LUKE 11:1-13
2
(11:2-4) Prayer: Jesus’ model prayer. Naturally, Jesus will teach anyone to pray—anyone who is really sincere and
wants to begin praying. Note what Jesus did. He said, “When ye pray, say....” or “After this manner...pray ye” or “Pray
then like this.” He was giving a model prayer upon which we are to base our praying. It is a guide, the points of which are to
be prayed through. The believer is to develop the points as He prays.
1. Thank God for two things.
a. Thank God for being “our Father.” This is a personal relationship, a family relationship, the relationship of
a child to a parent. It is a family relationship wrought by a person’s being born anew (Jn.1:12-13;
2 Cor.6:17-18. Cp. Gal.4:4-7.) A person needs to thank God for being his Father, for creating the family of
God and allowing him to be a part of so glorious a family.
b. Thank God for heaven. Heaven is the spiritual dimension of being; it is the real world, incorruptible and
undefiled, and it does not fade away. More importantly, it is where God is, and it is where we shall be. We
need to thank God for heaven, that He is there and that we shall be in heaven with Him.
2. Praise God. His name is hallowed, set apart, different. God is holy, righteous, pure, loving, kind, merciful, gracious.
Therefore, God is to be praised for who He is.
3. Request four things in particular. But note: these should be prayed for only after we have thanked and praised God.
a. Pray for God’s kingdom to come. Christ needs to be enthroned, His rule and reign established on earth. His
will needs to be done in all of our lives just as it is done in heaven. We need to pray for such to come.
b. Pray for daily bread, that is, for the necessities of life. People are hungry, starving both physically and
spiritually. We all need to be fed both without and within. We need to pray both for our bodies and spirits—
daily (cp. Mt.6:24-32).
c. Pray for forgiveness. We should pray for the Father to forgive our sins, and we need to take some time in
discussing the matter with our Father. But note the word “our.” We are to ask God to forgive “our sins,” the
sins of our family, neighbors, city, state, nation, and world. Sin is a shame, an affront to God. Sin is the most
serious matter and most tragic event to ever occur in the universe. It is to be discussed with the Father
every day—not just our own sins, but the world’s sins. Intercessory prayer for the sinners of the world is to
be a daily event in the life of every believer. But note a crucial fact: old sins that have been confessed and
covered by the blood of Christ are not to be brought back up to God. They are already forgiven, hid and
cast away by God. He does not want them remembered anymore. They are too painful and hurtful.
However, there are new sins—new things committed every day—so many within our hearts and throughout
the world that it would stagger the human mind. We are ever so short of God’s glory—unconformed to the
image of Christ, undeveloped and immature—so far short of what we should be. It is these and the
unconfessed sins of the world and the new sins of the human heart that need to be forgiven. The believer
needs to come every day begging for a fresh experience of forgiveness both for himself and for the world.
Note there is a condition for forgiveness. We must forgive those who sin against us. We sin and sin
often against God. If we expect Him to forgive us, we have to forgive those who offend us.

“For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: but if
ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses”
(Mt.6:14-15).
“And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father al-
so which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses” (Mk.11:25).

d. Pray for deliverance. The idea of God’s leading men into temptation bothers some people. God tempts no
one to do evil (Jas.1:13). What this request means is, “Pray for God to deliver us from temptation and from
the evil one, Satan” (cp. Lk.22:40; 1 Cor.10:13).

3
(11:5-10) Prayer: man’s part in prayer. No clearer explanation of man’s part in prayer could be given than what is
taught here.
1. Jesus illustrated very simply what man’s part is. The story explains itself.
2. Jesus drove the point home: perseverance and endurance receives what it asks. The believer shall get what he asks if he...
• will not leave the throne of God.
• will not go away.
• will not let God alone.

The whole point is that the person who prays must be sincere, fervent, constant, persistent, persevering, and enduring in
seeking the face of God for whatever he wants.
3. Jesus gave an exhortation, a mini-sermon, to persevere and endure in prayer, and he stated it perfectly in two ways.
a. The person who prays is to continue asking for what he needs.
⇒ Ask, and it shall be given you. But if asking does not receive it, then...
⇒ seek, and ye shall find. But if seeking does not receive it, then...
⇒ knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
The point is this: we must mean what we pray, and the way we show God our sincerity is by continuing
to ask for what we need.
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