The key to understanding what Jesus teaches his disciples about prayer is recognising that it’s all about the gift of the Holy Spirit which was yet to happen.
Luke 11:9-13
9 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Can I invite you to spend a few minutes thinking about what “prayer” means to you?
When I think about prayer, I am usually thinking about what I pray, how I pray, whether I pray often enough, long enough, or for the “right” things.
When Jesus’ disciples ask him to teach them how to pray, I imagine they have seen him praying, and sense that something very different is happening when compared with what they know as prayer. Listen to Jesus’ answer. He gives them some words which start “Our Father” and he tells a parable about going to a friend’s house at midnight to ask for some bread for someone else. Then he says the words in the passage above.
As I read the passage – as I ponder the puzzling words and images and what seem to be grand statements and promises, it seems confusing and jarring. What is this blanket promise that everyone who asks for will receive? Who would even think of giving their child a snake, or a scorpion?
Then I get to the last sentence, and it’s like a key that unlocks the whole thing. His answer to the disciples is so much bigger than anything they could have imagined prayer to be.
Jesus is inviting (perhaps imploring) his disciples to enter into a relationship with God for themselves, by asking him to give them his Holy Spirit.
So, when it comes to learning to pray, it’s not about knowing the rules, or following a formula.
It’s about a relationship with God, our perfect loving heavenly father. It’s about asking for and receiving his forgiveness. It’s about asking for and receiving his new life – spiritual life – breathed into me, bearing fruit such as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self-control. It’s about Jesus with me. This is the door that opens to anyone who knocks. This is so much more, so much bigger, so much more radical than anything they or I could possibly have imagined.
Head: When Jesus is speaking to his disciples, the Holy Spirit has not yet come at Pentecost. What has God (Father Son and Holy Spirit) done since Jesus first spoke these words that enables me to receive the Holy Spirit? Spend some time thinking about the role each plays in this amazing promise.
Heart: What does it mean to you to have the Holy Spirit dwell within you? How might this truth change the way you feel about praying?
Hands: How might you express your response to being reminded of all that we have when we have God himself dwell within us?
Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you so much that you have given me abundantly more than I would ever think to ask for – your very self. Please help me to take in the magnitude of this today, and be changed by it. In Jesus’ Name, Amen
Head: When Jesus is speaking to his disciples, the Holy Spirit has not yet come at Pentecost. What has God (Father Son and Holy Spirit) done since Jesus first spoke these words that enables me to receive the Holy Spirit? Spend some time thinking about the role each plays in this amazing promise.
Heart: What does it mean to you to have the Holy Spirit dwell within you? How might this truth change the way you feel about praying?
Hands: How might you express your response to being reminded of all that we have when we have God himself dwell within us?
Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you so much that you have given me abundantly more than I would ever think to ask for – your very self. Please help me to take in the magnitude of this today and be changed by it. In Jesus’ Name, Amen
A song to listen to: Saved my soul
Ros Cree
