LET US PRAY

Luke 11:1-13 (KJV) ¹ And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. ² And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. ³ Give us day by day our daily bread. ⁴ And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.
⁵ And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; ⁶ For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him? ⁷ And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. ⁸ I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.
⁹ And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. ¹⁰ For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. ¹¹ If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? ¹² Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?
¹³ If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

PRAYER PRIMER - Vss. 1-4
This is a shorter version of the Lord's Prayer than Matthew gives us, however it is a great pattern for us to remember some of the basics of prayer:

1. Worship - "Hallowed be thy name" - Vs. 2
2. God's kingdom and will done quickly and completely - Vs. 2
3. Provision of our daily needs. - Vs. 3
4. Reciprocal forgiveness - Vs. 4
5. Guidance away from temptation and deliverance from sin - Vs. 4

PRAYER PARABLE - Vss. 5-8

• A man goes to his friend on behalf of a friend at an inopportune time asking for bread. - Vss. 5-6
• The friend is not ready to get up and help. It was inconvenient. - Vs. 7
• Jesus sites the fact that although the friend will not get of bed to help because of friendship, he will get out of bed in response to persistence. -  Vs. 8
• Of course, God responds postively to persistent prayer. The difference is that God answers lovingly.

PRAYER PROMISES - Vss. 9-13

• Jesus tells us to ask, seek, and knock. The idea is to keep on asking, seeking and knocking. - Vs. 9
• Jesus promises that God will answer. - Vs. 10
• Jesus uses an earthly Father as an example. Earthly fathers, who are by human nature evil, know how to give good gifts to their children. - Vss. 11-12
• The Heavenly Father will give the filling of the Holy Spirit to those of His children who ask Him. - Vs. 13
• The Holy Spirit indwells every believer. Romans 8:9
• God desires that every Christian be filled with the Holy Spirit - Ephesians 3:14-16, Ephesians 5:18
• Let us ask God for His Spirit's filling which gives marvellous results. Ephesians 5:19-21, Galatians 5:22-26