Jesus taught a lesson on prayer using the parable of the troubled host. He emphasized the importance of persistence in prayer and having faith in God's goodness. He also taught that a humble and submissive attitude is necessary when approaching God in prayer. Jesus encouraged his disciples to ask, seek, and knock in prayer, promising that those who do so will receive what they ask for. He also emphasized the need for obedience and righteousness in order for prayers to be answered. God hears the prayers of the righteous and those who please Him, but He does not answer the prayers of the wicked. Chastisement from God is a sign of His love and desire for His children to be obedient.
So, we want to begin tonight with a lesson to encourage prayer that Jesus taught. And it's the parable of the troubled host. And we're coming from the same chapter of Luke. That would be Luke chapter 11, verses 5 through 13. So, would our first reader read for us Luke chapter 11, verses 5 and 6? David Wood. Okay. Luke 11, 5 and 6. He said to him, suppose one of you can have a friend and shall go to him at midnight and say to him, send him three loaves, for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to say before him.
All right. So, we see that this is a continuation of Luke chapter 11, verses 1 through 4, where we see Jesus taught them, the disciples, to model prayer. And then he goes on to teach a lesson to encourage prayer. All right. And he says, and he starts out, he's talking about how to suppose a friend suddenly appears at your door, suddenly appears at your door at midnight, tired from a long trip, and yet you have nothing to offer him.
So, you go to another friend and ask for help. And that's where it starts off, verses 5 and 6. And then would our next reader read verse 7? Hey, Sylvia. And he will answer from within and say, do not trouble me. The door is not shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot rise and give to you. All right. So, will your friend refuse to help because it is so late at night? That's the question.
But let's go on to verse 8. And our next reader, read verse 8. Okay. I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything, because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence, he will arise and give him whatever he needs. All right. So, surely he will arise from bed and provide. But if not at first knock, he will answer if you keep knocking. It's your importunity that is persistent, and floors want to respond.
And so, we understand that Christians ought to be persistent in prayer, to have importunity that is to continue to pray to God. We continue to pray to God. We continue to pray not because we think that we will change God's mind by our prayers, but rather that faith in God's goodness will lead us to knock on his door. All right. And that's the lesson of the parable. You know, and we start to see this beginning in verses 9 through 13, that prayer that is earnestly made will be answered.
Well, our next reader reads Luke chapter 11, verses 9 to 10. Tim. All right. The lesson of the parable is not that persistence will change God's mind, but rather that faith in God's goodness will lead us to knock on his door. And if we read Matthew chapter 7, verses 7 through 11, Jesus spoke about this. Could our next reader read that for us? Did she hear? Matthew 7, 11 where? Matthew chapter 7, verses 7 through 11.
Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks will receive. Everyone who seeks will find. And everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Your parents, if a child asks for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? Or if they ask for food, do you give them a snake? Of course not.
So if you people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him? All right. So we see that the lesson of the parable in Luke chapter 11 is not that persistence will change God's mind, but rather that faith in God's goodness will lead us to knock on his door. We will come to him in prayer. You know, it may seem that God is not going to answer our prayer, but he always does, even if not in the time frame or manner we thought.
He gives us, you know, what is best according to his will. You know, let's read James chapter 5, verse 16. Patricia? 16. Confess your trespasses to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. So when you are living righteous before God, as a disciple of the Lord, God promised you to answer your prayers. You know, he tells you to speak, knock, ask. All right.
He's telling you to have opportunity in prayer. Be persistent. Continue to pray. Another place where Jesus spoke about prayer, he said that men should pray always, everywhere, and don't lose faith. Okay? So here we see that it's stated to ask. Now we have plenty of examples of these things within the Bible. We've got one example where the Pharisee did not ask, but instead he told the Lord how good he was. And remember the attitude that Jesus taught the disciples to have in prayer, an attitude of submission.
When you are submissive to God, this characterizes an attitude of humility as well. You're humble. All right? You're poor in spirit. Jesus taught that we should revere God, which means we should respect him and be obedient and be submissive to him. But let's look at the fact that the Pharisee did not ask, but instead he told the Lord how good he was. Let's read Luke chapter 18, verses 10 through 14. Debbie Wood. Okay. Luke 18, 10 through 14.
Two men went up into the temple to pray. One a Pharisee, the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and praised God himself. God, I thank you that I'm not like other people, squanderers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I've passed quite a few weeks. I've paid tithes of all that I get. But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, for he was beating his breast and saying, God, be merciful to me for sinning.
I tell you, this man went down to his house to testify, rather than this other. For everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted. All right. So we see that this individual, the Pharisee, he did not ask, but instead he told the Lord how good he was. All right, that characterizes an attitude and a character of pride and arrogance. That is not a submissive attitude. But the other guy, he beat upon his breast with me, he cried tears, and he wouldn't even lift up his face to God out of respect.
But he confessed that he was a sinner and he needed God to be merciful to him. And it's stated that this man, he went down to his house to testify, rather than the other man who had prayed and tried to tell the Lord how good he was and how much better he was than other people. But the Lord told us to ask when we come to him in prayer. But he also said, seek, which means our focus is not all will, but to be in harmony with God's will.
Let's read 1 John 3, verse 22. Debbie, you want to read 1 John 3, verse 22? John's what now? 1 John chapter 3, verse 22. Okay. I hope I got it right, John. After these things, Jesus... He said John. 1 John chapter 3, verse 22. Oh. At the back of the Bible. Let me see. Okay. After these things, John. 1 John chapter 3, verse 22. It's at the back. It's right after the... It's right after 1 Peter, 2 Peter.
Right before Revelation. Uh-huh. And that's what you say now, John 3? You have one minute remaining. 1 John chapter 3, verse 22. Okay. Maybe I get that in a minute. Thank you for using global telling. Okay. Huh. I'm coming back to the same one. After these things, Jesus and His disciples came. Am I in the right place? No. Well, just skip me and go to someone else. Okay. Janice? Uh-huh. All right. Read 1 John 3, verse 22.
And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He has commanded us. No, that wasn't it. That wasn't it? My goodness, we have a problem. 1 John 3? You're saying 1 John 3, 23? 3, 22. Oh, 3, 22. Okay. And whatever we ask, we receive from Him because we keep His commandment and do what pleases Him. All right. So Jesus stated that we should ask, seek, and not.
So we see right there that it's stated to Christians that whatever we ask of God our Father, that we will receive those things because we do those things that are pleasing in His sight, which means our hearts are set on Him and being obedient to Him, which means that we are seeking the kingdom above all else. Now, God, He hears the prayers of the righteous and He answers. But He don't answer the prayers of sinners. All right.
Let's look at, for a cross reference, I've got Psalms 34, verse 15. It states, The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears are open unto their cry. Verse 16 states, The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. So we see that God hears the prayers of the righteous. He also hears the prayers of the wicked, but He don't answer their prayers.
He's trying to deaf ear to them. Why? Because their hearts are not set on Him. They don't reverence Him. They are not submissive to Him. All right. Though they may believe, they don't follow. They don't obey. What is like if you tell your child to do something and they never do it? And they tell you, Mama, well, I believe what you said is true. But then you look at them and say, but you don't never do what I tell you.
What's good it's going to do? You still ain't pleasing me. Even though you believe what I'm telling you and you believe in me, but you ain't obeying me, which makes me feel like that what you are saying is not true. This means that I feel like you don't believe in what I tell you. You don't believe in me. You don't trust me because you don't obey me. And I start to feel like you don't respect me.
So God as a loving Father, He deals with His children the same way. And just like we would chastise our children until they get to a certain age, God chastises His children, not until they get to a certain age, but throughout a lifetime. Why does He chastise His children? Because He loves us. And that's the sign and reason why we chastise our children. It's not because we hate them and we want to hurt them. But it's because we love them and we want to teach them, you know, to be obedient, to do what's right.
So here Jesus tells the disciples that they need to ask and seek, all right? When we seek, this means all focuses, not all will, but to be in, you know, harmony with God's will. So instead of me saying, well, I feel like this, I should deal with people this way, where they hate me, I'm going to hate them, but that ain't the will of God. Well, how can I know that? Because I can go to the teachings in the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus said, love your enemies.
Pray for those who despitefully misuse you. Jesus didn't say, well, treat other people the way they treat you. No. That's the world's way. That may be how we lived before we became Christians. But the will of God is that you do unto others as you want them to do unto you. And love your neighbor as yourself, regardless of their character and the things that they have done to you. Still got to love them and pray for them and forgive them.
This don't mean that I have to deal with them, associate with them. If a person breaks into my home or I allow a person to come into my home and then they steal out of my home, just because I forgive them and I love them don't mean that I got to let them back in my home continually. That's not what Jesus is teaching. He's not teaching that a Christian should become a punching bag for the wicked.
No, he's teaching us a certain type of attitude that we need to possess and have, certain type of characteristics that we ought to have about ourselves as citizens of the kingdom of God. But he also stated that the disciples need to knock, which means we have faith that God can and will answer. Let's read 1 John 5, verses 14 and 15. Tim? Now this is the confidence that we have in him that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
And if we know that he hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we will have the petitions that we have asked of him. Now this is talking to Christians once again. It states that this is the confidence that we have in him. So this is the confidence of who? A Christian. Only a Christian, a disciple of the Lord. And what is that confidence? That if we ask, just like Jesus told the disciples that they need to ask, if we ask, if we ask what? Anything, but pay attention now, according to his will.
If we ask anything according to God's will, then what? He hears us. And if we know that he hears us, then whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desire of him. That's the confidence that a Christian has, that I can ask my father. I can go to my father. That's a Christian. I know he hears my prayers. He hears me. Why I know he hears me? Because I seek him and I do those things that's pleasing in his sight.
I'm walking in the light. I'm not living wicked, but I'm being obedient to him. And even though he may not answer at the first knock or the second knock, I'm going to keep on knocking. I'm going to have opportunity in my prayers. I'm going to be persistent in praying. And it's not because I'm praying that the Lord will change his mind, but I'm praying persistently because I know that he's going to answer me. Let's read 1 Peter 3, verse 12.
Did she hear? So once again we see that the Lord, for the eyes of the Lord are over who? It's a certain type of man that the eyes of the Lord are over. That's a certain type of man. And it's like the righteous. For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous. But what about the wicked? What about those who live evil? What about those who wake up every day and say, well, I believe that there's a God and I don't need you to talk to me about God because me and God got our own personal relationship where I can get out and I can go sell dope and I can kill people and I can cheat on my wife.
I can cheat on my husband. But the Lord know my heart. Well, what the Bible say? The Bible say that the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous and his ears are open unto their prayers. But what about those who live evil? They say, but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. So we understand that the Lord behalves of prayer that is honestly made. You know, the fervent prayer of a righteous man avail of much.
And then let's read Luke chapter 11, verses 11 through 13. Trisha? If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will you give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will you give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him? All right.
So here we see in the verses 11 through 13 how that this illustrates the obvious response to a request from one you love. And first we see it says, if he asks for bread, you do not give him a stone. If he asks for a fish, you do not give him a serpent. If he asks for an egg, you do not give him a scorpion. And then it's how much more would your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask? So God wants what is best for us, which ultimately comes through the Holy Spirit by faith and obedience to God's word.
All right. Let's look at Ephesians chapter 3, verses 16 through 21. Javier, what? Okay. Ephesians 3, 16 through 21. And he would grant you according to the riches of his glory to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts with faith, and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth, the length, the height, and depth, and to know the love of Christ, which is the perfect knowledge, that you may be filled up with all the fullness of God.
All right. Verse 21. Okay. Now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to him be the glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever. Amen. Amen. So we see here Paul's prayer for the Ephesians. All right. And he prayed many things for them, that God would grant them according to the riches of his glory to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in their hearts by faith, that they, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all other saints, which is with all the other Christians, what is the breadth and length and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ.
And that is so important for us because that will lead us to prayer. If we just know the love that God has for us, that will help us to be persistent in prayer. That will help us to not have the attitude, man, I done prayed and prayed. Ain't nothing changed. I'm tired of praying about it. I ain't finna work out with that no more. That old give up spirit where everybody's been praying for me, but ain't nothing changed.
I don't even want to speak on my situation. I feel like I'm worrying everybody. I ain't gonna pray about it no more. Maybe this is how God wants my life to be. So, we have to understand the breadth and length and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ, which surpasses all the knowledge that a human can have, that we might be filled with all the fullness of God. And then Paul stated, now to him that is able to do exceeds abundantly above all that we ask or think according to what? The power that worketh in us.
Now, that power only lies within Christians that Paul is talking about. It is the same power that raised Christ from the dead. That is the power of God the Father. So, that is how powerful your prayer is to God. That is how powerful the word of God is that governs a Christian's life as a citizen of Christ's kingdom. That is how powerful those songs, hymns, and spiritual songs is when you're filling your minds with them. And when you're singing them in worship service, you're teaching one another and encouraging one another with these words of these songs, hymns, and spiritual songs.
But not only that, you are praising God. It is unto him that we give glory in the church by Christ Jesus. And that is in Christ Jesus. All right. Let's also read 1 Corinthians chapter 6, verses 19 and 20 for our last scripture. Janice. Okay, 1 Corinthians chapter 6, verse 5 and 6. 19 and 20. Oh, 1 Corinthians chapter 6, 19 and 20. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price.
So, glorify God in your body. And my verse will read the King James verse and say, For glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. All right. So, all of these things is rooted in being a Christian. All right. This is the promise of a Christian, that God will answer your prayers. And Jesus teaches us that we need to, you know, be encouraged to pray. We need to be persistent in prayer because prayer that is earnestly made will be answered.
It's not that we pray with importunity because that we want to change God's mind, but rather that faith in God's goodness will lead us to knock on His door, will lead us to hit our knees and go to Him in prayer. Well, they say, Charles, you pray so good. You do such a wonderful job of praying. Well, that's because I've been through so much, and I pray so much, and I still pray so much. I'd have been afraid and fearful and scared and just everything, broke down, troubled, worried.
And all I got and ever had was what? In prison. What all I ever had? Prayer. Amen. So, God answers sincere prayer that is fervently made. But His eyes are upon the righteous and not those who do evil. So don't think that, well, I can get up today, and I can go and live like I don't even know God. I'll repent tomorrow, and then I can pray tonight. Well, that's not the case because God knows our hearts.
Jesus said that those who do His will, and the Bible said that if we pray according to His will, which means if we pray according to what God wants for us, that He knows is best for us, you know, that He answers our prayers as a loving Father. If you being a human who have flaws and sins, if you know how to give your child good things when they ask you, how much more do your Heavenly Father, being all-knowing, all-powerful, all-sovereign, the creator of life and all things that is created, and He has the power of life and death in His hands, how much more will He give good things to His children that ask Him? Amen.
How much more will He give the Holy Spirit to those who set their hearts on Him? He knows our hearts. He knows when we're truly seeking Him, even when we're not a Christian, when you're really trying to learn the Word of God and obey it, He's going to put somebody in your path to teach you the truth. Amen. There's not a person that I haven't come in contact with that have obeyed the gospel, that hadn't told me first that I prayed to God to help me understand the Bible, and I'd be sitting there in my head like, well, God showed up for His prayer, because I know I can help Him understand if He'd be serious.
So there may be someone on this call tonight that hasn't fully understood the Word of God, and don't get it wrong, we're not saying that you don't know nothing or you don't know anything, but we just want to let you know that there are people on this line that can help you to get a better understanding of the Word of God from the beginning to the end, and help you to understand the New Testament that our Lord and Savior provided to us.
You have one minute remaining. We can show you how our Lord and Savior provided this New Testament, and under that New Testament, Jesus teaches humility. He teaches us that we have to be willing to listen and learn. We have to become as little children. We have to be willing to confess that Jesus is Lord and be willing to repent and be baptized. And most important of all, we all know that you have to believe in God and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and be baptized for the remission of sins so that the Lord can add you to His kingdom, and so that you can be a part of that number where you know that you can ask your Father, because you know His eyes are upon you.
So be persistent in prayer, you guys. Amen. Amen.
