Shameless Boldness in Prayer ~ Luke 11:1-8!
18 January 2014 ~ New City Church of Calgary ~ Pastor John Ferguson!
Intro: Today, were going to talk about prayer. For some of us, the topic is intriguing. We want to learn more.
But for many of us, the mere mention of the topic brings a certain level of guilt and anxiety. !
Like the time I went to the dentist: You could probably be flossing your teeth a little more there, dont you
think? I responded a bit dejectedly, Uh huh. Then I commented, Your question about flossing is a lot like
my question I ask people about their prayer life: no matter how much you pray, you could always do more. !
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Many of us have experimented with prayer, but have often felt inadequate, unsure how to proceed, wondering if we are doing it rightly or if our prayers just bounce off the ceiling. Our mind wonders, and we just seem
to get in the way. Praying just reminds us how unspiritual we are, so we give up. !
Flannery OConnor began a prayer journal in 1946 in which she reflected upon her own desires to be a writer
as well as her own struggles with prayer. Dear God, I cannot love You the way I want to. You are the slim
crescent of a moon that I see and my self is the earths shadow that keeps me from seeing all the moon.
What I am afraid of, dear God, is that my self shadow will grow so large that it blocks the whole moon, and that
I will judge myself by the shadow that is nothing. I do not know You because I am in the way. !
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At the end of another entry, she simply said in exasperation, Cant anyone teach me how to pray? !
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You may consider yourself a spiritual person, or you may just be in the process of examining what you believe.
If you struggle with prayer, I want you to know that you are in good company. For many of us, especially in a
town like Calgary that rarely slows down, prayer is something we want to do, and maybe even try to do, but we
just cant seem to make it workor whatever it is supposed to do. So we live with this nagging sense of guilt,
and despite our aspirations to the contrary, we just give up. !
Today, were going to look at a passage in which the disciples of Jesus ask him the question, Lord, teach us to
pray. !
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Shameless Boldness in Prayer ~ Luke 11:1-8!
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11:1 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 to pray. !
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1. If he was anything, Jesus was a man of prayer. In fact Luke stresses the fact that Jesus was a great
man of great prayer. Luke records almost a dozen instances of Jesus praying throughout his ministry all
the way to the Cross. !
If Jesus found prayer to be vital, then how much more should we? If Jesus saw time in prayer as
essential to talk things over with His Father, how much more should we? !
Paul Miller, Dependency is the heartbeat of prayer. Jesus is, without question, the most dependent
human being who ever lived. Because he cant do life on his own, he prays. And he prays. And he
prays. Jesus was the first person who didnt seek independence. He wanted to be in continuous
contact with his Father.!
Jesus lived out the truth that the Scriptures teach, Pray always (1 Thess 5:17) Does that mean that
we should do nothing but pray? No, but it does mean we should do nothing without prayer.!
2. Jesus got that. But we dont. And the disciples didnt either. So they ask him to teach them to pray.!
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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.!
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1. Obj. Wait a minute! Somethings wrong. Theres something missing. !
There are two accounts in the Gospels of times when Jesus taught on prayer using a model prayer:
Matthew 6:9-13 in the Sermon on the Mount and here Luke 11: 2-4.!
2. For our upcoming 6 part series for Lent (4th Sun of Feb), well have an in-depth study of the Lords
Prayer.!
3. Five key petitions: 2 for God, and 3 for us. !
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(1) Father, hallowed be your name. !
Father is the Christian name for God. !
This is a petition to see Gods fame spread and cherished and enjoyed. !
(2) Your kingdom come. !
Gods kingdom is his kind rule embraced in the hearts of people. !
Our prayers are so boring is b/c we are praying for God to bless our little kingdoms.!
(3) Give us this day our daily bread.!
This is a request for our basic provisions. !
(4) Forgive us of our sins. !
This is an acknowledgement that we are broken and dont live in line with our design. !
(5) Lead us not into temptation. !
We acknowledge our weakness and our desire to be more like Christ. !
4. A memorable word picture. Jesus gave them a model, now he wants to paint a picture to show them
how they ought to boldly approach God in prayer. !
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 impudence he will rise and give him
whatever he needs. !
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1. The parable: Its meant to be an absurd story: an unexpected guest, the social grace of hospitality,
modest request, ridiculous excuses. Ryken, The real issue was not that the man could not help, but
that he would not help.!
2. The point. !
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When I first read this as a young Christian, I thought Jesus point was that God was reluctant to
answer our prayers, but if you bugged him enough, you could get him to do what you want. !
Jesus is arguing from the lesser to the greater: Can you imagine anyone going to a friend and getting
this kind of response? Then why do you think God is like this? !
3. The posture: ESV: Impudence. NIV: Persistence. = shamelessly presumptuous / sheer audacity /
shameless boldness. !
This is how we ought to pray: pray with shameless boldness as if God could not refuse. !
4. The Promise: The Glorious Logic of Heaven (John Piper)!
Romans 8:31-32, If God is for us, who can be against us? he who did not spare his own Son, but
gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? !
John Flavel, Surely if he would not spare His own Son one stroke, one tear, one groan, one sigh, one
circumstance of misery, it can never be imagined that ever he should, after this, deny or withhold from
his people, for whose sake all this was suffered, any mercies, any comforts, any privilege, spiritual or
temporal, which is good for them. !
Hebrews 4:16, Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive
mercy and find grace to help in time of need.!
So why did Luke record this episode in his historical biography of Jesus? !
Because Jesus came to show us what God is like, so that we can be rightly related to him, and learn to love
him and trust him. He is not like the gods of the peoples whose reluctancy must be manipulated by doing
certain sacrifices or saying incantations. !
God is a Heavenly Father and he loves to give good gifts to his children. As James said, Every good and
every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father (James 1:17).!
Jesus teaches us to pray with shameless boldness !
as if our Heavenly Father could not refuse.!
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Application:!
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1. Pray dependently to your loving, Heavenly Father. !
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(1) We were designed for this. We were designed to always lean in toward our Heavenly Father, to trust
our Heavenly Father, to be dependent upon our Heavenly Father for everything. !
(2) With the Fall of our primal parents into sin, we fell into the delusion that we can be independent from
God. !
Anonymous, Prayerlessness is our declaration of independence from God.!
Paul Miller, If you are not praying, then you are quietly confident that time, money, and talent are all
you need in life. If we think we can do life on our own, we will not take prayer seriously. !
(3) Jesus comes on a rescue mission. !
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John 1:11-12, He came to his own, but his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive
him, who believed in his name, he gives us the right to become children of God.!
Gospel invitation.!
Get real. Bring the real you in the midst of your real life to your real Heavenly Father.!
(1) Part of what Jesus teaches us in learning to pray with shameless boldness is to pray w/o pretension!.
You are a child of God, adopted, loved, cherished. So be who you are. Get real!!
(2) Your heavenly Father wants to be involved in every part of the life he has given you. He wants you to
talk to him about it, and to seek wisdom. So pray. In simple child-like trust, get the words out. !
The Gospel frees us to do this! Our acceptance before God is not dependent on our own moral effort
or how polished our prayers are, but on what Christ has done for us. So pray. Pray boldly. He has
given us access to the throne of grace that we might receive mercy and find grace to help us in our
time of need. !
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Conclusion:!
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My former RTS Professor, Knox Chamblin: God answers our shamelessly bold prayers in one of four ways:!
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No, I love you too much. !
No, trust me. I love you. !
Yes, but not yet. !
Yes, why didnt you ask sooner. !
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My friends, lets practice shameless boldness this week in prayer. !
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This is our blood-bought privilege bestowed by Jesus on his followers. !
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So lets pray. Shamelessly. Boldly. In the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen. !
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