S7E26 - Luke 11:1-13 - Prayer Guide for Real Life

Something in Jesus’ prayer life made the disciples stop and say, “Teach us to pray.” That’s the heartbeat of Luke 11:1-13, and it’s where we start. We’re not chasing fancy religious words or a guilt-driven checklist. We’re learning the posture Jesus models: real communion with a real Father, built on trust, worship, and dependence.

We unpack Luke’s intimate, abbreviated version of the Lord’s Prayer and why it still functions as one of the best “how to pray” guides for everyday discipleship. We talk about honoring God’s name before we list our needs, aligning with God’s kingdom before we defend our agendas, and asking for daily bread as a practice of daily dependence. We also wrestle with the hard, practical edge of prayer: forgiveness. Jesus ties our vertical relationship with God to our horizontal relationships with people, and he does it without dodging the tension.

Then we move to Jesus’ story of the midnight knock and his punchline: ask, seek, knock. We discuss persistence in prayer, what it means to keep coming back to God, and why God is not the reluctant neighbor who needs to be worn down. He’s a loving Father who gives good gifts, and Luke highlights the ultimate gift God loves to give: the Holy Spirit to those who ask.

Subscribe for more through the Gospel of Luke, share this with a friend who feels stuck in prayer, and leave a review so others can find the podcast. What are you asking God for right now, and what would it look like to keep knocking?

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Transcript

Welcome Back And Summer In Luke

SPEAKER_02 0:10

What's up, Lifehouse family? Welcome back to the Life Talk Podcast. We are another Monday, another episode, and the book of Luke is rolling through the summer. We are, and it is almost the end of June. July 4th is coming. Holidays are here. America's 250th anniversary before our next episode. So just an exciting time. And I am rejoined by an all-star crew. I got my QA QC man, Jeremy L Rich is continuing the streak. Quality streak here, right?

SPEAKER_01 0:45

Nice quality streak. Again, happy to be here with you, Nate. Thanks for having me back.

SPEAKER_02 0:49

You got any good plans for the July 4th holiday? You gonna check out some fireworks or anything with the family?

SPEAKER_01 0:54

I just I just do whatever Kathy puts on the calendar. So it's very smart, man.

SPEAKER_02 0:59

Very wise of you with that. So and Rico's on episode two of the new streak. So good to have you back, Rico.

SPEAKER_00 1:07

What's going on, man? Nothing much. I'm I'm just blessed to be back. Feels good that I warmed this chair enough to come back and continue the streak.

SPEAKER_02 1:16

Gotta keep an iron fist on that chair. Any good July 4th plans? Doing anything with the family?

SPEAKER_00 1:20

I'm with Jeremy, man. Whatever my wife put in the calendar, the kids want to enjoy, I'm able. Awesome, awesome.

SPEAKER_02 1:27

And Mitch Poe, our unretired retirement expert. What is going on today, Mitch?

SPEAKER_03 1:32

I'm here. I'm looking forward to it.

SPEAKER_02 1:33

You're gonna be camping for the fourth or anything?

SPEAKER_03 1:35

No, we we just got back from a trip, but nothing planned around the fourth. Later in July we'll go.

SPEAKER_02 1:40

Yeah. All right. Well, I'll be turning 43. For those who don't know, it'll be a big milestone birthday for the fourth. So I just get older every year along with the nation. But enough about that. We are on with the scripture. And uh last week we finished Luke chapter 10. Rico took us through the Good Samaritan and Mary and Martha. So I encourage you, if you did not catch that episode, please go check it out. But for those who did, we are moving on to uh chapter 11, which digs into prayer. That's that's just basic, right? We don't really need to talk about prayer. I don't think so. Mitch is going to lead us today in terms of what Jesus shows us in this passage through uh verse 13. Is that right, Jeremy? Verse 13, we're going to today. Uh quality check.

SPEAKER_01 2:23

Oh man, you caught me off guard.

SPEAKER_03 2:27

I'll I'll I'll regain the title of QAQ verses. Yes, we're going through one through thirteen. Okay, one through thirteen.

SPEAKER_02 2:32

It is confirmed. We're going through 13 today.

Why The Disciples Ask About Prayer

SPEAKER_03 2:35

All right, all right. All right, well, let's get into it. Chapter 11, verse 1. I want to read at least the word first verse or two here. It says this when Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he was 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, as we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us, and lead us not into temptation. I'll stop right there because verse five picks up with a little different theme. We'll get into those in just a second. Let's talk about this for a few minutes. This is historically what's known as the Lord's Prayer. Matthew's renditioning of the Lord's Prayers found in the Sermon on the Mount, which Matthew records in Matthew chapter 5 through 7. If you read those three chapters, it's pretty much almost entirely red letter edition, if you have a red letter edition Bible. So it's all Jesus' words. It's the most famous sermon ever preached. Luke records a portion at least of that sermon in this particular passage, and it's called the Lord's Prayer. However, there's a couple of interesting distinctions with this. Luke actually records portion of the Sermon on the Mount, at least in terms of content, but it's recorded much earlier in his gospel. We're talking about chapter 11 today, but if you flip back to chapter 6, you'll find not a lot, but you'll find the biggest portion of the traditional Sermon on the Mount that Matthew records in Luke's Gospel. So it kind of begs a question: why did Luke either leave out the Lord's Prayer in chapter 6, where he records the Sermon on the Mount, and why did he now potentially choose to insert it much later in Jesus' ministry? Well, let me answer that question by giving you one other fact, and I'll tie these two things together. Another interesting observation, Luke's quote, Sermon on the Mount is recorded in Luke chapter six. And we called it Sermon on the Mount because in Matthew's gospel, it says Jesus went up on a mountain, and that's where he started to teaching. So we know the place was elevated in some kind of way. Luke goes out of his way in chapter six, in his rendition of the quote, Sermon on the Mount, to say this. Jesus came down with them and stood on a level place. Came down with them and stood on a level place. So why does Luke seemingly go out of his way to record that Jesus stood on a level place in his renditioning of Matthew's quote, Sermon on the Mount? John's gospel records in John 20, 30 that says, now Jesus

The Lord’s Prayer In Luke 11

SPEAKER_03 5:10

did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this pic, in this book. Could it be that Jesus taught some of the theme same themes in various settings? I think I think it's highly possible. And I also think there's some further evidence in this particular account. If you look at the text closely that I read in verse number one, it says Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, Teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples. What was Jesus doing? Jesus was responding to a question, not teaching a sermon. Matthew's record of the Sermon on the Mountain, chapters 5 through 7, is not a QA session. It's all entirely Jesus' word. It's a sermon. Here he's responding to a question. I think it's very plausible to believe that you could build a case here that Jesus taught very similar themes in very different settings. What's the and one of those important passages or important topics that he teaches us about is prayer itself. I just think that's an interesting side note. I think it's very possible that Jesus could have taught the same types of ministry and ideas in very different settings. So here we find in verse 1 that Jesus was praying in a certain place. I think that detail is important. The disciples did not ask because prayer was part of their Jewish religion. They were asking him because of Jesus' relationship, I think, with his Father. Jesus was modeling the posture that each one of us had toward God Himself, and that is a posture of prayer. Think about this. Jesus Himself was who? He was God. He's a second person of the Trinity, yet he set himself up as a person who needed to pray and be in close communion with the Father. Luke goes out of his way in his gospel, and I'll highlight about six or eight of these. I'll do this fairly quickly, but he goes out of his way to highlight specific instances where Jesus prayed throughout his ministry. No particular order, but these kind of flow. First was at his baptism. Luke uniquely says that the heavens were open while Jesus was praying. The second, when he was choosing the twelve apostles. So that teaches us that leadership decisions should be preceded by prayer, not just strategy. Jesus spent the entire night praying before he selected his disciples. Number three, before Peter's confession in chapter nine, before he answered the asked the question of Peter, Who do you say that I am? It records that Jesus was praying. At his transfiguration in chapter 9, Jesus goes up on a mountain to pray. Here in chapter 11 that we're talking about today, the disciples are observed Jesus praying, but Jesus teaches them about praying. And then also for Peter's faith, Jesus is recorded in Luke 22 as saying, I have prayed for you, specifically talking to Peter. And then two other quick ones was in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus was praying in agony, and then actually on the cross, there's several utterances that Jesus actually records on the cross of Calvary. So there's this theme all the way through scripture of Jesus praying, and I think that models it for us. The structure of the Lord's Prayer, particularly recorded in Luke's gospel, the Matthew's accounts, that's the one we're all familiar with. You put it on a poster, you hang it on a wall, you recite it. Nothing wrong with any of those things. But Luke's account is much more intimate. It's much less formal. It's abrevity, it has to be noticed. It's something that he starts out and he says, Father, very, very personal. And then he gets into hallow be your name, your kingdom come, and then the request, give us each day our daily bread. He's not asking for, and the lesson here is you know, it's daily bread. It's not next week's bread, it's not future bread, it's not surplus bread, it's give us the daily bread that we need. And Luke consistently throughout his gospel focuses on the people that are less fortunate, the Gentile population largely, or those who are downcast and out and even the outcast. In other words, the very people that really needed bread on a daily basis, that's who he's talking to. And then he links this idea, lastly, about forgiveness and forgiveness and prayer together. Prayer cannot be separated from the relationship with other people. So that kind of takes us down through verse four. And then look what immediately follows. And I'm not going to read this next section. The listeners can do this, but Jesus tells a story. It's a story of a man, a friend, who goes to another friend's house at midnight and says, Lend me three loaves, because I've had somebody come to my house, I have nothing to set up before them. Fast forward through this, and the guy basically says, I'm in bed, my kids are asleep, I'm not opening the door. But eventually he did, and the reason for that is because of the person who was knocking their persistence.

Jesus Models A Life Of Prayer

SPEAKER_03 9:40

But the ESV version says, I tell you that he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his imprudence, he will rise and give him whatever he needs. So it's that it's that persistence, it's that consistency in prayer and asking. And I think that's the lesson, right on the heels of quote, the Lord's prayer, that Jesus is really trying to reinforce is that consistent asking and being bold about that. And then in verse 9, he says thus. This is the punchline. He says, I tell you, ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find, knock and it shall be open. For everyone who asks receives, and those who seek will find, and those who knock, it will be open. And then he just closes back to this whole father idea that he started with. The Lord's prayer started with father. Then he brings it home and gives it, gives his disciples something they can probably relate to, and certainly most of our listeners can relate to. That's being a parent. He says, What father or mother you could insert among you? If a son asks for a fish, well instead, instead of a fish, we'll give him a serpent. For if he asks for an egg, we will give him a scorpion. If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask? I think the lesson of this whole thing, and open up for some reflection from you guys, is that even if a reluctant neighbor responds to shameless boldness in a request, how much more will a loving father respond to his children? I've often said, I've probably said it on the podcast, but I've said it a lot in my teaching, I think the closest we be we can get to understanding the love that God has for us is when you become a parent. When you have a child, or in my case, a grandchild, it's just instant, it's amazing, it's just unconditional. And I think that scratches the surface for the love that Jesus has for us. And that's what he's trying to get across here. Be persistent in your prayer, ask for what he because you have a father that loves you and will give you what you're asking for. And he's teaching his disciples throughout this whole passage, be a model in prayer, but also be persistent in the prayers that you're asking for. So, any reflection, guys? What do you guys what are you guys' thoughts on this passage?

SPEAKER_00 11:51

Well, absolutely. Um, wow. Everything is a reflection there. Um thank you, thank you for that. Uh, one of the things that it it really strike for me in this passage is the correlation between Luke 11 and then Matthew, right? The the the level playing, things like this that make the structure look at scripture in a different way, but the same meaning of scripture, but it blows your mind. And not only that, it's it's something about prayer that is the most important observation in this passage. We have not even gone to the goal of the chapter, but what what does Jesus teach here? Number one, number one, uh right at the bat, that it was not a suggestion, it's a command. Look what he said in verse number two. When not if when you pray. When you pray, honor God, when you pray, submit to his will, when you pray, depend on him, when you pray with strength to forgive some other people, when you pray to receive, resist the enemy. So when we pray, it's activated something that is commended for us to do, that not only prayer, it has to be passive, active, not of an obligation, but a reaction from the Lord who already know what we need need to pray about. That's an observation that is so strong for me. Not if you pray. How many of us again we bring the topic of knowing scripture? You can know all the scripture you want. You can go to seminary, you can do all this, but if you don't have an intimate relationship in communication with your father, and I know you're gonna get to that, but it just by it it got to my attention. If Jesus did that, that he's the second person of the Trinity, that he is in union since Genesis 1, who are we to avoid the command when you pray? That's my observation.

SPEAKER_01 14:09

I I like that you brought up that this was a different time than pro than than the Sermon on the Mount, like that Jesus taught this at a at a different point. Probably because the disciples saw something different in Jesus' prayers than and in Jesus' prayer life than what they saw from from the religious leaders. They saw something fresh, authentic, not mechanical, and they wanted to know, geez, Lord, teach us how to pray. And then gosh, there's so much that we can unpack in the just those first four verses about what Jesus is modeling for prayer. You know, Father, hallowed be your name. Prayer begins with God's character and not with our circumstances, begins with worship and not requests. Your your kingdom

The Midnight Friend And Persistence

SPEAKER_01 15:00

come aligns is aligning us with God's agenda and not our agenda, putting putting his will first. Give us this day our daily bread. You know, it's just about that daily dependence, not not necessarily luxury. And something that, like, when I was studying through this this time, this passage this time for this podcast and this episode, it's it's an it's was an echo I saw or that was brought to my attention of the Israelites in the wilderness with the manna, and how God was giving them one day at a time the things that they needed, and how we're pr we're praying for that daily dependence on him and and you know, forgive us as we forgive ourselves. Just in in order to uh, you know, forgive in people, forgive people. And that's just that should be a model and a habit for us. And lead us not in temptation into temptation. That this you know, as we're praying, you know, prayer is a spiritual protection for us daily. So just just so much in those first four verses to unpack.

SPEAKER_02 16:07

And I think even what you pointed out at the beginning, Mitch, of I think people want to get into like this textual criticism and Matthew and Luke and to think that Jesus taught one time on prayer. Like this is fundamental, you know, and and Jesus is going to repeatedly teach these things we see throughout the Gospels, consistent messages. It's the gospel's one message, the kingdom of heaven, you know, we see it in some different forms, but I think that's really important that not only is it not far-fetched, but it's pretty much a certainty. Jesus was teaching consistent things, and like you said, the modeling of prayer. If Jesus, the Son of God, is going to pray, then how much more we should be taking advantage of prayer? So I joked in the intro that, like, ah, prayer's so basic, we can not know, we need to constantly, because it's too easy to think that we get past those things when we never do. And prayer has to be just fundamental to our life. And for those who struggle, sometimes we struggle in our prayer life. Jesus gives us something here to go back to. We talk about praying scripture frequently, the Lord's prayer, even though you know we can kind of think that, you know, that's just basic, but it's not because it's so, again, with the the word fundamental of praying for our daily bread, praying for forgiveness. These are things that we need to consistently be praying about.

SPEAKER_03 17:28

Yeah, Jesus, I mean, I kind of went through those, but there's at least seven or eight times throughout Luke's gospel where Jesus modeled this and he was praying. He was praying at the beginning of his ministry, he was praying a bit for huge decisions, who to pick of the twelve. He prayed consistently throughout his entire ministry. And I love how this passage starts out. It just says, and now Jesus was praying in a certain place. And catch these words. And when he finished, one of his disciples said to us, Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples to pray. And then he goes into the teaching. But the instruction about prayer was born out of observation. They noticed that Jesus was praying, and I love the fact that he, and then when he had finished, can you imagine sitting there listening to Jesus pray and being having a front row seat to the number two person in the Trinity, equal with God, and and intercessing with his father, and you're sitting there listening to that. Yeah, I after that, I'd be gosh, teach me to pray like that. That is, it must have been an amazing lesson that they just learned just by listening and observation. And that's kind of what the point is is Jesus prayed consistently. I love the pay that this little phrase he said, in a certain place. Doesn't tell you what that is, but I think there's an implication there. I'm not, I don't think writing anything into scripture here, but I think there's an implication there for each one of us to have a consistent daily prayer life. And I like to say a consistent place. That doesn't mean you can't pray throughout the day. And I certainly do. One of my places, I've shared this in the past, is I pray a lot when I'm driving. You know, and yes, you can pray with your eyes open. I encourage you to do that if you're driving. But I pray a lot when I'm in the truck, you know, coming to work. I pray for my wife, pray for my kids, I pray for what I got going on that day. I just thank the Lord. My wife is one of the best at this. She she's great at just observing nature and things that are around us and thanking the Lord for just his blessings. And I think it's what Jesus is kind of modeling for us in a certain place, in a certain time. And then the disciples let him finish and then he teaches them about prayer. But this prayer, the Lord's prayer, so to speak, at least in this iteration, Luke's recording of it, is born out of observation, which it's Jesus modeled it.

SPEAKER_02 19:30

I think on to your second point about, you know, we see some two really important things here in terms of both the friend and the father, you know, pictures of prayer. And it's like just maybe think like, hey, if for any reason you had an emergency in the middle of the night, who would you call? You know, and there's probably a short list for all of

Ask Seek Knock And A Father’s Gifts

SPEAKER_02 19:50

us of like who could you call at two in the morning? And then also, who would you answer the phone for at two in the morning? Of like, would that person actually pick up? Because some of us are like, you know, see that caller ID. I'm not answering that call at two in the morning, but Christ will hear, you know, through prayer. God will listen to us anytime. So I think the friendship aspect of uh your second point is pretty important as well.

SPEAKER_03 20:15

Yeah, I think your point about not answering the call at 2 a.m. There's some people, some of us, if we're honest, we probably wanted to the call at 2 p.m. You know what I mean? But this the point he's trying to make, it's almost exaggerated. It's like this is like worst case, it's midnight. The guy is home, he's got kids. I mean, this is like, you know, picture perfect, worst case scenario. And yet he says, because of his persistence, or the ESV uses the word imprudence, persistence, consistency, just knocking on that door, boldness, and then he tells then he tells us he got that. He got what he asked for. And then he goes into this teaching moment, verse nine, I tell you, ask and it will be given you. Seek and you will find knock and you ask, seek, and knock with the same persistence, the same urgency, the same inconvenience. It God is never too, he's never inconvenienced uh enough not to listen to us and not to listen to his kids. And and if you think about it, again, kind of going back to my earlier point about, you know, I think we understand the love of God, at least we can scratch the surface of it when you s when you have kids, you have children. If I got that call at 2 a.m. from what either one of my daughters, first call and picking up. Absolutely, who wouldn't do that? You know, and that's that's the picture of Christ. You know, the father's there, he's wanting to pick up that phone. We just have to call, we have to ask, we have to knock, do those things, and we're so reluctant to do that in many cases.

SPEAKER_01 21:31

The point is, and to me, that God is not reluctant like the neighbor is. God is the opposite of the annoyed neighbor, right? He but the point is that persistence matters and that he delights to answer. And when and then when it says keep you know, ask and ask knock, it's like keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking. It's almost those those verb tenses or say it's a continual verb. Be persistent. God is not annoyed by our requests. He delights to end delights to hear us and and answer us.

SPEAKER_00 22:09

I I think that is a relationship in between yourself and the Lord is so necessary. Why? Because we know that if if we call I didn't say when, if we call, he's gonna answer. But when we call, he was already anticipating that call. You mentioned something very clever. Mitch, you mentioned, well, what happened if your if your children? My children, well, they live with me now, but when they wasn't living with me, I I I remember some of the calls that would come at one o'clock in the morning, two o'clock, and not that I picked it up because I was I was sleeping, but when I wake up and I see that, how come I didn't wake up? Like something happened to my child, then I call back, it was like, oh, I just needed a conversation. But but just the fact that just like you mentioned, who you answer the call to? And if you're ready to answer the call, right? I've I've I see that in in this passage it's a good observation as well. That if

Practical Reflections And Weekly Challenge

SPEAKER_00 23:20

you tell somebody, hey, I'm available, like God said, Hey, I'm available. Nobody can separate you from my hand. Romans 8. Your name is written in the book, I did that. I died for your sins, my son did that. I show you how to pray, we did that. And I command you when we did that. It's for you to do it, not just if. And I truly believe that looking at this passage, if we here in the natural tell people, hey, I'm available for you, and when that car comes and you avoid that call, I think that it would be a sign for us to examine our hearts. Because you never know what that call was for. But this right here, hey, knock, ask, seek. That is something continue doing, keep on knocking. Don't be why are we being discouraged when we pray and we think that the answer is not gonna come? He always gonna answer. Either he's gonna be yes, no, or wait. Either or those three. But this is a situation here that the model prayer for the disciples in how they should operate is valid for us to emulate and bring that posture to that.

SPEAKER_02 24:42

I think, like you said, the posture, persistence and posture. You know, we need to persist in prayer and the posture of God as our father, you know, Jesus as our friend, he says, I call you friend. So having that, you know, really can seem contradictory to the world, but very much in the Bible it's brought together. So how we can pray in that posture with that position is is really important.

SPEAKER_03 25:06

Yeah, one of the things I had written in my notes here, it said the Lord's prayer was not merely words to repeat. Well, there's nothing wrong with that, but it's an invitation to ongoing dependence and persistence in our relationship with him. Ongoing dependence and persistence in our relationship with him, not just merely words to repeat. Nothing wrong at all with repeating the Lord's Prayer. I've heard it prayed, I've prayed it, I've seen it in print, nothing wrong with that. But there's a deeper meaning here, and God is the lesson that he's trying to give us in the most tangible terms that he can in this teaching moment is God is your friend, God is your father. Ask him, you're his children. He will answer the doll at midnight, he will answer the door, he will give you what you need. You have to ask boldly, you have to seek strongly, and you have to knock loudly in doing that.

SPEAKER_02 25:57

Well, we could go on a long time about prayer, but I think really getting a picture of what Luke is telling us, and again, we look at these as comparing with the other gospels, enhancing what we see. Like we say, we see that Jesus is consistently teaching this to us. So we never get past prayer, we never get past God's word. So we pray that today for the lifetime listeners. Hope this has been a reminder, maybe an encouragement, maybe add some uh context and encourage you to continue to be persistent in prayer, to see God as your good and heavenly father and Christ as your friend who will answer your call at two in the morning. So we pray that again this helps you. We pray that you pray. And

Closing And Listener Call To Action

SPEAKER_02 26:40

we will look forward to seeing you guys next time. Thanks for tuning in to the Life Talk Podcast. If this episode encouraged you, please be sure to like, comment, subscribe, and leave a review so others can find this content as well. And we'll look forward to seeing you next Monday for another great episode.