Prayer review, Part 11: introduction; John 15:16.

 Prayer review, Part 11: introduction; John 15:16.

 

Opening prayer:

k. Should I be asking God for the same thing more than once? Matt 7:7-8.

 

Matt 7:7

"Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you.

 

The verbs ask, seek, and knock are all present active imperatives which always indicate continuous action. We would classify this as in iterative present, which doesn’t mean all the time, but at the continual times of inner room prayer. And the promises concerning these three activities are reiterated.

 

Matt 7:8

"For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it shall be opened.

 

After Luke’s account of the Lord’s prayer outline the instructions on keep asking, seeking, knocking are given in a parable. This means that the Lord used two separate parables to teach this concept. In the case of the widow, the petition is for her [supplication] and in the case of the friend, the petition is for another [intercession].

 

Parable of the widow - continuous supplication [self].

Parable of the friend - continuous intercession [others].

 

Luke 11:5 And He said to them, "Suppose one of you shall have a friend, and shall go to him at midnight, and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves;

 

Luke 11:6 for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him';

 

Luke 11:7 and from inside he shall answer and say,' Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.'

 

Vs. 7 is a contrast to God. With God the door is never shut and always open; God is never asleep but always listening and acting on behalf of the one who prays to Him.

 

HEB 4:16

Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need.

 

The only time the door between the Father and His child is shut is when the child shuts it and even then God knocks on the door entreating the child to open it and return to fellowship, REV 3:20

 

REV 3:20

'Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with Me.

 

Luke 11:8 "I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

 

The a fortiori principle applies here as it does to the judge and the widow. If the friend will give him as much as he needs because of his continuous knocking, seeking, and asking, how much more will your heavenly Father give to those who ask Him?

 

As with the parable of the widow, this in no way implies that God needs to be pestered because He is initially unwilling. Jesus Christ is contrasting what evil people do when asked continuously with a gracious, loving Father when asked continuously.

 

He has asked you to continually ask and therefore it must be for your benefit since He hasn’t leveled Himself to any barrier or opposition to your first request.

 

Luke 11:9 "And I say to you, ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you.

 

Luke 11:10 "For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it shall be opened.

 

The next parable is one of a relationship between a father and a son.

 

Although continuous petition is not in view in the fatherson parable, what is in view is the father’s honor in his responsibility to his son.

 

Luke 11:11 "Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake [poisonous] instead of a fish, will he?

 

Luke 11:12 "Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he?

 

The contrast is between that which is beneficial to the body and that which is poisonous. If the natural father in the parable doesn’t have a fish or an egg he may naturally substitute it with something he does have that is equally nourishing and satisfying. Therefore, there is the petition (fish or egg) and the desire (satisfied hunger for oneself or one’s friend).

 

God looks at the petition and the desire for both supplication and intercession. God will fulfill the desire along with the petition or with something similar.

 

Luke 11:13 "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?"

 

So, depicted in these three parables are the relationship of friend to friend, judge to widow, and father to son.

 

All are in view in prayer. Did not the Lord call us friends? Is not the Father and the Son our judge? Is not the Father our heavenly Father forever?

 

John 15:15

"No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.

 

2 Tim 4:8

in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.

 

ROM 8:15

For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!"

 

Too often expositors take one or the other in their narrow view of the scriptures. It’s like isolating doctrine and ignoring prayer or isolating prayer and ignoring doctrine. It’s like isolating relationship with Christ through the Spirit and ignoring prayer and the technical inculcation of doctrine. Why do any of them have to be ignored? Why can’t all of them be elevated to our utmost attention and concentration?

 

What was in the holy place of the tabernacle?

 

Turn to Luke 18.

 

We have to see this parable in its Eastern setting. The "courtroom" was not a fine building but a tent that was moved from place to place as the judge covered his circuit. The judge, not the law, set the agenda; and he sat regally in the tent surrounded by his assistants. Anybody could watch the proceedings from the outside, but only those who were approved and accepted could have their cases tried. This usually meant bribing one of the assistants so that he would call the judge's attention to the case.

 

The widow had three obstacles to overcome. First being a woman she had little standing before the law. In the Palestinian society of our Lord's day, women did not go to court. Since she was a widow, she had no husband to stand with her in court. Finally, we must assume that she was poor and could not pay a bribe even if she wanted to. Widows did not always get the protection the law was supposed to afford them!

 

Now that we understand something of the setting of this parable, we can better understand what Jesus was teaching. Basically, He was encouraging His disciples to pray, and He did this by presenting three contrasts.

 

1. Praying contrasted with fainting or losing heart.

 

Luke 18:1 Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart,

 

 “lose heart” - evgkake,w[egkakeo] = to be weary, to lose courage, to faint.

 

If we don't pray, we set ourselves up for weakness, fainting under pressure, and discouragement.

 

The early pastor’s understood this:

Acts 6:4

"But we will devote ourselves to prayer, and to the ministry of the word."

 

1 Tim 2:1-2

First of all, then, I urge [command] that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, in order that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.

 

 “tranquil” - absence of outward disturbance.

“quiet” - tranquility arising from within.

 

There are four words used here for prayer: supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings. The context is private as well as public prayer (vs. 8).

 

One pastor was quoted as saying, “If I announce a banquet people will come out of the woodwork to attend. But if I announce a prayer meeting, I’m lucky if the ushers show up.”

 

I truly believe that God the HS has put this doctrine in our midst for the second time because prayer has lost its importance in the lives of some doctrinal believers. And although I started with my notes from last time, this time is very different than last time, including the things we learned last time.

 

The first word, entreaties, is derived from a Greek verb that means "to ask with urgency based on presumed need," "to plead," "to beg." This is prayer for yourself.

 

Prayers is the more general word for prayer, which includes yourself but also many others.

 

Petitions comes from a Greek verb that means "to speak to someone on behalf of another," "to intercede." This is prayer for others with emphasis on divine establishment.

 

That should be intercessions, which is only used only here and in 1 Tim 4:5, which is prayer for food. You intercede for your food.

 

Finally thanksgivings comes from a verb that means "to express gratitude for blessings or benefits."

 

Therefore, all are in view and commanded with the result that we have tranquility from outside pressure and tranquility from inside virtue.

 

The Holy Spirit’s intention is not to make these terms exclusive of one another but to bring them together as a weapon for yourself, as a weapon for other, and as an intimate building relationship with your Father.

 

Luke 18:1 Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart,

 

But what does it mean "always to pray" or to "pray without ceasing"? (1 Thess 5:17) It certainly doesn't mean that we should constantly be repeating prayers, because Jesus warned against that kind of praying (Matt 6:5-15).

 

Pray without ceasing (1 Thes 5:17) means to make prayer as natural to us as our regular breathing. It should be a natural habit in which we are always ready to pray.

 

Unless we are sick or smothering, we rarely think about our breathing, we just do it likewise with prayer - it should be the natural habit of our lives, the "atmosphere" in which we constantly live.

 

Prayer is much more than the words of our lips; it is the desires of our hearts, and our hearts are constantly "desiring" before Him, even if we never speak a word.

 

So, to "pray without ceasing" means to have such holy desires in our hearts, in the will of God, that we are constantly in loving communion with the Father, petitioning Him for ourselves, and others along with thanksgiving.

 

Do you want to pray - or faint? If our habit of prayer ceases the evil that envelopes us in this world will not. It cannot cease but only increase. Passages like 1 Tim 4 and 2 Tim 3 paint a dark picture of the last days.

 

2. The widow contrasted with God's elect (vv. 2-5).

 

Luke 18:2 saying, "There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God, and did not respect man [therefore the judge is not a type of God].

 

These go hand in hand. The judge that has no regard for God will not regard men.

 

Luke 18:3 "And there was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, 'Give me legal protection from my opponent.'

 

Luke 18:4 "And for a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, 'Even though I do not fear God nor respect man,

 

Luke 18:5 yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, lest by continually coming she wear me out.' " 

 

Jesus did not say that God's people are like this woman; in fact He said just the opposite. Because we are not like her we should be encouraged in our praying.

 

He argued from the lesser to the greater "If a poor widow got what she deserved from a selfish judge, how much more will God's children receive what is right from a loving Heavenly Father!"

 

Consider the contrasts. To begin with, the woman was a stranger, but we are the children of God, and God cares for His children (Luke 11:13). The widow had no access to the judge, but God's children have an open access into His presence and may come at any time to get the help they need (EPH 2:18; 3:12; HEB 4:14-16; 10:19-22).

 

The woman had no friend at court to help get her case on the docket All she could do was walk around outside the tent and make a nuisance of herself as she shouted at the judge. But when Christian believers pray, they have in heaven a Savior who is Advocate (1 John 2:1) and High Priest (HEB 2:17-18), who constantly represents them before the throne of God.

 

When we pray, we can open the Word and claim the many promises of God, but the widow had no promises that she could claim as she tried to convince the judge to hear her case. We not only have God's unfailing promises, but we also have the Holy Spirit, who assists us in our praying (ROM 8:26-27).

 

Perhaps the greatest contrast is that the widow came to a court of law, but Goes children come to a throne of grace (HEB 4:14-16).

 

She pled out of her poverty, but we have all of God's riches available to us to meet our every need (Phil 4:19). The point is clear.

 

Selfish judge             Heavenly Father

Stranger                     Children of God

No access                  Open access

No husband               Advocate

No promises              Hundreds of promises

No lawyer                  God the HS

Law court                  Throne of God

Poor                           Riches of grace

 

 

If we fail to pray, our condition spiritually will be just like that of the poor widow. That should encourage us to pray!