Focal Passage: Luke 11:1-13
Praying to a Holy God. I am always amazed when I hear how people approach God. We find the proper approach to God in Luke 11:2. Jesus instructs His disciples, “Whenever you pray, say, Father, your name be honored as holy.” I believe that we are absolutely God’s precious children, but I think we have often forgotten that He is our Lord.
This scripture takes me to the prophet Isaiah experiencing the presence of God and the response of even the angels in Isaiah 6:3, “And one called to another: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts; His glory fills the whole earth.”
That should be enough, but we experience Isaiah’s own personal response in verse 5, “Then I said: Woe is me, for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips and live among a people of unclean lips, because my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts.”
Jesus made it clear and simple. When we approach the Father in prayer, we are to honor Him as Holy God.
Johnson
Asking the King of glory for our daily bread is just our humble acknowledgement that we are totally dependent on our highly exalted Father. This prayer also reminds us that as the forgiven people we are, we must be willing to forgive others.
Praying with expectancy. This story compels us to ask why a story of a traveler asking for bread from a friend would be important. First, the person is asking at midnight, which would be a problem during that period. No electricity, so that would mean getting up and possibly waking the whole family to find and light a lantern.
The real story is that there was a need, and the persistence of the request would finally be answered. The man knew that his friend could help him, and he wasn’t going to give up on his request.
I grew up under a praying mother and grandmother. I know firsthand about praying with faith. My grandfather was not a good man. He was a moonshiner and was feared by many in his community. He was a cruel husband and father. Every night after he would come home and go to bed in a drunken state, my grandmother got on her knees by his bedside and prayed for his salvation.
One night he had whipped the children out of drunken anger, and my grandmother was so grieved that she did not kneel and pray beside his bed. My grandfather woke her up and asked her not to stop praying for him. She honored his request. He came to Christ in a revival a year later at Milan Baptist Church. All that I ever knew of him as a child was a sweet grandfather. I am very grateful for people that believe and persist in prayer.
Praying to a Heavenly Father. We find in these verses the blessing of praying to our Heavenly Father. The comparison of our earthly father to our Heavenly Father is an exaggerated thought. No good father on earth would intentionally give a bad or harmful gift to their child.
The point is that we are children of an all-knowing and an all-powerful God that gives us the greatest gift. The gift of God’s Spirit living in us is truly the incomparable gift. As our Heavenly Father, God grants us His presence daily. B&R
