Episode Transcript
[00:00:24] Speaker A: Hi, I'm Josh.
[00:00:25] Speaker B: And I'm Gabriel.
[00:00:26] Speaker A: And today on reading the Gospel, we are getting into one event that really is Jesus summarizing previous teachings. Today we are studying studying Luke chapter eleven, verses one through 13.
And we will be looking at Jesus teachings on prayer. So follow along with us as we read from Luke chapter eleven.
[00:00:51] Speaker B: 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, hollowed 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.
[00:01:26] Speaker A: 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 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 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 Gabriel, we're now coming down. We're in the last six months of Jesus'ministry. So the disciples have been with Jesus three years.
Why are they just now asking Jesus to teach him how to pray?
[00:02:57] Speaker B: The way I envision this story is Jesus Christ. After a full day of training his disciples. Don't forget around this twelve and another 72.
And after teaching the multitudes who came on that side of the River Jordan, he went to talk to his father instead of sleeping as the other disciples, he just spent the night in prayer. And in the morning his face was lit, he didn't look tired, and the disciples were amazed.
Is his prayer the secret for this new fresh look? And they said, Lord, teach us to pray. The first time in Matthew chapter five on the Sermon on the Mountain, jesus Christ himself initiated.
And he said, you should pray this way. This time Jesus responds to one of disciples questions and we see it is just a condensed summarized version of the.
[00:04:09] Speaker A: You know, they might not have been getting those glowing results in their prayer and so they came to Jesus and say hey, how can we get that? How can we have what you have?
[00:04:20] Speaker B: Or maybe they forgot the first teaching because we are human beings and we forget.
[00:04:24] Speaker A: Yeah, I even forget. How many times is it seven or eight times? You need to hear something before it sinks into your brain.
[00:04:34] Speaker B: I know you have to watch it 13 times. And I know the research about demonstration, I have to demonstrate something 28 times.
[00:04:41] Speaker A: Yeah. So we need lots of exposure to understand something and Jesus doesn't get upset with them hey, I've told you how to pray, haven't you known? He instructs them. And it's interesting that in this prayer when you break it down, what he's asking? So he says father, hallowed be your name or holy is your name, your kingdom's coming.
Give us each day our daily bread. So that communion, that devotion time with Him, that we need that. And then he spends time on forgiveness for our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. I wonder how many of us can actually pray that part forgive us as we have forgiven know I want forgiveness despite how I treat others.
But Jesus is teaching us to pray for forgiveness as we forgive others.
How does that impact us as Christians?
[00:05:46] Speaker B: So there are some preliminary requirements for everything in our spiritual life. Even if prayer is like an outburst of an inner cry reaching out to God to help us in a special situation like the Book of Psalms, we have to do our homework when we go in this special audience with the Most High who is running the whole universe.
You cannot go before God and say please forgive me, but you do not forgive someone else.
That's a prerequisite. It's here very clear. I like the sequence because we didn't get there right from the first line our Father, look at what I've done, I've forgiven my enemies.
So first I connect to God as a father.
Next, everything is about Him, his name, because his name was Tarnished, was blackened by Satan's, lies in heaven, in the garden of Eden and every day in our lives today and the next is his kingdom. That is the most important reason Jesus Christ came to describe and to establish that kingdom. And after that is coming close to us is the daily bread and the next is the need of forgiveness.
[00:07:09] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:07:10] Speaker B: So when you get to this point and hopefully if we really mean and practice the previous lines, I think we are in that state of the heart when we are ready to forgive someone else.
[00:07:26] Speaker A: And I also think the last section, five through 13 gives us the solution as a Christ follower when we ask God for the Holy Spirit. He wants to give it to us.
That's his desire. His desire is for us to have it.
My kids, when they were growing up, I always carry a pocket knife around on me, and they wanted pocket knives, and I wanted to give them a pocket knife, but I knew they weren't ready for it yet. And when they turned eight years old, they got a pocket knife. And there were rules around those pocket knives. But as a father, I was waiting for that birthday.
I had the purchase before, waiting for that time to give it to them. God wants to give us the Holy Spirit. And when we have the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit gives us the fruit of the Spirit, which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and.
[00:08:27] Speaker B: Self control is the character of a Christian.
[00:08:30] Speaker A: Yeah. And when we have these in our lives, a natural response to being wronged is forgiveness.
[00:08:39] Speaker B: I really like what you said. Would you like to repeat? So forgiveness is not something that we focus on. It is a natural outcome of having a connection with God and living that character.
[00:08:55] Speaker A: Exactly. And so I imagine, as Jesus is sharing this prayer with the disciples, they're starting to think about how hard it is to forgive. And then Jesus gives a solution here. Ask for the spirit. Because if you ask for the Spirit, your Father wants to give you the Spirit, and the Spirit's going to give you the power to overcome temptation, to repent, to seek, to forgive others. And I find that beautiful.
[00:09:21] Speaker B: Yes, beautiful. So one more element that I like to emphasize, this idea of insistence. Be persistent, not nagging, not insisting beyond the limits. Always put your will in neutral before you go before God and ask something. Be ready to receive whatever God has in store for you. But I like this idea of insistence, which Jesus Christ repeated through a couple of parables.
At the end of this parable, he says, I tell you, this is the conclusion, the application, the lesson of the parable. Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be open to you. And the next verse shows that God responds to all those three initiatives.
Not that God wants us to beg Him, to kneel before Him and to say the same thing over and over and over and over. No, this insistence represents our commitment for solving that problem. Like forgiving your enemy, it is our commitment to receive the response, no matter it is. It shows more about who we are and what we want than about who God is. God is not waiting for us to beg Him over and over. He's ready to give us. Sometimes he even initiates the process, makes the first step, like in the Garden of Eden.
[00:11:01] Speaker A: I liken this to myself.
I boycott Amazon Prime Day myself. Because I know I like stuff.
And when I was in New Zealand recently with my sister, she wanted to go shopping, so I took her into stores and I'd walk around the store and I'd see little things. Oh, this is cool, this is cool. And I'd collect a bunch of stuff in my hands. And then I spent the next half going back and putting it all back, thinking, well, I really don't need this. I don't need this. It's easy for us to, on a whim, want something.
We want everything.
But to really desire something, when I purchase something, I need to think about it, let me make sure I need it, talk with my wife, find out if it's actually needed, and then make that purchase with this.
The same thing's true, that it's not just a whim when we're coming to God. It's something that we really desire, that we really desire the Holy Spirit. I want it, I need it. It's not just, oh, the preacher talked about it and Sabbath, so I guess I should have it.
[00:12:10] Speaker B: And I like how this story ends, because it's not primarily about daily food. It's not primarily even about forgiveness. It is primarily about receiving the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ is about several months away from being crucified and be after that resurrecting and going back to His Father, and he was paving the way for the coming of the Holy Spirit. This is the main difference between this teaching in Matthew chapter five to eight, Sermon on the Mountain, and repeated teaching. Now, just before the crucifixion, there is a transition from Him as a teacher to the Holy Spirit that comes as a teacher, as a counselor, as a reminder, someone who convicts us of sin.
[00:13:01] Speaker A: So as we get ready to close, is there something we hear about God? Or is there a point in this that we can take with us? Is there something?
[00:13:12] Speaker B: One last thought for me was focus in your prayer and ask for the Holy Spirit.
[00:13:19] Speaker A: And I think that's the same thing for me, that this is the key, this is the result that we need the most, is the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit does everything else, and he gives us the desire to ask for forgiveness, to ask for repentance, to forgive others, to change.
And so let us have a word of prayer at this time. Father God, we desire Your Spirit to dwell in us today.
We desire the fruits of the Spirit. We desire changed lives.
We desire to be able to forgive others as you have forgiven us, even though that causes potential pain.
And so, Father, those areas in our life that we're not ready to surrender yet, I pray that you will come, your Spirit will dwell with us and you will work within us, that we may get to a place where we can rely fully on you. Let us knock, let us ask, and let us. Be persistent. In Jesus name, amen. Amen.
