Hello Friends!
It has long been on my heart to provide our Encouraging
Concepts fellowship with an exciting expositional
study concerning PRAYER gleaned directly from God’s “truths” contained throughout His PEFECT, POWERFUL and PROPHETIC Word. Therefore, in an attempt to address this VERY important subject matter through sound “theology” (the STUDY of God) and “doctrine” (the TEACHING of God’s Word), we will endeavor to navigate these
wonderful waters via this new “topical”
Bible study formulated directly from the depths
of the “Holy Scriptures” for our
spiritual – Encouragement, Admonition & Consideration!
In utilizing a “sound” and Biblical
approach, we will explore Luke chapter 11 as our foundational text of Scripture concerning Jesus’
amazing “teaching” on the persistence
and boldness of the “friend” in “need.” This in-depth
study of God’s Word will contain several cross references
of applicable passages from both the Old and
New Testaments in which to build upon
this rich
and reliable
reference penned by Doctor Luke. Therefore, it is with this specific contextual
content in which we will grasp (by God’s great Grace) an audacious adherence to
a clear over-all Scriptural view of God’s perfect “plan“ and “purpose“ in “prayer“ for our spiritual growth and edification
in Jesus Christ – Through the FULL Counsel of God!
Included within this exciting expositional
series, the Biblical view of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy
Spirit within the Trinitarian God Head will also be “rightly” addressed – One God in THREE distinct
Persons!
Coupled with these deep and demanding “doctrines,” we will also consider the cooperative “truths” of God’s Sovereignty (Omniscience)
and Man’s Responsibility
(Human will) collectively known as – The
DOCTRINE of Concurrence!
IMPORTANT NOTE: The Bible clearly “teaches” that each Christian is individually
responsible before God for the proper “handling” of His Word as well as to our resulting “obedience” unto its commands or the “lack” thereof. Therefore, it is through high HOPES coupled with sincere HEARTS in which we will journey TOGETHER through God’s “perfect,” “inerrant“ and “all-sufficient“ Word. WHY? Because “Christ Jesus” will “perfect,” “establish,” “strengthen” and “settle” us FIRMLY in our Christian “life” and “walk” with our Savior – To His glory!
But may
the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after
you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To
Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen – 1 Peter 5:10-11
With these initial thoughts in mind, let us “consider” together this year-end Bible
study series containing the wonderful Words from our “Lord” as we “reflect” upon the “precious” purposes of “prayer” in which is AVAILABLE to and ACTIVATED through every true “believer” in Jesus Christ – Luke 11: The Biblical
Boldness of Prayer!
Luke 11: The Biblical Boldness of Prayer! (Part 1)
OPENING QUESTIONS TO PONDER: Can the TRUE Christian “pray” so persistently
that in doing so, actually wear down or even persuade
a Sovereign God? And since God
does what He wants to do according to His
perfect and “predestined”
wonderful will & ways, just how
much impact can our “prayers“
and “planning“ actually
have concerning our “walk”
with the Lord Jesus Christ? – Excellent
questions!
As
we embark on this new four-part
study series, we will find that the Bible clearly “teaches” throughout the Old and New Testaments the perfect partnership between the Sovereignty of God (Omniscience)
and Man’s Responsibility (Human will). This is known as the Doctrine of Concurrence (Compatibility). In fact, our own potentially distorted
view of the Sovereignty of God can
often cause us as “believers”
to neglect the plain commands from
the “Scriptures” of which “admonish” us to “plan” with great “persistence” in “praying” with Biblically
bold pressing “prayers”
and real “requests” made unto
Him. Yet in this serious Bible study series, we’ll see this is EXACTLY the way God WANTS us to “approach” Him – The Biblical Boldness of Prayer!
With
that said, we will begin this excellent study in the Gospel of Luke chapter 11 as we consider the precious,
penetrating and purposeful “teaching” directly from the Lord Jesus
Christ Himself! In verses 5 and
following outlines a familiar and truly unforgettable little story that Jesus
shares with His “disciples” in
tow. This telling parable
actually contains a bit of humor within its formation as we will see. And while
Jesus Christ didn’t set out to say things that are actually funny
in an attempt to directly make us laugh,
we can certainly find a warmth of His humor in this particular short story. Why? Because it is so much like – Real life!
The Biblical Boldness of Prayer!
With
that brief introduction setting the stage for our study, let’s begin with this fundamental
and foundational passage penned by Dr. Luke…
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? – Luke 11:5-13
What
starts out as a simple story, ends up becoming quite theological! A mature “believer” in Jesus Christ who has been
shaped by Scripture (the only way to become spiritually “mature”) will properly
understand the “character” and
“nature” of God. In fact,
our view of “God” is the benchmark
of our spiritual “growth” and
“maturity” in – Jesus Christ!
And
what happened here in our parable
was that this “man” finally
got out of bed and gave his “friend”
in “need” what he requested
because he was overtly “persistent”
in an urgent manner. The Greek term anaideian
refers to a “shameless boldness” and interestingly
enough, this is the only place it appears in the entire New Testament! This poignant picture
describes someone who is bold in their “prayerful” approach unto God – Shameless boldness!
Understanding
the “character” and “nature” of God is absolutely CRITICAL in our spiritual lives! Why? Because true
Christian “faith” rests upon
the REALITY of our thrice
“Holy” God. Therefore, a superficial,
shallow and limited true “knowledge” of God will contribute to an unbiblical
and unworthy weak “understanding”
of “faith” and “trust” in Him ALONE. In other words, this sad scenario
amounts to nothing other than an unbiblical, ambiguous
and generic “god talk” and/or “Jesus talk” of the silly
sort – Devoid of TRUE faith!
QUIZZING QUESTION: Are we really supposed
to “pray” with a BOLD on-going “persistence” like that? YES! And that’s exactly
what Jesus is going to “teach”
us here in this wonderful little story. In fact, as will be discovered later in
this series, “we” as “believers” will actually participate
in God’s “determinative”
eternal MEANS by which He
will achieve His “predetermined”
eternal ENDS…
THEOLOGICAL THOUGHTS: The Bible
everywhere has “declared” that God is “eternal,” “unchangeable”
and “purposeful” in His PERFECT Person!
He is Sovereign and in complete CONTROL of everything
at ALL times! God is Omnipresent in His perfect presence of which is “above,” “beyond”
and “outside” all of His “created” universe! God is Omnipotent with perfect power and is “transcendent,” “high,” “lofty”
and “majestic” as He “works” to “perfection”
His perfect “plan” for His “universe” and for “mankind.” He is Omniscient in perfect knowledge and is bringing
to pass the “plans”
of which He has “predestined”
– From BEFORE time began!
In
fact, here are several excellent examples of Biblically
bold precious “prayers”
offered to God found throughout the Old
Testament and New Testament
for us to consider:
In
Job 42:2 we read: “I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no
thought can be withholden from thee” – God KNOWS everything!
In
Psalm 33:11 we read: “The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever, the thoughts of his
heart to all generations” – God NEEDS no NEW information!
In
Proverbs 19:21 we read: “There
are many devices in a man's heart; nevertheless the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand” –
God’s counsel STANDS forever!
In
Acts 1:7 Jesus said: “And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the
times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power”
– Everything is FIXED from BEGINNING
to END!
In Acts
2:23-24
Peter is preaching on the day of Pentecost and proclaims:
“…Him, being
delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken,
and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: Whom God hath raised up, having
loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden
of it”– God the Father PREDETERMINED that Jesus Christ the
Son would be the DETRERMINED sacrifice for our salvation!
And again in Acts 4:27
& 28 Peter and John proclaim: “For
of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod,
and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered
together, for to do
whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done” – God PREDETERMINED His PERFECT
purposes!
POINTS TO PONDER: With this PERFECT “truth”
in mind, all of these realities about God can certainly
raise others questions of how our “prayers” matter to Him, And since He is Sovereign over everything,
why should we “pray” at all?
Does this “truth” about God squelch
our “prayer” life and “requests” made to Him? Sadly, these are
just some of the many accusations that have been made by
people who reject the Biblical view
of “God.” However, we must
also “remember” that we are commanded
to “pray” to God – He WANTS us to pray!
In
fact, Jesus preceded our foundational passage of Luke chapter 11 with these wonderful “words” to “teach”
us a solid Biblical framework of “prayer” to God in which to further “build” our study upon:
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. 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. Give us day by day our daily bread. 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” – Luke 11:1-4
Incidentally,
this passage was repeated from a “prayer” pattern Jesus originally
established as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew
chapter 6 when He was ministering in Galilee many months before,
reiterating the same “teaching”
outline we find here in the Gospel of Luke
chapter 11. However… Even
when we have a mature view of “God” and “understanding”
of His true character and nature,
will it cause a hindering effect on our “prayer” life? – Not at all!
BIBLICAL ILLISTRATION: The Old
Testament book of Nehemiah gives
us an example where Israel is in captivity due to their blatant “disobedience” to God and He “knows” all about every
detail. In fact, God orchestrated the whole situation! At
this time in history, the land of Israel and the city of Jerusalem are in complete
ruins:
And they said unto me, The
remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great
affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the
gates thereof are burned with fire – Nehemiah
1:3
Again,
God already knows all this. In fact, God made SURE
it all happened! Why? Because HE brought the “Babylonians” to be His executioner
in bringing “judgment” upon “disobedient” Israel for their wicked
religious “idolatry.” However… We then see the “prayerful” and bold
response of Nehemiah:
And it came to pass,
when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days,
and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven, And said, I
beseech thee, O Lord God of heaven, the great and terrible God,
that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his
commandments: Let thine ear now be
attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy
servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of
Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we
have sinned against thee: both I and my father's house have sinned – Nehemiah 1:4-6
Did
Nehemiah rightly “understand”
God? YES! He “knows” God is Sovereign Lord over ALL! Nehemiah “knows” God has an UNCONDITIONAL permanent “covenant” with “Israel” and that God is “faithful” to Himself!
Nehemiah “knows” God’s “grace” and “loving
kindness” is “given”
to those that “love” Him and “keep” His “commandments”
through ”obedience“ to
Him. And when we further read Nehemiah’s “prayer”
in its full context, it
could make us just a little bit – Squeamish!
REAL REFLECTIONS: Have YOU ever “prayed”
to God like that? – Biblically BOLD
approach IN prayer!
In closing:
As
we conclude this initial portion of our four-part study, here are a few more excellent
examples of Biblically bold poignant “prayers” offered to God of which are found
in the Wisdom Literature of the Psalms:
In
Psalm 17:1 we read: Hear the right, O Lord, attend unto my cry, give ear unto my
prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips – Please help me Lord!
In
Psalm 55:1 we read: Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not thyself from
my supplication – Please hear me Lord!
Beloved, this is an amazing way to speak to God! The BOLDNESS throughout these and many
other passages on “pleasing”
God with our Biblical “prayers“
seems almost… Inappropriate… Doesn’t it?
Don’t miss our next exciting study – “Luke
11: The Biblical Boldness of Prayer!”
We are not guaranteed tomorrow – tomorrow may be too late! If you haven't yet made that most important decision of your life, won't you make Jesus Christ your personal Lord and Savior today - before it's too late? Today is the day of Salvation!
If you have been blessed by this message or have a specific question, prayer request or testimony, please send me a note to: encouragingconcepts@live.com
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Blessings!
Shane K. Morin <><
Encouraging Concepts
Truth for Today
"Living Life From a Biblical Worldview"Lighthouse Publications <><
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