Sermon: Persistent Prayer

Scripture Text: Luke 11:1-13

Quotes for Reflection

Hudson Taylor, Hudson Taylor’s Choice Sayings: A Compilation from His Writings and Addresses
Let us give up our work, our thoughts, our plans, ourselves, our lives, our loved ones, our influence, our all, right into His hand, and then, when we have given all over to Him, there will be nothing left for us to be troubled about, or to make trouble about.

Michael Card, Luke: The Gospel of Amazement
If you want a window into the personal prayer life of Jesus, the Gospel of Luke is the best place to begin. When you look through the various panes of the pages of his Gospel, you will see Jesus staying up all night to pray on several occasions (for example, Lk 5:16). At every turning point, whether it was choosing the Twelve (Lk 6:12-16) or preparing for the night of the transfiguration (Lk 9:28), Luke tells us that events happened as he was praying. When Jesus angrily tears up, for the second time, in the marketplace in the temple court, Luke tells us that the real reason for Jesus’ emotion is his desire that the Gentiles have a quiet place to pray (Lk 19:46). More than any other Gospel, Luke paints us a picture of Jesus on his knees.

N.T. Wright, Luke for Everyone
The ‘Lord’s Prayer’, as many call it, is therefore not just a loosely connected string of petitions. It is a prayer for people who are following Jesus on the kingdom-journey. Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem, to act on behalf of God’s name, which had been dragged in the mud as his people had turned away from him in rebellion. He was on the way to accomplish the ‘Exodus’ in which the long-awaited kingdom of God would become a reality. He had provided bread for the journey, and ‘the breaking of bread’ was to become the sign of his presence in the church, and the bond between his followers. He was already offering forgiveness, and would accomplish it completely in his death – and he was already demanding from his followers that they imitate the graciousness of their God in forgiving their enemies, let alone each other. And, as we have already seen and will shortly see in more detail, he was waging war against the powers of evil, a war that would reach its decisive battle on Calvary. This is a prayer which grows out of the mission of Jesus himself. It has been ideally suited, both as it stands and as a framework for wider praying, for his followers ever since.

Application Questions

1. How would you describe the place of prayer in your life?

2. How can the notion of persistence be an encouragement for prayer?

3. What’s one thing from Jesus’s teaching in Luke 11:1-13 that can change how you abide with God this week?