spirit is the one who answers all of the petitions of the Lord's prayer. He is the one who hallows God's name in us. He brings forth the kingdom through the conversion of sinners by the word. He enables us to resist temptation and even forgive our debtors. The Spirit grows us in the fruit of godliness. The Spirit assures us that we are children of God. The Spirit helps us to pray. And the Spirit is the one who, together with the Father and the Son, is worthy of all worship, now and forever. Truly, the Spirit is the greatest gift that we receive through prayer. Dear Christian, You have received from Christ instruction in the form of your prayer, in how you are to pray, in who you pray to, and in what you are to pray for. How are you going to pray this week? How are you going to make use of this glorious and wonderful gift from your heavenly Father? Well, since God is a generous Father, go to Him asking, seeking, knocking, believing that He will answer and he will give to you this glorious gift of the Holy Spirit himself. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for the rich blessings that are ours through faith in Christ. We thank you, Father, for your great plan of redemption and sending the Son. We thank you, Lord Jesus, for your work in accomplishing all that was required to save filthy wretches like ourselves, sinners. We thank you, Spirit, for your work in applying all that Christ has done. And together we ask that you, our triune God, would be glorified by our lives. Lord, teach us to pray. Motivate us to pray. Help us to pray this week. not because you need it, but because we need it, and that through prayer you give us the fish, the eggs, the bread, and all that we need for life and godliness. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.