Luke 10:35-11:13 reflection

The Lord's Prayer

11:1 Now Jesus [1] was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John 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, [2]
4 and forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation.”

5 And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, 6 for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? 8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence [3] he will rise and give him whatever he needs. 9 And I tell 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 the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 11 What father among you, if his son asks for [4] a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

This story is written in Luke after the story of Mary and Martha. Everyone knows the story of Mary and Martha it’s a story about 2 people. 2 very different people, one welcomed Jesus into her house, the other sat at the Lord’s feet. Verse 41 says “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her”.

How many of us read this separate from the next? When I think about the story of Mary and Martha, I don’t think about the verses before which are about the Good Samaritan and the next which is about the Lord’s Prayer.

Moreover, I saw NO connection between Mary and Martha and the Lord’s Prayer.
But, let us see the connection and see how wonderful and rich this passage actually is.

Before we dig deeper into Luke 11, ask yourselves these questions:

1. What are the things that Martha is anxious and troubled about?
2. What things did Mary choose

I think, this section in Luke 11, is an extension of the story of Mary and Martha. The beginning of the chapter, like Martha, the disciples too asked Jesus a question. A good question “Lord teach us how to pray – JUST AS JOHN TAUGHT his disciples”. Jesus then answered this is how to pray:

“May the Father’s name be glorified and His reign comes. Give us enough each day and forgive our sins, because we too forgive those who is indebted to us. And help us not to be tempted”
Can you see? Just like Martha, the disciples too are worried and anxious about something. Have you ever wondered, why in the first place they asked Jesus how to pray, and Luke added here – Just as John taught his disciples?

Do you think that the disciples asked because they truly loved God and want to properly worship Him? Or is it because they see Jesus’ prayer always answered? Is it because they think that they’re not doing what “religious” people are supposed to be doing? Or is it because John did it?
Can you see a connection between this two? Both of these sections are stories about 2 different types of worshipper of God. The former is a worshipper who looked like they wanted to “do their best” for the Kingdom. There is NOTHING wrong with wanting to “do your best” in serving His Kingdom. There is nothing wrong with spending all your days and hours and fill it with godly things. Nothing wrong with that! But there is one thing wrong – and that is if those religious activities and our time is given so much to the means – the way we serve God and there is no time left for God Himself.

Can you see? Martha asked Jesus, “Tell my sister to help me. Do you not care that I am serving alone?” the disciples asked Jesus “Jesus teach us how to pray like John taught his disciples”. There is nothing wrong with these two requests. Mary wanted to serve people, the disciples wanted to do the right thing when worshipping God – how to pray. But from these two questions you can see clearly, that they are not a people who strife after God’s own heart.
It’s funny that to Martha, Mary is given as a contrast.

Look at Mary – when Martha taught of the best way to serve the LORD. All she did is sit and listen to Him. She didn’t do ANYTHING. She didn’t even asked Jesus whether He wants water or not or even considered how tired He is after a long day journey preaching and healing. She actually made His life a lot harder by wanting to hear His teaching. She’s TROUBLING HIM!
But is she?

Let us compare this with the Lord’s prayer:
“Father, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
3 Give us each day our daily bread, [2]
4 and forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation.”
How is this connected to Mary?

This prayer, not just gives us a foundation of how our prayer should looks like. It pierced through the heart and motivation of a human being. Can you see? When Jesus gives us this prayer, He is giving us the permission to be this. What is the person who prays like this looks like? Like Mary.

Can you see how beautiful this prayer is?

The first thing it asks is that His name be glorified. Why is that? This is truly a prayer of one who truly knows who God is. That He is able to make HIS OWN NAME GLORIFIED. This prayer is a petition; a begging prayer, begging Him so that HE WOULD DO ALLL THESE THINGS HIMSELF QUICKLY. This is a begging prayer, begging God to be God.

Four lines are written for us – and that is so that GOD would give us what we need to go on living. That He would forgive us and lead us not into things that we are not able to say NO against.

You see now, why Jesus said Mary had chosen the thing that is necessary; the good portion that will not be taken away from her? Because she chose God Himself~!

She chose to follow God and trust that God is able to use her for His Kingdom in His own way, and that is her only desire that His Kingdom is glorified. But Mary did not beg God to use her, but she begs God to do it Himself first- whichever tool He used it is up to Him.
Now how does this apply to us?

In our ministry, how many times do we really think like this? Don’t we spend our time more on planning and training and teaching than praying and reading the Bible? When was the last time we pray and fast before we make a decision? When was the last time, we truly felt that we need to seek God’s wisdom in our life? That we long to pray for His people and for us to desire His words without God having to rebuke us first?

I heard a testimony of a 71 yrs old man converted from being religious to a Christian. He said that he was actively involved in youth groups; he thinks that church is important – everything that he knows is right. It fulfils the requirements for a Christian – he was even ordained as a deacon in the church. But little did he know that he was worshipping and trusting in the church rather than God. He trusted in his own deeds, he trusted in himself for his salvation. little did he seek the Lord for forgiveness. But praise God that God graciously taught him of his ways, and reminded him to go back to God.

There is one reason why I didn’t talk about verse 5-12. It is because this is where the encouragement comes. Read chapter 9-12.

And I tell 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 the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 11 What father among you, if his son asks for [4] a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Can you see this verse. Can you read this and still not pray? God has given so much privilege to us, so much blessings but yet we often miss it. God says IF YOU WHO ARE EVIL KNOW HOW TO GIVE GOOD GIFTS TO YOU CHILREM HOW MUCH MORE WILL THE HEAVENLY FATHER GIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT TO THOSE WHO ASKS.

Can you read this and not praise God.

You know, God knows that we are not able. God knows that we need Him every hour. God knows all of this. He is willing to give us what we need. He constantly reminds us that we need Him and offers us this thing that is good and useful for us. But we rejected his offer. We constantly forget that He is who He is – that He is willing, He is love, He is kind.
Friends, we forgot that He is kind. We forgot that He holds the very thing that we need and is willing to freely give it to us. We forgot about Him..