Lord's Prayer

LUKE — LESSON 11

Scriptures for this lesson are taken from Luke 11 and Genesis 1.

At the end of Luke chapter 10, Jesus was at Bethany a town down past the Garden of Gethsemane and over the hill about two miles from Jerusalem. He had been spending time with His friend Lazarus and his two sisters Mary and Martha.

[Luke 11:1-4] (1) One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” (2) 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) Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.’”

Jesus’ disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. They wanted to pray a prayer that God would hear and would answer. John the Baptist taught his disciples to pray and they wanted Jesus to teach them. In Matthew 6:9-15 Jesus gave the longer version of this model prayer. In this shorter version, He focused on seven elements of a proper prayer to God.

1. We are to address God as our father. Like an earthly father, God gives us life, provision for physical needs, guidance and protection.

2. Hallowed means “Holy”. We are to tell God that He is Holy to us. His name is Holy, He is Holy.

3. Ask God for His kingdom to come. We are telling God that His kingdom is more important to us than what this world can offer.

4. As God to provide for our daily needs and that we trust Him to do it.

5. Ask for our sins to be forgiven. We want God to take away our sins so that we will not be held accountable for them and we will be clean.

6. Ask God to forgive all who do sinful things against us, meaning that we forgive them and ask God the Father to forgive them.

7. Ask God to help us recognize and resist when Satan is tempting.

[Like 11:5-10] (5) Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; (6) a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ (7) And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ (8) I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need. (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!”

This parable is a continuation of the model prayer. The key is in verse 8. “I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.”

Jesus uses three words here to describe how we receive from God: ASK. SEEK. KNOCK.

ASK means to question, to seek information, to request for something, to invite. We are to ask God for: our daily needs; forgiveness; help not to sin. SEEK means to search for, to endeavor to reach, to move forward, to request. KNOCK means to strike with a blow, to cause to collide, to pound. What does it mean to be bold? It means to have confidence, to have faith. We are to seek God, to praise Him and to ask for our needs believing with faith that He will answer. Be bold!

[Luke 11:14-20] (14) Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute. When the demon left, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowd was amazed. (15) But some of them said, “By Beelzebub, the prince of demons, he is driving out demons.” (16) Others tested him by asking for a sign from heaven. (17) Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: “Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall. (18) If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? I say this because you claim that I drive out demons by Beelzebub. (19) Now if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your followers drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. (20) But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

This seems to be a different time. It sounds like there was a big crowd of people and all of the scripture to the end of chapter-11 were spoken at this time and place. Jesus had healed a mute man. The amazed crowd speculated about what power Jesus had used to heal the man. Some said He had used the power of Beelzebub or Satan. Others said that He should do another miracle to prove that His power had come from God. In answer to them, Jesus used the analogy of a kingdom doing battle against itself. It would destroy itself from within. Satan would not fight against himself. Therefore, if Jesus was using the power of God, then the Kingdom of God had come.

[Luke 11:21-23] (21) “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. (22) But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up his plunder. (23) “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. (24) “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ (25) When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. (26) Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first.”

The Kingdom of God had come and it was not just the message of salvation for those who believe, but it came with power, the power to resist and overcome the power of Satan. The parable in verses 21-24 is about Satan who controls those under his power, but the Kingdom of God was and is more powerful that Satan and had come to destroy Satan’s power and control over mankind.

[Genesis 1:27] (27) So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

God created man in His own image. God is a spiritual being; therefore He created man as a spiritual being. Mankind has a physical human body and a spirit within him. Satan is also a spiritual being. Man can allow the spirit of Satan to dwell with him or the Spirit of God, but not both. Jesus said, “Whoever is not with me is against me.” In Verses 24-26 Jesus is saying that an empty soul or spirit is an open door for Satan. If Christ does not dwell within your spirit to guide and protect you, then Satan can come in and have control.

[Luke 11:27-28] (27) As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.” (28) He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”

The Jews were always looking for the Messiah to come as they are still today. It was the desire of Jewish women to be so blessed by God that He would allow them to be the mother of the Messiah. This woman in the crowd called to Jesus that His mother was blessed by God to have given birth to Him. By saying this, she was acknowledging that He was the Messiah. Jesus replied to her that is was a much greater blessing to hear His message, to hear God’s word and obey it.

[Luke 11:29-36] (29) As the crowds increased, Jesus said, “This is a wicked generation. It asks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah. (30) For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation. (31) The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the people of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom; and now something greater than Solomon is here. (32) The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and now something greater than Jonah is here.

While Jesus was teaching, more people joined the crowd that was listening. Jesus goes back to verse 16, where the people asked for a sign to prove that Jesus used the power of God and not Satan to drive out a demon from the man that was mute. Here He tells the crowd that they are a wicked people, and no other sign or miracle will be given to them to prove who He was other than the sign of Jonah.

Before we discuss the meaning of the sign of Jonah, I would to say personally that there are many Biblical expositors who deny that the events described in the book of Jonah really happened. I say to them, “Do you deny the words of Jesus Christ?” So what is the sign of Jonah? Jonah was swallowed by a big ocean creature of some kind, probably a whale and he was inside this creature for three days and then spit up onto dry land. God had a work for him to do and He got Jonah’s attention that he had to fulfill his mission. Jesus died on the cross and arose again on the third day to fulfill His mission. But I think that the real sign was Jonah’s message to the people of Nineveh that they must repent of their evil ways or be destroyed. The people of Nineveh listened and repented.

The Queen of the South was the Queen of Sheba who came over 1,400 miles across the desert sands of Arabia, along the coast of the Red Sea, up into Moab and over the Jordan River to Jerusalem to see Solomon and learn from his wisdom. The trip would take at least six months each way. Jesus is saying that the preaching of Jonah and the fact that the people of Nineveh listened and repented and the great journey of the Queen of Sheba showing how important she thought it was to learn from Solomon are nothing compared to the message that the people of that generation where given from the Son of God that the Kingdom of God had come to man. But that wicked generation rejected the Word of God and His Son!

[Luke 11:33-36] (33) “No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light. (34) Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are healthy your whole body also is full of light. But when they are unhealthy your body also is full of darkness. (35) See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness. (36) Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be just as full of light as when a lamp shines its light on you.”

Jesus uses the example of a lamp that is put on a stand so that a room will have light. The eyes give light to the body so that it can see how to do things and move about. Jesus uses these examples to tell the people seeking another sign that they did not need more light or another sign but to accept the light they already had. What God was doing through Jesus was plain enough.

[Luke 11:37-53] (37) When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so he went in and reclined at the table. (38) But the Pharisee was surprised when he noticed that Jesus did not first wash before the meal. (39) Then the Lord said to him, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. (40) You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? (41) But now as for what is inside you—be generous to the poor, and everything will be clean for you. (42) “Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone. (43) “Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the most important seats in the synagogues and respectful greetings in the marketplaces. (44) “Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, which people walk over without knowing it.” (45) One of the experts in the law answered him, “Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us also.” (46) Jesus replied, “And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them. (47) “Woe to you, because you build tombs for the prophets, and it was your ancestors who killed them. (48) So you testify that you approve of what your ancestors did; they killed the prophets, and you build their tombs. (49) Because of this, God in his wisdom said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and others they will persecute.’ (50) Therefore this generation will be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning of the world, (51) from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be held responsible for it all. (52) “Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering.” (53) When Jesus went outside, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law began to oppose him fiercely and to besiege him with questions, (54) waiting to catch him in something he might say.

This passage is called “the woes of the scribes as Pharisees.” After Jesus had finished teaching on this occasion, one of the Pharisees invited Him to his home to eat. There were other Pharisees and teachers of the Jewish Laws, their interpretations of the Law of Moses there also. They wanted to hear more of Jesus’ teaching in a private setting. The word “woe” means to be aware, something bad is coming. He said that they were a foolish and hypercritical people. They so carefully demanded that the people follow every word of their interpretations of the law, but they had neither mercy nor love for the people’s needs. They had replaced the love and giving part of God’s Law with rules and regulations. They made a show of their righteousness and desired the praise of men, but they were unclean on the inside. After this the Pharisees followed Jesus all the time besieging Him with questions trying to find something they could use against Him.

Lessons for us from Luke chapter 11:

1. We should seek God boldly praising Him and asking for what we need.

2. When we pray we should pray believing without a doubt the God will answer.

3. Those that hear the Word of God and reject it will not see eternal life with the Lord.

4. We should fill our heart and spirit with things of God, leaving not room for Satan to creep in.

5. Our worship to God should include love for and ministry to our fellow man.

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