Articles
Learning to Pray Like Jesus-Luke 11
LEARNING TO PRAY LIKE JESUS
---- LUKE ELEVEN
The disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray. Jesus could teach others to pray because He was a praying man. These who were requesting Jesus to teach them to pray were people who were following the Lord. "For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil." (1 Peter 3:12) These who asked Jesus to teach them to pray were interested in God and His kingdom. Prayer is a communication process that allows us to talk to God! Prayer involves commitment and a desire of the heart. The persistent prayer of the righteous will not be in vain. "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you."
Luke 11 emphasizes Jesus' power over demons and it also emphasizes the authority of His word. Jesus bound the strong man; He spoiled his goods; and this proved that the kingdom of God has come. If God's light is in the soul, it would be full of it and no part dark. Jesus could than say, "Blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it." The Lord's words stirred up the malice of the Pharisees, who sought to entangle Him in His talk. Our desire should be to pray as the Lord desires and to daily live by His word.
Lessons on how to pray -- Luke 11:1-13: Jesus, Himself was a praying man. When Jesus finished His prayer one of the disciples made this request to Jesus, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples to pray." Jesus taught them to pray out of deep respect for God and His name. He said, "When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name." Prayer must honor the Father and His name. Prayer also involved the coming kingdom. God wants us to seek His kingdom. When we do that, His blessings will be more than we can believe. We will have both physical and spiritual needs met in Christ. We can pray, "Give us each day the food we need." There must also be a request that our sins can be forgiven. We must ask God to protect us from having to deal with temptations that might overtake us. Jesus taught the value of persistent prayer by showing that a man who kept asking received in the middle of the night. Jesus said, "Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth." Persistent prayer is essential, "And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." (Luke 11:9-10) The Heavenly Father is ready to give the Holy Spirit to anyone who asks. "From the passage here, it is clear that God's children should not hesitate to pray to the Father for the measure of the Holy Spirit which has been promised to baptized believers (Acts 2:38), and which is called "an earnest" of our inheritance. (Ephesians 1:13)
Jesus and the ruler of demons -- Luke 11:14-26: Jesus had power over demons. Jesus cast out a mute demon and the man started speaking. The people were amazed. Those who were opposed to Jesus said, "He casteth out devils through Beelzebub the chief of the devils." Others asked for a sign to prove that He was the Messiah. Jesus told them that He did not cast out Demons by the power of Satan because that would have Satan fighting against himself. The fact that Jesus had used the power of God to cast out demons proved that the kingdom of God had come near. Jesus said, "He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth." (Luke 11:23) When the evil is gone from a person's life that life must be filled with something good. Otherwise it might become even worse than it was before. "When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out. And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first." (Luke 11:24-26)
The people who are really blessed -- Luke 11:27-36: People talked to Jesus about who was really blessed. Jesus got right to the point and said, "Blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it. (Luke 11:28) The people asked Jesus for a sign from heaven. He gave Jonah as a sign, "For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation." The people repented at the preaching of Jonah. He also gave them the sign of the Queen of the South. "The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and condemn them: for she came from the utmost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here." Jesus would give a sign that would not be hidden. He spoke of His death, burial and resurrection. Jesus corrected the sight of the Jews so they could see clearly what is important. Their sins made it impossible for them to see the truth about God's signs. This was an evil generation which confronted Jesus.
Jesus rebuked the scribes and Pharisees -- Luke 11:37-54: Jesus condemned the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law of Moses. As Jesus ate with a Pharisee he was shocked that Jesus did not keep their custom of washing hands before eating. This was ceremonial washings. Jesus told him that they were clean on the outside but on the inside they were greedy and evil. The same God who made the outside made the inside also. The Pharisees were in trouble. They gave a tenth of the small garden spices. But at the same time they cheated people and they did not love God. They should have given the tenth but they also should have done right daily. They were unclean and did not even know it! In Luke 11:44 we read, "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them." (Luke 11:44) In Numbers 19:16, the Law makes every person who touches a grave unclean for a week. The lawyers were also in trouble because they ladened others with burdens but helped no one. They joined their fathers in horrible acts. Their fathers killed the prophets and they built their tombs. Jesus said, "Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered." Sadly, the Pharisees and others tried to catch Jesus in what He said instead of loving and serving Him.
Jesus is the Son of God. Do you believe in Jesus as Savior? You can enjoy redemption in the blood of the Lamb and also forgiveness and hope because Jesus is Savior. To become a Christian you must hear the gospel (Romans 10:17), believe in Jesus as the Christ (Mark 16:16), repent of all sins (Acts 17:30), confess Christ as Lord (Romans 10:9-10) and be baptized for remission of sins. (Acts 2:38) After baptism remain faithful to God. (Revelation 2:10) Remember, "Blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it."
By Charles Box, Walnut Street Church of Christ, 306 Walnut Street Greenville, Alabama 36037 USA
Share Online
