Pray – “Bold Prayer”

One question kicks off our new series on prayer: “What do you want?” Among humans, this can be a bit of a dangerous question if we don’t qualify or limit it. However, it was one of Jesus’ favorite questions – he asked it often, even at odd times (like before healing a blind man). As we consider the importance of prayer in our lives, it must be our starting point for the conversation.

1. Bold Prayer Reveals (Luke 11:5-8)

• • In Luke 11, Jesus tells a somewhat strange parable about a man who needs something from his friend – and needs it in the middle of the night. Even though his friend tells him it’s too late at night and he can’t help, he keeps asking and finally gets what he wants because of his “shameless persistence.”
  • It’s important to remember that Jesus is making a point about how we should pray – not about how God answers prayer. He’s comparing us (when we pray) to the friend asking for a favor, not comparing God to the friend inside the house. In the parable, Jesus is commending the asker’s boldness in believing that his friend could – and eventually would – give him what he asked for.
  • Bold prayer reveals what we really believe about God – that he hears us and will answer. Conversely, our timid, unexpectant prayers reveal something about ourselves: that we’re not desperate enough and we don’t fully understand how much we really need God to come through for us.

2. Bold Prayer Unlocks (Luke 11:9-10)
   
   • “Ask, seek, knock.” Following up on the parable, Jesus lays it out plainly for his listeners: if you are bold (and persistent) in your requests to God – bold like the friend at the door in the parable – you will receive what you’re asking for. It’s just that simple.
   • There is a mysterious beauty to prayer. When we pray, somehow the sovereign God of the universe has carved out space within his will for us to ask and receive what we want. He has somehow incorporated our asking and receiving into his will and his plan. Our bold prayers unlock that mystery.
   • Even our “ugly prayers” – our uncertain, hurried, half-hearted, no-other-option prayers – honor God, because they’re prayers. They show that we believe, like Job, that he’s God and we’re not, and that he is worthy of our asking (even when it sounds more like whining…).

3. Bold Prayer Believes (Luke 11:11-13)

• • Jesus wraps up his teaching on prayer in Luke 11 with a rhetorical question: if a child asks his human father for food, what good father would give the child a snake or a scorpion instead? And if human fathers know how to give good things to their children, why wouldn’t a loving God do the same?
  • Part of praying boldly is simply trusting that God is good and will give you what’s best for you – what you would ask for if you knew what he knows. Sometimes we can be angry or disappointed with God because we don’t get exactly what we ask for – so we pull away from him and even stop praying. But God wants what’s best for you – and he wants you to trust him that he will give it to you. Just keep asking!

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ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE

These passages may provide additional insights related to the subject of this week’s message. All verses are NLT unless otherwise noted.

Psalm 145:18; Jeremiah 29:11-13; Mark 11:22-24; John 15:7; Philippians 4:6-7; 1 John 5:13-15

Video of the Week: Wisdom: Job by the Bible Project

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION

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1. How important is prayer in your life?  Would you consider yourself to be a “praying person”?  Explain your answer.

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2. If prayer doesn’t play a big role in your life – if you don’t pray often and expectantly – why do you think that is?

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3. Read Luke 11:9-10 again. On its surface, it seems like Jesus is saying “whatever you really want – a new car, a great job, healing from cancer – keep asking and God will eventually give it to you.” What’s wrong with that interpretation?  

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4. While we may not always get exactly what we ask for, most of us believe that our prayers somehow influence God and how he relates to us. How do you explain this “beautiful mystery” – the mystery of puny humans affecting what God does with just our words?

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5. Why is trusting that God is good so important to our ability to pray boldly for what we want?

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6. What is one situation in your life right now – a need you have, a sick family member, an impossible situation – that you could pray boldly to God for?  What, if anything, is keeping you from doing so?

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