[0:00] Heavenly Father, we gather here this morning because we want to understand how to relate to you better. We want to learn how to pray better.
[0:14] And we thank you that that is your desire for us. In the mystery of things, we woke up, we made the plan to come. But in the mystery of things, you woke us up and you called us to come.
[0:31] And so we trust that in these hours we have together, you would fulfill the reason why you have drawn us here. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
[0:43] Okay. We're going to look at a lot of different texts of Scripture this morning. But the key one is, the key two texts are Luke chapter 11 and John chapter 17.
[0:58] In Luke 11, Jesus teaches us how to pray and why to pray. And then in John 17, Jesus actually prays. So I've printed on your outline here the opening lines of those two texts.
[1:13] Luke chapter 11, verse 1. It came about that while he was praying, that is Jesus was praying, in a certain place, after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.
[1:32] You might know that the only thing the first disciples of Jesus are recorded to have asked him to teach them is teach us to pray. There's no record of teach us to cast out demons, teach us to heal, teach us to do justice, teach us to think strategically, not even teach us to preach.
[1:54] Imagine that. Just teach us to pray. Now why did they ask only that? I think it was because they could see that Jesus' healing ministry, Jesus' demon-casting-out ministry, Jesus' justice-advocacy ministry, Jesus' leading ministry, Jesus' preaching ministry, emerges out of his relationship with the one he calls Father.
[2:22] And they could see that the key to that relationship was Jesus' prayer life. Jesus was constantly slipping away to pray.
[2:33] And so they asked him, teach us to pray. Do you know the name Paul Stevens? I think he's preached here at 10th at different times. Paul Stevens was at Regent College, a professor emeritus.
[2:45] He spent some time on Mount Alphos in Greek, at a monastery there. Spent a couple of weeks with the monks in silent retreat. And as he was going down the hill from the mountain, one of the monks yelled out to him, Dr. Stevens, do you teach your students to pray?
[3:04] It was the monk's way of saying that if you're a teacher, at least in the church, and you don't teach your disciples to pray, you're not following the master because that's what he taught his disciples to do.
[3:17] We're going to look at Luke 11 after our break. Then the other key text is John 17, 1. When Jesus had spoken these words, that's a phrase John uses before John 17 a number of times to talk about Jesus' teaching ministry.
[3:36] When Jesus had spoken these words, and I think John means at that point, Jesus has now finished teaching. From John 17 on, Jesus doesn't teach anymore. He's done all his teaching.
[3:47] When he had finished teaching, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father. And then goes on to give this 26-verse prayer where he prays for the first disciples and then he prays for us.
[4:03] And we'll look at that later too. Leslie Newbigin, who was a missionary in India and has written, I think, the best book on the Gospel of John called The Light Has Come.
[4:14] If you can only have one book on John, that's the book to buy. All right. Leslie Newbigin commenting on this verse says, He, Jesus, had been talking to them. Now he lifts his eyes and talks to another.
[4:28] He does not, if I may be forgiven for saying so, look down and talk to the depths of his being. He's in India there. He's in the context of Hinduism.
[4:39] And so he's commenting on the fact that in Hinduism, you really look to the self. Prayer is really engaging the self. And Newbigin says, Jesus does not, if I may be forgiven for saying so, look down and talk to the depths of his being.
[4:54] He looks up and he talks to his Father. That is the characteristic act of Jesus and of those who belong to Jesus.
[5:05] And the operative word is Father. We're going to see that is the key to Jesus' prayer life. Okay.
[5:16] So those are two texts that we're going to circle around and come back to as kind of foundational among all the other texts that we'll look at. So what I'd like to do for a little while here now is simply survey Jesus' praying life.
[5:31] I don't know if you've ever had a chance to do that. As I put this together, I was overwhelmed by the fact, like Newbigin says, that the characteristic act of Jesus is actually prayer.
[5:42] So I'd like to walk through some background on Jesus' prayer life before we go to Jesus teaching us how to pray. Okay, so that's the context. There'll be a lot of material we can go over and we can stop at a lot of these places, but I'll keep moving to the break.
[5:56] All right? And I hope you have the notes in front of you. That's the plan. So first of all, let's look at the cultural context in which Jesus learned to pray and actually prayed.
[6:10] That's a very mysterious statement to make. Jesus learned to pray. The eternal Son of God has been in the relationship with his Father forever and has had this intimate communication with his Father, becomes one of us, and as a human being, learns how to pray.
[6:35] He comes, Jesus came from and lived with a people who knew how to pray. New Testament scholar, Joachim Yeremia, says that in his book, The Prayers of Jesus.
[6:46] Jesus came from a people who knew how to pray. And that's spelled out in a number of ways. The temple.
[6:57] The temple is the center of all of Israel's life, and the temple is a house of prayer. God says that through Isaiah. He says it through Jeremiah.
[7:08] And then Jesus, when he comes to the temple and discovers the way it's become a den of robbers, as he says, a house of merchandise, gets very, very angry.
[7:20] This is the angriest we see Jesus, by the way, is when he comes to the temple and he sees what's happened to it. Got all these money changers and all these animals and all this commotion going on, and he gets so angry because this was intended to be a house of prayer, a place where people of all nations could engage in conversation with the living God.
[7:42] There was a daily rhythm to the prayer life of most people. They would break three times a day to pray, and I've given you some of the texts, both in Acts and Daniel and Ezra and the Psalms.
[7:56] There was the morning prayer, and at minimum, the people would say the Shema. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one. At three o'clock, they would do the so-called Tefillah, which is the 18 benedictions.
[8:12] I'll comment on that in a second. That's called the hour of prayer, and at three o'clock, people would stop and pray for a season, and then in the evening, to at minimum, repeat the Shema.
[8:24] The point of that would be then, when you think of Jesus growing up in the house of Mary and Joseph, Jesus working with Joseph the carpenter, at three o'clock, they would stop, put down the hammer, put down the saw, and pray.
[8:43] Prescribed prayers, but they could be spontaneous prayers at minimum. So what I have thought about of that routine is with all of our electronic gadgets, we could set up such a system for ourselves on our phone or on our watch, designate certain times of the day when this little buzzer goes off, and all it's saying to you is it's time to pray.
[9:10] It doesn't have to be long, but it's time to pray. When I first saw that, I was serving in Los Angeles area at a church, and so I instituted a program where at 10.30 in the morning and at 2.30 in the afternoon, one of the staff members was designated to go through the building with a bell.
[9:29] Ring this bell. And no one had to participate, but it was a way of just calling people to stop what they're doing for just a moment and to pray. And boy, did that change the atmosphere in the building.
[9:43] There are these so-called 18 benedictions. It's a long prayer, usually recited at three o'clock, begins with, blessed be, not blessed by, blessed be you, O Lord.
[9:57] And this was especially done at the three o'clock hour when the daily sacrifices were being made. They were so long that the rabbis, wanting to get people to be able to pray, made a so-called abbreviated 18.
[10:12] And let me read it to you. This would be a prayer that most people would pray at that hour. Give us discernment, O Lord, to know your ways. Circumcise our heart to fear you.
[10:25] Wow, what a great prayer. Forgive us so that we may be redeemed. Keep us far from our sufferings. Fatten us in the pastures of your land.
[10:36] Gather our dispersions from the four corners of the earth. Let those who err from your prescriptions be punished. I don't like that line. And lift up your hand against the wicked. Let the righteous rejoice in the building of your city and the establishment of the temple and the exalting of the horn of David, your servant, and the preparation of a light for the son of Jesse, your Messiah.
[10:58] Blessed are you, Lord, who hearest our prayers. And so people would recite that prayer. Then in the evening, there was a so-called Kaddish. Most people would say this at the end of the evening before going to bed.
[11:11] And I printed it for you. Exalted and hallowed be his great name in the world which he created according to his will. May he establish his kingdom in your lifetime and in your days and in the lifetime of the whole house of Israel speedily and at a near time.
[11:30] Jesus would have been heard and saying this every night and especially on Sabbath. Now, stay on that page for just a moment. Isn't it interesting? All of his life, Jesus hears this prayer.
[11:47] Hallowed be his great name in the world which he created according to his will. May he establish his kingdom in your lifetime. Are you any surprise then that the Lord's prayer should be, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done?
[12:02] That's the context in which Jesus has lived all of his life. And then the other part of the rhythm of the day would be thanksgiving at meals.
[12:14] And that's on page two. Instructed from the book of Deuteronomy, blessed are you Lord who brings forth bread from the earth. Praying at meals is a way of recognizing God's sovereignty over all of life and it's a way of recognizing God's faithfulness to the creation.
[12:35] It's a way of thanking him for provision and for generosity. I think, I don't want to put any trip on anybody, I think this is one of the fundamental ways that parents are to teach their children to pray at every meal.
[12:52] Pause and pray. Give thanks. And try to teach our children and they'll say, why do we do this? Because God has been faithful to his creation.
[13:03] He's made the world go around again. He's provided water so the plants can grow. He's blessed farmers and truckers to get them to their grocery store. He's enabled your mommy and daddy to have a job to be able to pay for this.
[13:15] We should give thanks. And to build that minimum prayer into children's lives. One of our sets of grandkids are not in that context right now.
[13:27] The parents are being just a little lazy. So when they come to our house we have prayer. And when they first come, the first day, it's launched right into the meal. But by the second or third meal they recognize we're not going to eat until somebody prays.
[13:41] And now they're eager to be the one to pray. And as you know, little children, they can take a little bit of time to pray once they get going. But that's the context in which Jesus grew up.
[13:52] So you wouldn't be surprised then when Jesus is going to feed the 5,000 with five loaves of bread and two fish. What's the first thing Jesus does? He gives thanks. It's just what you do.
[14:06] Now, a little more on Jesus being trained in his praying. Part of it is living this rhythm but there's some more to it. The synagogue life. Luke says in Luke 4, 16, Jesus enters the synagogue as was his custom.
[14:24] On Sabbath, Jesus was in the synagogue because that's just the way it is, you know. That's what you do on the Lord's Day.
[14:36] You just show up at synagogue. I think one of the ways that we equip disciples in our time is equip disciples to understand on the Lord's Day.
[14:47] You don't get up and ask whether you're going to church. It's the Lord's Day. What else are you supposed to do but be with the Lord's people? And Jesus grows up in that context.
[15:00] I wonder how many boring sermons he had to endure but learned to do that. Now, the key thing is that Jesus grows up praying the Psalms.
[15:12] You've probably heard the reference to the fact that the Psalms are the prayer book of Israel. And it's very likely that the person who taught Jesus how to pray the Psalms, to pray the prayer book, was his mother Mary.
[15:28] From what we can tell, Mary was a very pious woman who would have practiced these rhythms and she herself then grew up praying the Psalms and so she teaches her son to pray the Psalms.
[15:40] Again, great mystery. A human being, Mary, teaching the incarnate God, Jesus, to pray. We see Mary's piety as rooted in the Psalms in her song that we read at Christmastime in Luke 1, 46, the so-called Magnificat, my soul magnifies the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
[16:01] If you go on and read that song that she sings, it's saturated in the Psalms. Every line comes from some psalm because Mary has just prayed most of her life in those Psalms and then she teaches Jesus to do the same thing.
[16:18] Now, this then is manifested when Jesus prays on the cross. As you know, people will say when we face death, in that moment when we're moving towards death, our ultimate concerns are going to emerge.
[16:33] Makes sense, right? the non-consequential things just drop by and the really important things begin to emerge. And when we approach death, we begin to then pray in our native language, in the language in which we first learn to pray.
[16:51] And Jesus learned to pray in the Psalms. So, are we surprised that on the cross, Jesus should pray the Psalms? My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
[17:04] It's the first line of Psalm 22. Into your hands I commit my spirit. It's the first line of Psalm 31. And so, Jesus praying and what surfaces in this ultimate moment is all of that training in his life that he knows, that's why he's able to pray at this time the way he does.
[17:27] I want, when I get to that last moment, I want my lips to be full of prayer. prayer. So, I'm going to train myself to make sure that that happens, especially if I'm not all there mentally.
[17:42] I don't want to say something stupid. When I've had surgery before, you know, and they put you out, that's always been my prayer, Lord, please don't let me say anything stupid under this anesthesia. Well, I don't want to say anything stupid at that moment either.
[17:55] Whoever's with me on that day, I want them to remember these words that emerge out of my soul. And so, I want to practice what Jesus did. Does that make sense?
[18:09] I'll come back to those psalms in a moment. And just a note on the vocabulary for prayer at that time. I just listed a number of words for you. Proskeumai. This is a word that's used all over the world, and it simply means to invoke a deity.
[18:24] So, people would have known this prayer word. Aiteo means to ask or request in a more personal way. Deomai means to bless. Proskuneo.
[18:37] This is a word that's often translated prayer or worship, and it's an interesting word. Proskuneo. Pros means to go toward, kuneo, and kiss. That's an intimate word, but it suggests then what prayer is about.
[18:52] Moving toward the living God in such a way that we even adore with a kiss. Eucharisto. You've heard that word. It comes into the word Eucharist. It means to give thanks, and Jesus practices all those verbs.
[19:07] Okay, so let's look a little bit more of Jesus actually praying during his incarnation. Hebrews 5, verse 7, sums it up for us. In the days of his flesh, he offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears.
[19:25] To the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his piety. New Testament scholar James Dunn, commenting on this verse, writes, the evidence is still clear and consistent that Jesus was a man of prayer whose natural response to situations of crisis and decision was to seek God alone in prayer.
[19:49] Jesus lived, died, and praying. praying. You know the name Dallas Willard? I think Ken has brought some of his material to your attention over the years.
[20:03] Dallas Willard says, Jesus always prayed because Jesus consciously lives in a God bathed world. Jesus knows that the Father is with him in everything at all time, that the Father is available to him at all time, and so he's constantly praying.
[20:22] He lives and dies praying. I've listed some examples where we find Jesus praying and the author actually uses the word prayer. So page three, at great turning points in his earthly life.
[20:38] At his baptism, it's while praying, all three of the gospel writers emphasize that, while Jesus is praying that the heavens opened, the spirit comes upon him as a dove, it's while praying that he hears his father's affirmation of his identity, you're my son, it's while praying he hears his father's affirmation of his love, this is the son I love, it's while praying that he gets his vocation to be the servant king.
[21:07] Before choosing the twelve, Luke says that Jesus is up all night praying about who these twelve should be.
[21:18] Boy, I wish we knew the content of that prayer. Ken and Craig and other pastors, we're often in that situation where we're trying to discern who should be the elders or who should be the deacons, who should be the small group leaders in the church.
[21:35] And Jesus didn't just make that decision, he spent time with his father trying to discern just who he ought to choose. He's praying before he asks the question, who do people say that I am?
[21:48] That takes place at Caesarea Philippi. Caesarea Philippi is north of Jerusalem. It's a very dark place. Caesarea Philippi was a place where there was all these multiple religions and philosophical orientations, people sacrificed to weird gods and demons.
[22:06] Jesus goes there, it's there where he asks his disciples who do people say that I am? And before he poses that question he's praying. I've been in that place and I know why he's praying because it's so dark. So as Jesus is moving into that dark place, I don't know the content of the prayer but he's praying before he poses this question.
[22:24] He's praying at the transfiguration. He took three of his disciples up on the mountain and it's while praying that a cloud comes. It's while praying that the voice speaks to him.
[22:37] And then of course in the garden of Gethsemane which we'll look at in a moment when Jesus is praying about now reaching this ultimate stage. Where he's going to have to go to the cross. And then again on the cross.
[22:51] Father forgive them for they know not what they do. My God my God why have you forsaken me? Father into your hands I commit my spirit.
[23:05] Now when someone recites one line of a psalm they're probably thinking of the whole psalm. so many scholars would say Jesus saying my God my God why have you forsaken me?
[23:21] Which is the first line of psalm 22 would have actually been reciting the whole of that psalm on the cross. That makes sense. He's hanging there for a while.
[23:33] So I'd like to read all of psalm 22. Gets you ready for a good Friday. Okay. Jesus would have had this memorized.
[23:45] I don't. So I'm going to read it for you. Now the reason I'm going to do this is he's citing my God my God why have you forsaken me? And you've probably been troubled by that on the cross.
[23:58] Has he been forsaken? Really? Why? How? How? Is that really possible? So if he's reciting that first line he has the rest of it in mind too.
[24:10] And that will help us understand why he recites the first line. My God my God why have you forsaken me? Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning. Oh my God I cry by day but thou dost not answer.
[24:24] By night but I have no rest. Yet you are holy. Oh Lord you are enthroned on the praises of Israel. In you our fathers trusted. They trusted and you did deliver them.
[24:37] To thee they cried and were delivered. In you they trusted and were not disappointed. So you see where he's going with that. Not only my God my God why have you forsaken me?
[24:47] But he's moving into look father you've done this before you've rescued people who've called on you. But I'm a worm and not a man a reproach of men and despised by the people. All who see me sneer at me.
[24:59] They separate their lip they wag their head. Commit yourself to the Lord. Let him deliver him. Let him rescue him because he delights in him. Sounds like if you're the son of God come down off the cross. Yet you are he who brought me forth from my mother's womb.
[25:14] You made me trust when on my mother's breast. Upon you I was cast from birth. You have been my God from my mother's womb.! They it's like this psalm was written right at the cross isn't it?
[26:04] But you oh Lord be not far off. You my help hasten to my assistance deliver my soul from the sword my only life from the power of the dog save me from the lion's mouth and from the horns of the oxen you would answer me.
[26:22] I will tell of your name to my brethren in the midst of the assembly I will praise you. I mean that's interesting. My God my God why have you forsaken me? And he talks about all this suffering and yet can say I will declare your name to my brethren in the midst of the assembly I will praise you.
[26:39] Doesn't that hint that he knows there's going to be more to the story? You who fear the Lord praise him all you descendants of Jacob glorify him and stand in awe of him all you descendants of Israel for he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted neither has he hidden his face from him but when he cried to him for help he heard from you comes my praise in the great assembly!
[27:04] shall pay my vows before those who fear him the afflicted shall eat and be satisfied those who seek him will praise the Lord let your heart live forever all the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord and all the families of the nations will worship before you for the kingdom is the Lord's and he rules over the nations all the prosperous of the earth will eat and worship all those who go down to the dust will bow before him even he who cannot keep his soul alive prosperity will serve him it will be told of the Lord to the coming generation they will come and will declare his righteousness to a people who were born that he has performed it some of your versions might say that he has finished it now you can see where that's!
[27:47] going as he's! I think he's recited this whole psalm as an interpretation of what he's going through and he can declare that God is going to rescue him he is going to see his brethren again that make sense so as he's praying that one line think about the fact he's praying more same thing father into your hands I commit my spirit so let's look at a little bit of psalm 31 we won't read all of it but it will give you a sense of what he would be praying then psalm 31 in you oh lord I have taken refuge let me never be ashamed in your righteousness deliver me incline your ear to me rescue me quickly be to me a rock of strength a stronghold to save me for you are my rock and my fortress for your namesake you will lead me and guide me you will pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me for you are my strength into your hand
[28:55] I commit my spirit you have ransomed me oh lord god of truth and on he goes let me see where we could also read verse 14 as for me I trust in you oh lord I say you are my god my times are in your hands deliver me from the hand of my enemies and from those who persecute me make your face shine upon your servant and on he goes so again Jesus has been soaked in these prayers and is able to pray that way on the cross we continue oh I want to point out notice by the way that most of the text that we have cited about Jesus praying has been from Luke I don't know if you noticed that that's interesting to me because of the four gospels Luke presents Jesus as the man of compassion the man of justice the man engaged in people's lives but Luke more than the others presents
[29:55] Jesus as a man of prayer that gives us a hint doesn't it?! That we can do this ministry of justice and compassion if we pray it's in Luke in Luke the first word out of Jesus mouth is father he's 12 years old did you not know I needed to be about my father's business and in Luke the last word out of Jesus mouth is father into your hands I commit my spirit now some observations about Jesus praying during the course of his ministry he's praying while he's in conflict with the religious leaders he prays before giving the Lord's prayer as we saw in Luke 11 1 he prays on Palm Sunday when the Greeks are coming to him he prays after feeding the 5,000 he prays that most of his miracles the healing of the multitudes the feeding of the 5,000 the healing of the man who was deaf and mute he's praying before raising
[30:59] Lazarus from the grave and then we find him in his life praying for others and that's John 17 in John 17 verses 6 to 19 he prays for the 11 keep them in your name father help them be one keep them from the evil one and then he prays for those who will believe through the words of the first disciples in John 17 20 to 26 that is he prays for us that they may be one father I want them to be with me I want them to see my glory I want them to know you he prays for Peter I'm going to come back to that in a moment and he prays for those who nailed him on the cross father forgive them they know not what they do my grandson was really taken by that yesterday morning when I was telling him a little bit of what I was going to teach because he's being bullied in school right now and he it's tender for me because yesterday he came down to my office about 7 15 when
[32:06] I was praying and he came and sat in the doesn't believe him and all of that and so I took him in my arms and sat there and I said we're going to do an experiment we're going to pray to God about all these things and he says well grandpa what should I pray and I and I pretended I was on a cross and looking down at the enemies and father forgive them they don't know what they do and he says oh grandpa I don't think I could pray that and then he says you know what those boys don't know what they're doing do they I said no they don't they don't he says oh they're probably hurt and angry inside and don't want to do with it he says they probably don't have very good dads or grandpas cool eh and he got it so
[33:24] Monday I'll call him after school and see how it worked and then in John 17 Jesus prays for himself that the father would glorify him so he can glorify the father and we'll come back to that then for completion examples in the text of the gospels where the word prayer is not used but Jesus is engaged in conversation with the father all the meals built into him at the feeding of the 5,000 before he breaks the loaves he gives thanks you know the name Ann Vascom and her is it 10,000 reasons is that the name of the book or thousand reasons!
[34:10] I don't know how many kids she has six or seven kids and trying to run all that does this experiment of giving thanks Eucharisto she builds everything around that and she builds it on the fact that Jesus does this great miracle out of the context of gratitude you give thanks first and then the miracle comes I think this is a discipline I keep talking to the church leaders but it's a good discipline for church leaders as you build the budget as you look at the finances of the church before asking for the finances give thanks give thanks and watch what miracle can happen look what you've already provided for us Lord a number of times there's this deep sign on the part of Jesus just before he heals the deaf man in Mark 7 34 and when the Pharisees come sign is a nonverbal oh father and that's in the psalms too the psalmist regularly say you hear my words but you hear my groaning you hear my sign another nonverbal is lifting up the eyes we saw that in
[35:23] John 17 1 to lift up the eyes in scripture is an act of prayer it's a way of saying okay I see everything that's going on around me but I lift up my eyes to the father and without even speaking I'm praying and then Jesus prays about the mystery of the godhood he is messages being rejected in Matthew 11 and then in Luke 10 he repeats it after the success of the disciples ministry and that text is where Jesus says I praise you father lord and creator of heaven and earth that you hid these things from the wise and reveal them to babes yes father it was pleasing in your sight for all things have been handed over to me by my father no one knows the father but the son and no one knows the son but the father and whoever he wills to reveal to him that is recorded in Matthew 11 and Luke 10 it sounds very much like John no one knows the father but the son no one knows the son but the father which to me gives me a sense that the synoptics and
[36:32] John are really one eventually they know the same Jesus but Jesus there exposes the mystery of God that there is a plurality within God there is a father and a son so that's the practice of Jesus it makes sense hope it blesses you I'm humbled!
[36:51] the true human the greatest human who ever lived the most full human the most whole human the most joyful human the most holy human who ever lived was fundamentally a man of prayer and that's the secret okay so let's take a few minutes and look at the content of Jesus prayer a couple of examples he's the so-called harvest prayer he sees a crowd Matthew says he feels deep compassion for them because they're like sheep without a shepherd and therefore says therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest Jesus is still praying that the harvest is plentiful but not enough workers so please father send out more workers and you and I are answers to that prayer I recited the mystery of his relationship with the father he prays at the grave of Lazarus father I thank you that you hear me
[37:52] I know that you hear me always but because of the people standing around I said that they may believe that you did send me so he prays out loud for their sake these Greeks come and they want to know who Jesus is sir we want to see Jesus and Jesus prays now my soul has become troubled and what shall I say father save me from this hour but for this purpose I came to this hour father glorify your name that is the fundamental prayer of Jesus that is the secret of Jesus ministry father glorify your name he lives and dies to glorify the name of the father name is a way of saying nature and character that's Jesus reason for being and so on Palm Sunday when these Greeks come he prays that prayer now is time father glorify your name if that's the fundamental prayer of
[38:55] Jesus own life is it any surprise then he begins! the Lord's prayer where he does father your name be hallowed that's what Jesus prays his whole life and that's what he teaches us to pray another place where we hear the content of his prayer in page five there is asking for the gift of the paraclete this is in the upper room just before on Thursday night before he's going to the cross he's telling the disciples that he's going away but not to be afraid you're not going to be alone you won't be orphans I will ask the father and he will give you another paraclete the spirit that he may be with you forever what a tremendous prayer that Jesus prays asking the father to give us the spirit in the absence of his presence now an interesting prayer in Luke 22 he prays!
[39:50] for Peter this is just before Peter is going to deny him three times Simon Simon behold Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail and you once you have been turned again will strengthen your brothers that's a mysterious passage but Jesus is warning Simon Peter that the enemy of his soul is going to turn a test into a temptation if you were here last Sunday we talked about and Jesus says but I'm going to be praying for you Peter to sift is to separate the wheat from the chaff and that's a good thing to do the Puritan theologian I think it was John Trapp said Jesus uses a fan and sifts to get rid of the chaff the devil uses a fan and sifts to get rid of the wheat but
[40:57] Jesus says I'm going to be praying and I'll even use Satan's sifting to cleanse you and empower you now Jesus prayer was answered yes Peter denies him three times but Peter stays with Jesus Peter doesn't run away from Jesus that's the miracle even in his guilt he doesn't run he still wants to be with Jesus and that's the answer to Jesus prayer and then the place where we have the content of his prayer is praying in the garden of Gethsemane probably the most sacred moment of all Matthew 26 and 42 my father if it is possible let this cup pass from me yet not as I will but as you will my father if this cannot pass away unless I drink of it your will be done you know that this was a very intense moment
[41:57] Mark says he threw himself on the ground Matthew says he fell on his face Luke says he knelt and prayed so intensely that he sweats and the sweat is like drops of blood here is this central moment of his own prayer life and I see three things there that can be helpful to us one he expresses his own true feelings father I would rather not do this do you see that that gives us the freedom as we're praying about issues and struggles to say exactly how we feel this was liberating for me to realize I I I I'm the oldest of five sons which meant you didn't have your own opinion you just did what your father and mother told you to do and I never really had the freedom to express what I really felt about something then
[42:59] I discovered that Jesus had felt that freedom with his own father I don't want to do this and we have the freedom to do that I don't want to do this so that's the first thing I see here the second thing is he asked is there another way I see this implicitly saying!
[43:19] father since I've been down here and living this incarnate life have you figured out another way to save the world? And apparently the answer is what he knew anyway no and then thirdly submits to the father and trusts the person of the father and so too we this is my honest feeling dear God is there any other way around this okay then I'm going to trust you and walk through it alright let me draw some implications from Jesus prayer life let me dare to draw out implications from his prayer life and I see eight lessons the first is solitude Luke again emphasizing and I emphasize Luke because
[44:20] Luke shows Jesus very much involved in people's life very active nevertheless Luke 4 42 and when day came he departed and went to a lonely place if Jesus Nazareth the eternal son of God needs time of solitude in order to feel connected to his father so do we frequent Luke 5 16 but he himself would often slip away to the wilderness one person says the withdrawals were repeated the wildernesses were numerous and the prayers were habitual regularly frequently getting off to be alone the essence of the prayer is communion his desire to be with his father I'm going to come back later after the break and say I think that's the key to life of prayer is the desire to actually want to be with
[45:24] God there's this constant note of gratitude I thank you there's intercession in his prayers he prays for the first disciples he prays for Peter he prays for us in John 17 he prays as he seeks and that's just consistent with everything we know about him in John's gospel we often hear him say I only do what I see the father do I only say what I hear the father say so he's constantly seeking the mind of his father there is then submission especially as we see in Gethsemane and then it's all addressed to Abba father Abba is this tender word that translates the pater you've probably heard about this word it's a word that a little girl would use while sitting on her daddy's lap and asking her daddy for something Abba one commentator said it's such a tender word because
[46:25] Abba can be said without teeth that's why little ones can say it it's also why older ones can say it too Abba and Abba becomes the prayer is the prayer of infancy and the prayer of seniority the point being of that is everything in Jesus prayer life emerges out of his understanding of the father okay I think we've got time to do a little bit more before we take a break let me see if I want to make sure I get to a key thing I think I can do this before we take a break now just let me think this out a bit okay so
[47:27] Jesus actually now teaching us how to pray and that's we get to the Lord's prayer it's recorded twice in Matthew 6 in the Sermon on the Mount the text that we've been working through and in Luke and the text we'll read in a different version of it and these are observations I made when we started the series here at 10th about the prayer that we can just review and then I'm!
[47:59] of our humanity it covers the past forgive us our debts covers the present daily bread covers the future do not lead us into temptation but deliver us from the evil one it covers every dimension of our humanity our physicality give us bread our relationality forgive us our debts as we forgive others our psychology deliver us from the evil one our spirituality deliver us from the evil one everything is covered in the prayer I'm just impressed by how brilliant Jesus is that he can sum up all of life in these six petitions second observation has to do with the flow of the prayer thy name thy kingdom thy will give us give us give us and I've mentioned in the introductory sermon on this that Jesus starts with these your prayers or thy prayers and then moves us into the us and we prayers as a way of putting things into perspective if we move into prayer immediately with our concerns which is okay to do
[49:13] I think we don't have perspective on our concerns and Jesus is saying if you begin with the more fundamental issues namely the name of God being hallowed the kingdom of God coming and the will things you're going to pray for makes sense in fact it turns out if we only prayed the first three petitions we'd be praying the other petitions too so the flow puts the priority on the prayer the center of the prayer is on earth as it is in heaven it's in the sermon on the mount and I think that's the very center of the sermon on the mount I think on earth as it is in heaven captures Jesus whole passion of his whole ministry to want to bring about the name kingdom and will of God on earth as it is in heaven the verbs if you've been through the series the verbs are very powerful they're in the imperative your name be hallowed your kingdom come your will be done they're in the command mode they're in the passive because hallow his name only
[50:23] God can bring his kingdom only God can finally accomplish his will so this is very bold prayer father in heaven you hallow your name because we cannot you bring your kingdom because we cannot you work out your will in the world because we cannot the reason why the Lord's prayer works again is the father it's because of who he is that we can pray this and in the answers to the prayer you'll hear tomorrow morning when Ken preaches how all these prayers actually get answered and it's very exciting what the answer is okay let's talk I would like to now jump to I don't have notes for you on this but you can be writing them on page six there's enough place for you to write that I'd like to spend a little time on that first petition of the Lord's prayer okay I want to dig a little deeper on this our father in heaven your name be hallowed on earth as it is in heaven what does that mean name
[51:39] I said earlier the term name is a way of saying nature and character glory the word name is actually in parallel with the word glory throughout scripture name means nature and character glory means revealing nature and character so that's why you find name and glory often in the same place but name the point is the father wants us to know his name he wants us to know his nature and character this is what Jesus himself prays in John 17 I made your name known to them what is the father's name besides father well there are all kinds of names from the old testament el shaddai mighty one almighty rock el rofe the god who sees yahweh jireh the god who heals so many names but the name above every name is the name yahweh the father's name is yahweh the sacred name and yahweh is it's translated in exodus 3 i am who i am i and it means i am who i am with you and for you the father's name is i am there with you and for you that that's his name and ken you've been using the phrase god is on your side is that right that's another way of interpreting the name father that's what yahweh means god is on your side with you and for you so god wants us to know the name hallowed be your name boy this is hard to render in one english word and it's hard because we don't use this word hallowed a lot do you it's related to the word for holy the word holy is hagios and this verb is hagios do so it's related to holy in some way all right now
[53:53] I'm going to dig deep here for a minute because I think I've got something really liberating to tell you there are three nuances to the Greek word hallowed three and I think they're all involved in this prayer I'm going to give you a verb for each of these nuances ready treat include eliminate okay treat include eliminate if you were to look up a Greek dictionary and look up the verb hagiosdo you would find those meanings treat include and eliminate let me walk that through with you first treat as holy treat as sacred that's what hallow means treat as holy treat as sacred or another way to say set aside as immensely special treat as of ultimate concern treat as of ultimate importance so the first petition of the
[55:12] Lord's prayer then is father so work in me that your name is of greatest importance to me that's that first level of meaning so work in me that your name your nature and character is of greatest importance to me it goes beyond me father so work on the earth that your name your nature and character are of greatest importance on earth as it is in heaven this is powerful again the prayer then is not let me treat your name as of ultimate importance although that's a good thing to pray I can't do that I'm too egocentric the prayer is asking the father to do something
[56:13] I don't know how to do father will you work in my heart so that the most important ultimate concern of my heart is your nature and character whoa that affects a lot of life doesn't it you see someone or something is going to be hallowed in our lives whether we use the verb hallow or not we do it all the time someone or something is going to be of ultimate importance in our life and it will determine everything about me father please hallow your name in me so that your nature and character determines everything about me are we surprised that this is the first petition given the first commandment what's the first commandment you shall have no other gods before me or better the
[57:22] Hebrew is better you shall have no other gods between me you shall have no other god come between us so the first commandment is I am going to be god to you let me be your god and the first petition then is make it so lord are you following me this is a call for probably the most massive miracle god can do in the world to get a hold of an egocentric creature and so work in his heart that there's this profound revolution that I am no longer my own ultimate concern but the ultimate concern of my life is the father of the Lord Jesus Christ Dale Bruner suggests that actually at this point we render this be the center be the center of my life so the first petition would be reorder all of my disorder so that you reorder it around the true center of life does this make sense so that's the first level treat as holy work this miracle in me and
[58:41] I'm sensing you want it right okay the second level of Hallowood include it means to include another in the circle of the holy include another in the circle of the holy this is how Jesus uses the word in John 17 19 father sanctify them it's the same word hallow them in the truth yes he's praying help them know the truth but what he's really praying is he's praying father include them in the truth itself so to sanctify to hallow is to bring the other inside the truth or the holiness itself now this is the way the verb is used in the rest of the New Testament for instance in Ephesians 5 26 Paul says that
[59:41] Christ sanctifies the church that Christ cleanses the church how does Christ sanctify the church how does Christ sanctify cleanse the church by including us in his cleanness it's not so much that he washes us first so he can include us in relationship it's that he includes us in this relationship and being included in his cleanness is what makes us clean that make sense 1 Corinthians 7 14 Paul says that the unbelieving spouse can actually be sanctified by the believing spouse the point being the unbelieving spouse is somehow brought into the orb of the holiness of the believer so the Lord's first petition of the Lord's prayer then is father include me in the inner circle of your name include me in your holiness include me in your light include me in your wisdom include me in your cleanness include me in your purity bring us into all that your holy name means on earth as it is in heaven wow right this is stunning so treat include and then third level eliminate eliminate that which is incompatible with your name eliminate that which is incompatible with holiness this is the basic idea of the word holy holy means to separate take away all that is not congruous with your name take away all in me that is not congruous with your nature and character separate everything in me that is not consistent with who you are in Romans 15 16
[62:05] Paul writes that he is a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles ministering as a priest the gospel of God that my offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable sanctified by the Holy Spirit I think what Paul is saying is he's been doing this ministry among the Gentiles he sees himself as a priest and he offers up these Gentiles as his offering and he asks that the Spirit sanctify this gift means clean up this gift remove everything eliminate everything that is not of you that this might be a pure gift so the first petition of the Lord's prayer is Father eliminate from my mind and my heart all that is not in sync with you eliminate all wrong twisted distorted ideas and images of you so I remind review three levels make your name of ultimate concern include me in all that your name means and purify me of everything that is not consistent with your name be thou my vision
[63:19] O Lord of my heart not be all else to me save if thou art another way of saying that now why is this the first petition because the father is egocentric maniac narcissist no because our wholeness is at stake what we hallow shapes everything about us father hallow your name in me so that you shape everything about me I submit to you that is the most fundamental prayer any human being can pray we pray just that prayer it takes care of just about everything else okay let's take a few minutes before we take our break for any questions or you'd like to ask is that last part helpful you can see why
[64:28] I wanted to take you through Jesus prayer life first because that's Jesus that's how he's prayed and now he's teaching us to do the same thing okay I'd like to now turn to what is or what was for me a very puzzling text on prayer but I think I now see and now it has become one of my most favorite texts on prayer and so I'd invite you to turn to Luke 11 verses 1 to 13 I think we made a handout for you so we have the same version but you can be reading from your own Luke 11 1 to 13 we read the first verse earlier on it came about that while he Jesus was praying in a certain place after he had finished one of his disciples said to him
[65:29] Lord teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples and Jesus 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 for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us and lead us not into temptation and he said to them suppose one of you with the nuance of can you imagine suppose one of you shall have a friend and shall go to him at midnight and say to him friend lend me three loaves for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey and I have nothing to set before him and from inside he shall answer and say do not bother me the door has already been shut my children and I are in bed I cannot get up and give you anything
[66:30] I tell you even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend yet because of his persistence some people render that boldness I gave you the Greek word I'll come back to that in a moment because of this he will get up and give him as much as he needs I say to you keep asking it shall be given to you keep on seeking and you will find keep on knocking and it shall be open to you for everyone who keeps on asking is receiving and the one who keeps on seeking is finding and to the one who keeps on knocking it shall be opened now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish he will not give him a snake instead of a fish will he or if he is asked for an egg he will not give him a scorpion will he if you then being evil!
[67:38] 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 are asking him oh lord will you now guide us into all that this text is teaching us please draw us deep into the reality being described here for we pray this in Jesus name amen lord teach us to pray as I said earlier today it's the only thing the disciples are recorded to have asked Jesus to teach them no record of lord teach us to heal lord teach us to lead lord teach us to counsel lord teach us to drive out demons lord teach us to evangelize lord teach us to preach just lord teach us to pray why because
[68:42] I said earlier I think the first disciples could see that Jesus healing leading counseling evangelizing liberating preaching ministry emerges emerges out of his relationship with the one he calls father and they could see that the key to this relationship is prayer Jesus is regularly slipping away to be alone with the father lord teach us to pray I take this to mean more than teach us some new technique I take this to mean lord teach us what you know about your father that makes you always want to get away and be with him teach us what you know about your father that makes you want to pray so much so Jesus teaches them the shorter form of the prayer that he taught in the sermon on the mount he teaches us a short form of the
[69:46] Lord's prayer and then he teaches a parable in verses 5 to 8 usually called the friend at midnight and it is this parable that we're going to focus on that I love I love to teach I love to teach this for one reason I want the whole world to hear what Jesus reveals in this parable it's my favorite parable and for the other is I need to hear again and again what Jesus reveals in this parable so that my prayer life stays alive now clearly in the original context Lord teach us to pray the parable is intended to encourage the first disciples to want to pray wouldn't that make sense Lord teach us to pray okay here's a parable and the motivation would be this parable is going to make you want to pray does it does it make you want to pray verse eight
[70:55] I tell you even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is friend yet because of his persistence he'll get up does that make you want to pray not me traditional western interpretation and teaching of this parable by western now I mean European North American Australian typical western interpretation and teaching of this parable has done two things with the parable first it has said the parable is about the one asking for the bread that is the parable is about us it's about we who pray and secondly it has said that the parable is about persistence in prayer again verse eight in the translation we read because of his persistence it was during our four years that
[72:03] I and my family lived in Manila 1985 to 1989 during the people power revolution that I came to see the traditional western interpretation and teaching of this parable is off the mark it does not get the stunning truth Jesus is teaching in this parable as I learned to look at life through the Filipino worldview which I was discovering is congruous with the Middle Eastern worldview in which Jesus lived and taught and as I in that Asian context learned more about the Middle Eastern worldview in which Jesus taught through missionary theologian Kenneth Bailey who spent 35 years teaching and studying in Israel and Lebanon and Jordan I came to see that number one the parable is not about the one asking for bread and number two the parable is not about persistence there's another parable in
[73:15] Luke 18 the parable of the widow and the unjust judge you know the woman who wears the judge down that is about persistence but not this parable in Luke 11 verse 8 because of his persistence we now know that persistence is not the right way to translate Jesus word am I clear so far so what is the parable about in order to understand that we're going to need to make five observations about the parable five observations that will enable us to see and hear what Jesus is getting at and what he's getting at is amazing observation one the parable verses five to eight begins with a question verses five to seven are a question in the original text and the only
[74:15] English western version that I know that gets that is the ESV if you have that it's printed in 2001 it sees that this is a question the version that I put out before you this morning is the new American standard my favorite it begins suppose one of you shall have a friend you see that in verse five suppose one of you shall have a friend now if you have a study Bible with you you will notice there's a little a on top of the word suppose those little a or numbers in your study Bible then take you to a marginal reading or one on the bottom and if you have the new American standard it will take you to a little word that says literally L-I-T that's literally which one of you which one of you suppose one of you is literally which one of you verses five to seven is in a question tis ex human which of you and so it's supposed to be spoken all in one breath see if
[75:31] I can do it which of you has a friend and shall go to him at midnight and say friend lend me three loaves of bread for my friend of mine has come on a journey and I have nothing to set before him and from inside the which one of you with the nuance of can you imagine which one of you can imagine Mr.
[76:05] A receiving a guest at midnight which one of you can imagine Mr. A going to Mr. B and saying to Mr.
[76:16] B I've received a guest can you lend me three loaves of bread to set before him which one of you can imagine Mr. B saying I can't get up the children and I have gone to bed I can't help you go away which of you can imagine this so observation one it all begins with a question making sense so far do I need to say that again okay which of you which of you can imagine that scenario second observation culturally the expected answer is none of us the disciples would have answered none of us Jesus looks at them which one of you can imagine that scenario none of us in the Middle East impossible that Mr.
[77:17] B would say go away I cannot get up in the West you can imagine this in the West you can imagine Mr.
[77:28] B calling the building supervisor to get rid of Mr. A or even calling the police but not in the Middle East I've had the privilege of testing this I've tested it in Beirut Lebanon none of us can imagine it in Nazareth none of us can imagine it in the Philippines I had a chance to teach all over the Philippine islands no the consistent answer is no I had a chance to do this in Beijing no before moving here we lived in Glendale California and Glendale California is the largest Armenian city outside the capital of Armenia Middle Eastern people and I tried that with my neighbors impossible culturally impossible okay first observation question which one of you second observation culturally none of us why third observation the cultural dynamics that work in this parable if you know the
[78:30] Middle East and many of you do because you also live in Asia very similar there are two great cultural values they are hospitality no and avoidance of shame these are the two great cultural values that run everything and they're at work in this parable in a number of ways for example the host must set before the guest more than the guest can eat I just got an amen for the chuckles right Mr.
[79:07] A must place before his visitor more than he can eat the visitor can eat and I discovered that living in the Philippines it's wonderful and I can see some of you smiling at me big time Sharon and I and our kids would be invited over to someone's home and the spread on the table was huge I'm wondering well a whole bunch of other people from the church must have been invited too no it's just us you have to put in front of you more than you can eat I learned that in Korea I learned that in China learned that in Lebanon it's wonderful I've learned that a corollary of that is that you have to ask for seconds right and so because I didn't want to eat too much I also then learned on the first round just to take a little bit so then seconds are going to be okay right so Mr.
[79:58] A has to put more before his yes than he can eat also what's plain here is that the visitor who's come to Mr. A's house is the guest not only of Mr.
[80:10] A but of Mr. B Mr. C and Mr. D too he is the guest of the whole village right and Mr. B now is going to have to he knows he's extending hospitality on behalf of not only himself but the whole village I remember just being struck by that when the Filipinos would say to me after a little while we're living there how do you like our country in the West how do you like my country Middle East Asia how do you like our country because the individual is aware that the individual is acting on behalf of the whole another thing that's going on here by the way is that Mr.
[80:53] A is going to ask Mr. B for the utensils he wants to have three that's not yet the meal in the first century of the Middle East and the 21st century of the Middle East a meal is a common meal in a big bowl a stew made of carrots potatoes beef or chicken or pork or whatever else and the way you eat it is you pass a loaf of bread around and you break off a chunk of that you dip it into the bowl and you take the bread and what's on the bread and you put it into your mouth right then you break off another piece of bread and it goes around like that I remember talking to a Muslim who moved to the West and within a few days sharing how horrified he was by how gross Westerners are when they eat I said what do you mean Well we Westerners will take a fork stick it into the piece of meat or chicken and then put that meat or chicken into our mouth and the fork goes into our mouth too right all the way inside and then we do this horrific thing we take the fork out of our mouth you never take anything out of your mouth you gross
[82:08] Westerners so the bread is only the utensil which means this man has to go to Mr. C for some carrots Mr. D for some potatoes Mr.
[82:19] E for some chicken he's got a lot more work to do which is why in verse 8 it says he will get up and give him as much as he needs he needs more than three loaves of bread he needs everything else so the cultural dynamics first observation which one of you second observation none!
[82:42] of!! we've got to extend hospitality the fourth observation verse 8 because his of his anideon see that word there that's the Greek word there anideon usually translated persistence one time I was teaching on this at a family camp and afterwards this eight year old girl said to her mother how come the pastor kept talking about a man having anideon well now you'll remember the word anideon okay now anideon in the first century here's the key thing in the first century anideon did not have the meaning persistence if you had a first century Greek dictionary they didn't exist but let's say you did and you looked it up it doesn't have persistence it's not until the third century AD that persistence gets worked into this word anideon well then what does the word mean it means shamelessness again if you have a study bible you look on top of persistence or boldness and you look in the margin or down it'll say literally shamelessness by the way
[84:04] I learned living in the philippines that when the study bible has the literally in the margin that should have been the reading the westerners didn't get it shamelessness shame is a negative thing shamelessness is a positive thing right shamelessness middle eastern culture most asian cultures some hispanic cultures are shame based cultures swedish english german tend to be guilt based cultures I know all about guilt I don't understand shame as much I'm getting to though yes in the middle east there are rules but the life in the middle east is governed by shame not in the sense westerners use this word we westerners use the word shame to mean oh
[85:05] I feel rotten about myself there's something bad about me not in that sense but shame in the sense of losing face or damaging reputation! Right?
[85:16] Central cultural value of the middle east is we'll do anything to avoid bringing shame on ourself again I learned this very quickly in the Philippines in a number of different ways the quickest ways was at a birthday party you don't open the gift am I right?
[85:41] Why not open the gift at the party our children were exasperated by this why take the gift home and open it? Because if you give me a gift if Ken gave me a gift and I opened it in his presence and I don't like it I have to work really hard that he doesn't get any clue on my face because I'm going to shame him right?
[86:08] So you take it home and you open it there and you can go oh what was Ken thinking and it gives me time to just really work it through and I go okay Ken loves me and he cares for me and he bothered going and thinking this through and okay I can see what he was thinking okay I appreciate that and then I see Ken the next day and I can say thank you and my face is radiant and he is very pleased right my Armenian neighbor knew she runs out to get me this gift and gave it to me and I knew not to open it and boy was I glad I didn't because I took it back home and opened it up and it was this sweater oh she was so thoughtful it's just a sweater but it was just an awful color so I worked it through and next day I put it on went over to her house and I was able to thank her this also avoidance of shame comes to work at least
[87:11] I learned in the Philippines and I think this is definitely in the Middle East so called third party reconciliation if Ken and I have an issue I am not going to go directly to him unless the quality of our relationship is really strong but if it's a really painful issue I am not going to go to him because again I don't want to disturb his face literally or mine so I go to Craig and I go to Craig and I may be able to!
[87:38] say to Craig you know work with it and then he goes to Ken and he can just do that in a massaging way and just work that out Ken gives a response gives it to Craig comes back to me and it works back and forth like that so finally Ken and I can meet I used to get frustrated as a waste of time but you know what it works I got caught up in the people power revolution in 1986 in the Philippines and as a Westerner I am ranting and raving against Ferdinand Marcos and saying to people you got to take him down he stole the election from Cory Aquino what are you going to do justice is at stake here on and on like that finally one of the older Filipinos took me aside and said Pastor Darrell don't worry justice is I have not ever met
[88:39] I just read just seven days before the dropping of the bomb in Japan was working with the US embassy and the Japanese embassy back and forth and he was working on a way for Emperor Hirohito to save face to surrender but save face and the US State Department couldn't understand this and Jones kept saying wait a couple more days we're getting close it looks like the Japanese embassies worked out a way for him to resign step down and save face but they didn't get it and Jones asked for one more day but they didn't get it and they dropped the bomb so this has got huge implications understanding how this all works okay so back to the text an idea on avoidance of shame at all costs are you with me well if an idea on means avoidance of shame why have western bibles translated persistence or boldness part of the answer is because the
[89:47] Greek and Roman mind couldn't get its mind around shame still can't but mostly because the Greek and Roman mind could not understand how this equality of an idea on shamelessly applies to the man asking for bread I mean why do you need shamelessness to ask for bread what's shameful about Mr.
[90:15] A asking for bread so they had to change it to something else well that leads us to the fifth observation a nightion does not apply to the guy who's asking for bread but to the guy who's being asked it refers to Mr.
[90:36] B not Mr. A it refers to the guy on the outside not to the guy in the inside look at verse eight carefully you'll see in verse eight a number of clauses!
[90:51] there are six clauses! even though he will not get up and he give him anything because he is his friend yet because of his anideon he will get up and he will give him as much as he needs go back there even though he will not get up who's the he Mr.
[91:18] B and he give him anything who's the he Mr. B because he is his friend who's the he Mr.
[91:29] B skip the next line he will get up who's the he B and he will give him everything he needs B so in five of those clauses clearly Mr.
[91:42] B is the subject well that means that middle one should be the he should be the subject too because of his anideon Mr. B avoidance of shame the quality of shamelessness belongs to the guy inside okay now here's the point even if the guy inside hates the guy outside he's going to get up and he is going to give Mr. A as much as he needs because he does not want the story going around the village the next morning that he did not help extend hospitality am I right Asian friends am I right the laughter is a great affirmation even if
[92:43] Mr. B hates Mr. A he's going to get up and do this the point being there is something that goes beyond friendship and it is this avoidance of shame I'm not going to damage my reputation I'm not going to lose face because I do not want to hear the villagers say to me tomorrow morning Daryl you failed to help us extend hospitality so Mr.
[93:17] B will do it even if he hates Mr. A to avoid the shame to save his face to honor his name and to honor the name of the village all right now we can finally hear what Jesus is saying in the parable Lord teach us to pray Jesus teaches the Lord's prayer and then he teaches this parable the parable is not about us who are praying the parable is about the father of the Lord Jesus Christ when you pray say father hallow your name father honor your name and he does the parable teaches that the father has a nightion that the father honors his name that the father avoids shame or to put it positively in biblical terms the father will always act in ways that honor his name the father will never ever shame his name what is his name earlier on we said there's all kinds of names on and on it goes but
[94:54] I said earlier on the name above every name is Yahweh I am Moses standing by the burning bush says to God what is your name my name is Yahweh I am who I am not in a philosophical sense it's not as though God is saying look I'm the great I am I'm contemplating myself just go away no but I am in the sense of I am there with you and for you I said earlier that's how I translate this name Yahweh I am there with you and for you Yahweh is the covenant name you know that throughout the Bible God has made these covenants with humanity and at the heart of all those covenants is this phrase I will be your God and you will be my people I love that phrase I will be your God it means all that makes me
[95:55] God I place at your disposal everything that makes me God I give you everything all that's packed into his name God I give you I give you my wisdom my power my joy my holiness I give it all to you it's all at your disposal and Jesus says that God will always honor that name the father will never ever shame that name I am there with you and for you God has gone public with this name this is who I am in Exodus 33 this is my memorial name this is what I want to be known by all the time and God has placed this name on his people Yahweh's people and God said I am there with you and for you and
[96:55] God does not want to hear the neighbors say he does not want to hear the neighbors hear that one of his went to him in need and was turned away I am there with you and for you and I will never ever shame my name now play the video back into the rest of scripture and this is how people in the Old Testament prayed they understood this Exodus 32 Moses is praying to God the context is that Israel has been disobedient in the desert and God says that's it I've had it with these people I'm going to wipe them out and I'm going to start over with you Moses how does Moses pray you remember that remember you can't do this why what are the
[98:04] Egyptians going to think in the morning seriously that's how he prays you went public with your name Yahweh you placed your name on these people and if you wipe them out it brings shame to your name the Egyptians are going to see you shamed your name and then what is it saying Exodus 32 what did God do changed his mind the psalmist pray this way David in Psalm 25 11 for your name sake blot out my sin for it is great whoa what an encouragement for prayer my name my my actual the word he uses there is in my iniquity my iniquity is so great dear God for the sake of your name forgive me you said that if we come to you and confess our sins you will forgive us and
[99:11] I'm banking on your name Psalm 23 the most famous sermon has that in it the Lord is my shepherd I shall not want he makes me lie down in green pastures he leads me to walk in the paths of righteousness for his namesake because he said he would this is most powerfully lived out in Ezekiel 36 read that sometime Ezekiel 36 God says that Israel has gone into exile because of their disobedience and then God says though that I'm going to cleanse you I'm going to purify you I'm going to fill you with my spirit I'm going to put my spirit on you I'm going to pour my spirit on you my spirit is going to come and make you clean and make you whole and make you filled again and then God says I'm not doing this just for your sake I'm doing it for my namesake because when
[100:15] I call my people and make my people my people I promise to do this for them and my name is at stake in your! filthiness and I'm going to so do you see how this parable helps the disciples want to pray it's wonderful assurance and prayer that God will not shame his name the father loves us right right right right say with me the father loves us if you doubt that go to Luke 15 the parable of the prodigal father the father loves us the father loves us right I need a lot of heads to shake okay say it again the father loves us again please again please no question about it right say it again the father loves us but even if he doesn't he does but even if he doesn't something else is going on the father loves his name he loves his name
[101:38] Jesus says you can count on this he will honor his name he said he is for you and with you and you can count on that now God's commitment to his name then translates into commitment to his people 1st Samuel chapter 12 verse 22 1st Samuel 12 22 the context is that Israel wants a human king and if you know the Old Testament story that was Israel's big mistake you don't want a human king you just don't don't do this Samuel says don't go down this road your human kings are greedy and they're going to take your kids and make them soldiers they're going to take your land and make it their land they're going to take your wealth and you don't want this don't do it and then Samuel says 1st Samuel 12 22 for the sake of his great name Yahweh will not reject you in Israel wanting a human king
[102:39] Israel was rejecting God as king don't do this Samuel says but nevertheless for the sake of his name he won't reject you so John Piper can say it was God's good pleasure to join you to himself in such a way that his name is at stake in your destiny it was the father's good pleasure to join you to himself in such a way that his name is at stake in your destiny or it was God's good pleasure to possess you in such a way that what happens to you affects his name the father's name is I am there with you and for you I give myself to you and what happens to you affects his name I found myself praying that way your name's at stake in this dear
[103:48] God you got to come through and help me now this helps us understand the rest of Luke 11 look at verse 9 I translated it literally for you it usually ask seek knock not because it's a call to persistence which is what I thought of most of my life as though we have to wear God down it's actually an assurance because ask seek knock are in the present tense ask seek knock keep asking keep seeking keep knocking why does Jesus tell us to do that to wear God down no because something always happens when you ask seek knock always I can promise you that ask keep asking keep seeking keep knocking something always happens so keep on now why do you keep on then because verse 10 receive find door opened receive and find are also in the present tense is receiving is finding so
[104:56] Jesus is saying to the one who keeps asking it is no the one who keeps asking is receiving the one who keeps seeking is finding because something always happens when you pray what happens mother Teresa answers best she says we are expanding our capacity to receive keep asking keep seeking keep knocking you're expanding the capacity to receive to receive what God that's what she says we're expanding our capacity to receive God and therefore verse 13 give the Holy Spirit will not the Father give the Holy Spirit to those who are asking the
[105:58] African theologian St. Augustine of the 4th century says that the Holy Spirit is the embodiment of the love relationship between the Father and the Son the Father loves his Son oh my the Father delights in his Son and the Son loves his Father and delights in his father the understatement and the Holy Spirit is the embodiment of all of that love and all of that delight and the Father and the Son have declared publicly their promise to give the Holy Spirit to whoever asks Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the promise of the Father and the Father will never be shamed he will always honor this request how you doing so can you imagine Mr.
[106:51] A going to miss get receiving a guest at midnight going to Mr. B asking for Mr. B to give him three loaves of bread can you imagine Mr.
[107:03] B saying to Mr. A go away I cannot get up and give you anything can you imagine that no can you imagine going to God the Father in the name of Jesus Christ his son and asking for more of the Holy Spirit and being told by God the Father to go away no the Father will get up and will give you as much of the Spirit as you need in order to extend hospitality to the world so ask right now just ask for whatever you need what are you facing where you are struggling in the quiet
[108:21] Father I come to you in the name of your son breathe more of your spirit into me breathe more of your cleansing into me breathe more of your power into me breathe more of your wisdom into me!
[108:44] I go me I go to me I go to me!!