Persistent prayer, "when you pray, say..."

Luke 10:38-11:13 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

³⁸ Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. ³⁹ She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word. ⁴⁰ But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.” ⁴¹ But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; ⁴² but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

11 It happened that while 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 also taught his disciples.” ² And He said to them, “When you pray, say:

‘Father, hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
³ ‘Give us each day our daily bread.
⁴ ‘And forgive us our sins,
For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation.’”

⁵ Then He said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; ⁶ for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; ⁷ and from inside he answers and says, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ ⁸ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

⁹ “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. ¹⁰ For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened. ¹¹ 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? ¹² Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? ¹³ If you then, being 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 Him?”

Jesus says “ask and it will be given to you…” He ends that thought, the principle of God giving us what we need, saying: “how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”   The Holy Spirit is an important part of the answer to what we need. The psalmist says:   He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. ² I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust!” ³ For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper And from the deadly pestilence. ⁴ He will cover you with His pinions, And under His wings you may seek refuge (Psalm 91:1-4) It is the Holy Spirit, the third part of the Triune God, who dwells and abides in us and so allows us to dwell and abide in God, in the place where we have all that we need. In John 14:16-17 Jesus says:    I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; ¹⁷ that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.     Jesus continues in John 14: 26-27 saying:    the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. ²⁷ Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.      When we seek, knock and ask, as Jesus says and the Father gives us the good gift of the Holy Spirit, we then have peace, no fear. We have the security the psalmist speaks knowing we are in God’s care, His covering. Jesus says the Holy Spirit teaches us and brings to our remembrance all that Jesus said. When we have the Holy Spirit and yield to Him, we remember and are assured of all the promises of God, and the Holy Spirit teaches us and guides us in the application of those promises for our lives and the circumstance we are in.  

In the example Jesus gives of asking a neighbor for something, Jesus says:  “yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs.”  We are to pray persistently, it is not that we nag God, nor do we wear Him down so that He finally relents and gives in, but if we pray persistently as Jesus taught us to pray:  Father, hallowed be Your name. First we address God as Father, not some far off mystical, unseen higher power. God is our Father. Yet we are to say: hallowed be Your name. Although He is a personal and loving God we need to always revere Him, He and His name are holy and worthy of our praise. Proverbs 18:10 says: The name of the LORD is a strong tower; The righteous runs into it and is safe. There is safety and security in the hallowed name of God. In  the Hebrew language there were many names for God, many reflecting a particular aspect of His character, such as: Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord who provides, Jehovah-Rapha, the Lord who heals, or what God called Himself when He sent Moses to the Israelites, I Am, in the Hallowed name of God there is everything we need for every need we have.

Our persistent prayer continues: Your kingdom come. God’s kingdom, His heavenly kingdom has come. On the cross, Jesus said: “It is finished.”(John 19:30) The finished work of the cross has brought forth, actually restored the kingdom of heaven, here to earth. Everything that is complete in heaven is also available here as God’s kingdom comes and establishes itself on earth.

 The prayer continues: Give us each day our daily bread. Just as God provided manna daily for the Israelites in the wilderness, they could not keep His provision from one day to the next, we need God’s provision, His revelation each day. We need what He has for us every day, yesterday’s provision or revelation will not meet today’s need.

Our prayer continues:  And forgive us our sins, For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. In Mark 11:22-26, Jesus says:     “Have faith in God. ²³ Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. ²⁴ Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you. ²⁵ Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions. ²⁶ But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions.”    Living a life of Forgiveness is vital to our prayer life. Without the forgiveness of God, Christ’s finished work on the cross we have nothing of God. We are to forgive as we have been forgiven, unconditionally, without regard to the other person’s worthiness of our forgiveness.

And lead us not into temptation.    If we pray persistently, as Jesus taught us to pray, we will not be tempted by fear, doubt, confusion, we will not be tempted to follow our own way or the way of the world. James 1: 12-17 says:    Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. ¹³ Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. ¹⁴ But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. ¹⁵ Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. ¹⁶ Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. ¹⁷ Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.    God does not tempt us, He gives us every good and perfect gift; when we ask, He gives us the best gift, the Holy Spirit.

Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.   Amen.