And if everybody else will open your Bibles to Luke, Chapter 11, as we look at God's Word about prayer today, Luke 11, the passage is verses 1 through 13, and we have some Bibles that you can find underneath your chair, turn to page 1,029 of that particular Bible, 1,029. I'm going to read Luke 11, 1 through 13, and we're going to talk today about why Christians pray. This is part of our series that we've been doing since early January, a series that I've entitled, why do we do the things we do? Each week we're looking at a Christian practice, and today we're looking at one that is obviously one of the most prevalent practices, one of the things that God tells us most clearly to do in the Bible, and that is to pray. While you're turning to that, let me take a moment to tell you about some opportunities that we have at UPC for you to pray. And then I'm going to talk a little bit later about why these things are so important. What are some ways that you can join us in being a praying church? Well, let me mention just a few. One of the ways that we encourage you to pray is using the sign-up slip that's on your worship guide. Chris and Anna alluded to this that on that sign-in sheet is a place where you can put a prayer request. Don't underestimate the importance of that because we have a lot of people who do faithfully pray for you. So if you will sign that with a prayer request from time to time, put it in the offering basket, it will get prayed for. No doubt about that. Another way that we encourage you to participate in prayer here at UPC is by joining up with our Pray It Forward campaign. Pray It Forward. When you leave today, there are going to be a couple of people from the prayer team standing by the door with these blue cards, and what's on these cards is simply a prayer request from one of the ministries at University Presbyterian. The idea is to simply take a card home with you, put it in a place where you can see it from time to time, and pray for that request. Bring it back next Sunday, drop it in the box, and pick up another card, and someone else will get the card that you prayed for. And so it's a way for us to join together, even individually, in praying for one another. A third way that I would encourage you to participate in prayer here at our church is by joining in with one of our all church prayer meetings. We have some prayer times, and they're held at the second and fourth Sundays of the month at six o'clock over in room six of the other building. It's only for an hour. We end promptly at seven o'clock, and these times are led by a member of our prayer team. You can come, and you don't even have to pray out loud if you don't want to, but you'll pray for some of the needs of our church and some of the needs that have been mentioned via those prayer requests forms. So that's the third way. And then finally, I want to tell you about a unique opportunity that we have for prayer. On the last Sunday of this month, which is March the 29th, we as a congregation are going to meet over at Blanchard Park, YMCA, which is right next door here, and pray for an hour, two thirty to three thirty for our community. This is a program that is initiated by the Orange County Sheriff's Department called Operation Deliverance. Many of you are aware of some of the crime that has happened in East Orlando, and right there at Blanchard Park also. And so the idea is for churches to turn out during the 40 days leading up to Easter, and claim an hour to pray. And so our hour is March 29th, two thirty to three thirty. Just come, bring your family, it'll be a great time to just be there. We're going to have some music and prayer for East Orlando. I think it'd be a great way to do that. So those are just some things that I thought I would tell you up front about prayer opportunities. But then that raises the question, doesn't it? So why do we even do that? Why bother? Does it really matter that we do these things? Does it matter that we have a prayer team here at University Presbyterian? Is prayer important? Well I think you'll find out this morning from the passage I'm about to read that it is indeed vitally important. So let me read for you now, Luke 11, one through thirteen. One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished one of his disciples said to him, Lord teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples. He said to them, when you pray, say, Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread, forgive us our sins as we also forgive everyone who sins against us and lead us not into temptation. Then he said to them, suppose one of you has a friend and he goes to him at midnight and says, friend, lend me three loaves of bread because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me and I have nothing to set before him. Then the one inside answers, don't bother me. The door is already locked and my children are with me in bed. I can't get up and give you anything. I tell you though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend yet because of the man's boldness, he will get up and give him as much as he needs. So I say to you, ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find knock and the door will be open to you. For everyone who asks receives, he who seeks finds and to him who knocks the door will be opened. Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children. How much more will your father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him the word of the Lord? More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of. The first that I read earlier in verse 9, ask and you will receive seek and you will find knock and the door will be open to you. Do you really believe that? Or how about this? Jesus said in John chapter 14. I will do whatever you ask in my name. He also said in Mark chapter 11, verse 23, that you could move mountains by praying. Do you believe that's true? Yes? Yeah. You know, that's the church answer. Yes. Then why are you worried this morning? And why is it that most of us spend exponentially more time talking about our mountains than praying about them? Well I think one of the answers is that prayer is simply hard. While it's as easy as something a toddler could do, it's also hard. Hard for at least three reasons. One reason prayer is hard is that it is completely opposed to our sinful nature. The great Puritan Thomas Goodwin said that our fallen nature is allergic to God and doesn't want to get too close to him. And also prayer is a discipline, right? And some of us are purely lazy creatures. And so our sinful nature opposes a life of prayer. But not only that, the world opposes prayer also. That's why it's hard. The world says be strong, right? Prayer says be weak. The world says you can do it. Prayer says no, you can't. You need God's help. The world says get it done and get it done right now. And prayer says let God do it in his time. And not only is our sinful nature and the world opposed to prayer, but you must know that Satan is opposed to prayer also. Your enemy, the devil, hates it when you pray. You've heard that little saying, Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees. See, he knows that prayer is your most potent weapon. It's your most important link to the power and person of God. So you can sure bet that the devil is going to oppose a life of prayer for you. So it's no wonder prayer is difficult, right? You've got the world against you, you've got your flesh against you, you've got the devil against you. And that's why some of you are discouraged about prayer this morning. Some of you are discouraged about it. You know you should pray more, but you've prayed, you've prayed, and nothing seemed to happen so you stopped praying, right? Or you've let busyness crowd out your prayer life. Or truth be told, for some of you, your problems seem so big that it feels like prayer just doesn't work and doesn't matter. Well, I want to tell you this morning to keep praying. I want to tell you today, keep praying. And I want to give you this morning two reasons why you and I should keep praying that are right here in Luke chapter 11. First is because God is your gracious friend. And second is because God is your generous father. Two reasons why you should keep praying. Let's look at the first one. You and I should keep praying because God is our gracious friend. Did you notice the emphasis on friend in verses five through eight? The word friend appears in my version four times. There's a reason for that. It's not an accident. God puts friendship in this passage often to make sure you understand that he is your friend if you are trusting in Jesus Christ for your salvation. So let's look together at verses five through eight. Let's focus on those verses first because in those four verses, there's a story that Jesus tells us about a guy in a desperate situation. Now let's say that guy in the desperate situation is you, okay? You've just settled into bed for the night when you get a knock on your door. And you stir a little bit wondering if you're dreaming and you find out you're not dreaming. You find out instead a friend of yours from the Carolinas has parked his RV in your driveway. He's on his way to Tampa and he's been driving on I-95 all day. He's hungry. He's got his family there. They're tired and they're stopping at your door for some kind of help. They're asking you for bread. You're expected to be in a accommodating hospital host. You see, you got to get yourself into the culture of Jesus' day. You're expected to be hospital. It's a cultural thing. You have to feed this friend of yours. But a lass and a lach, your cupboard is bare. You have nothing to share with him. So what do you do? You run down the street in your boxer shorts or whatever you people wear for sleeping in. And you knock on the door of your friend and you glance at your watch and it's midnight. Now this guy's an early to bed type. You know that he's got to wake up at 5 a.m. because he's got this job that makes sure he gets up early in the morning. He's already been asleep for three hours. But still you're a brazen about it. You knock on his door. You hear from inside a muffled, who's there? Hey Pete, you say to him. You got any bread? That's my neighbor. Hey Pete, you got any bread? Osborne is that you? Do you know what time it is? See this is the way the story was really told. Now here is where you have to read this story correctly or else you're going to miss a real important point about it. And unfortunately the version from which I read, which is the new international version, unfortunately doesn't really help us out here. Because the fact is in the Greek language versus 5 through 7 are one long rhetorical question. And you notice in the NIV that I read, the question Mark doesn't even show up. It's one long rhetorical question. So let's rework it a little bit. And let me tell you what versus 5 and 6 say, okay, verse 5, in this story about the friend. Jesus says, he says, first, suppose one of you has a friend. Suppose one of you has a friend and you go to him at midnight and you say, friend, lend me three loaves because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me and I have nothing to offer him. Now look at verse 7 up on the screen. This is the way Jesus would have said it. Verse 7 says, would your friends say, don't bother me, the door is locked and my children and I are in bed. If I move the bolt, it'll wake up the whole house. I can't get up and give you any bread. And then Jesus said, would your friends say that? And the answer is, of course not. See that's the way the story really reads. Would your friend really say that? Of course not is the expected answer. Why not? Well, for one thing, as I alluded to it earlier, it was a custom in those days that Jesus lived in for Jewish people to supply bread for those who didn't have any. It would have been, you see, shameful for this friend, this fellow Jew, not to give bread to you, right? And for another thing, he's not just any Jew. He is your friend but the story says he's a sleepy friend. The story says he's a grouchy friend and it's late. So verse 8 says, though he may not get up and give you the bread simply because he's your friend, yet because of your boldness and the word boldness really should be translated as shameless perseverance, shameless persistence or brazenness or nerve or forwardness, something to that nature. Because of your brazenness, he will get up and give you as much as you need. After all, he borrowed your chainsaw one time and left it out in the rain. So he owes you one. Well, the point of this story, the point of this story is that if even a sleepy, grouchy friend who has to get up early the next morning and go to work will get out of bed and give you what you need, how much more will God who never slumbers nor sleeps, who is the friend with a capital F, who sticks closer than a brother, who gave up his one and only son for you, how much more will that friend give you what you need? See Jesus is making an argument, it's called from the lesser to the greater. He is saying that God is like your sleepy friend but not like your sleepy friend. God is your true friend, your forgiving friend, your gracious friend who has at his disposal all of the resources you could possibly imagine that you need for any problem that you're going through. I want you to notice the last few words of verse 8 because they're real precious. It says in the end of verse 8 that he, that friend of yours, will get up and give him as much as he needs. You see that? As much as he needs, that's a sign that God is a plentiest, a rich friend who because he's gracious to you will indeed meet the need that you have. And that is one reason why you can and should pray. God is your gracious friend. Reason number two, why should you and I continue and keep on praying? Because not only is God your gracious friend, but this passage teaches us that he is our generous father. He's our generous father. In fact, the whole thrust of the passage is to remind you that God is your father because didn't you catch that at the very beginning of the text in verse 2 where Jesus is teaching the disciples a model prayer and the model prayer begins with the word the name father, right? And then he brings father back in again at verse 11 with another story, another story. Another story. This time, this story begins with the words which of you fathers. So this passage is about God being our friend as well as God being our father. Now let's go to this second story now. Leave the one about the friend at midnight and now let's look at verses 11 through 13 at this second story. Jesus is saying in this second little parable, okay, suppose you're a dad, see Jesus was a fantastic story teller. He gets his points across by telling these stories and he says now suppose you're a dad and your little boy comes up to you one evening after dinner and says in his pitiful little voice, daddy, can I please have some more fish sticks? And then Jesus says what kind of father would say here kid have a snake, ridiculous or your little girl comes up to you and says daddy, can I please have another scrambled egg? And Jesus says what average father out there is going to give this poor child a scorpion and say here kid have a scorpion go play with it in your bedroom. I mean it's ridiculous. I love Jesus. It's a sense of humor. It's ridiculous. Even fathers, even evil fathers, Jesus is saying even evil fathers aren't that evil. Here again you see Jesus is arguing from the lesser to the greater. He's saying if even a totally self-absorbed Jerry Seinfeld type of father will give his child a fish or an egg when she asks for it how much more will God give you what you need because he's a generous father. In other words God loves you. I know it sounds trite but it's so true. God loves you. You're his kid. If you believe Jesus Christ died on the cross to save you from your sins and bring you to the father you're God's kid. Your needs matter to him. Your problems matter. Your challenges matter to God because he's your generous father. Francois Fainelon said he was a French theologian and missionary back in the late 1600s, early 1700s. This is what he said. Look at the quotation. He said tell God all that is in your heart. As one unloads one's heart it's pleasures and it's pains to a dear friend. Tell him your troubles that he may comfort you. Tell him your joys that he may sober them. Tell him your longings that he may purify them. Tell him your dislikes that he may help you conquer them. Talk to him of your temptations that he may shield you from them. Show him the wounds of your heart that he may heal them. Lay bare your indifference to good, your depraved tastes for evil, your instability. If you thus pour out all your weaknesses, needs and troubles, there will be no lack of what to say. In other words, tell him everything. Let there be no secrets between you and God because he's your father. Now I know. I know what some of you are thinking. See, I have ESP. You didn't know that. I know what some of you are thinking right now. Some of you are thinking you have prayed. And you have prayed and you've prayed and nothing seemed to happen. It didn't seem to work. In fact, it seems like God really is asleep or even worse, it has felt like God really did give you a scorpion instead of an egg, a snake instead of bread. And you're struggling with disappointment with God. The feeling that your prayers have gone on heard, unheard. What does this text have to say to you? I wish, now this is really good for another whole sermon. So we'll touch on this some other time. But let me give you a short answer from this text this morning. What would this text say about the problem of, quote unquote, unanswered prayer? Well look at verse 13 and it's going to be part of it's up here on the screen. This is an important point that I don't want you to miss. Verse 13 of that second story that Jesus was talking about says, if you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him? Now when I read that, I thought, now wait a second, I know that there's another version of this same verse in Matthew. And the fact is if you were to turn to Matthew chapter 7, you would see a very similar teaching of Jesus here, but the words are just a little different. Look at this. In Matthew 7 verse 11, Jesus says, if you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him? Now we sort of like the Matthew 7, 11 version because we want the good gifts. And so we pray for healing, we pray for a job, we pray for a relationship, we pray for the salvation of someone that we love, we ask for God's help in numerous ways. And so we expect, pardon me, a Matthew 7, 11 answer. Lord, I pray for this gift. Now Matthew 7, 11 says, give me the gift. But Luke 11 reminds us that sometimes God has a better gift with a capital G than the gift with a little G that you were expecting, because Jesus says, how much more will your father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him? You may be praying for something to change in your life and what God wants to give you is a fuller, more personal experience of the Holy Spirit. Do you see it? See this difference is very, very important that you remember. Sometimes because God is your father, like any good father, he knows what is bad. The best for you and what might be best is not the gift you want, but the gift you need, namely the Holy Spirit. So keep that in mind as you struggle with prayer but do not let the struggle keep you from keeping on praying. So what's the bottom line here? Let's draw this to a close. The bottom line is that because of Jesus Christ and His work on the cross and His resurrection from the grave and His love for you now, God is both friend and father to you. And you can ask and seek and knock knowing that God loves when you pray. Listen, I believe 100% in the sovereignty of God. I believe that the Bible teaches us that God is going to do what He has decreed He's going to do, but I also believe with all my heart that there are things that happen because you pray, and there are things that don't happen because you don't pray that simply the clear teaching of the Scriptures. And so Jesus would say to us, as He says in verse 9, keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking. I'll bet there are some husbands and wives here this morning who have stopped praying together. Do you expect to rear children and to live a life and to have a healthy marriage without praying? The Bible would say you're trusting in yourself instead of God. I'll bet this morning there are some people here who have gotten so busy with work and school and other demands of life that prayer has become the last thing you've been thinking about. How can you expect to survive in this crazy world without prayer? You know what, living without prayer is like? Well I think I learned what it's like one day. Years ago when my fourth child Michael was probably four or five years old. I came home from work that afternoon, parked in the driveway and started to walk inside, and Michael was out in the backyard swinging on the swing set. And he was pumping and going way forward and way backwards. And he shouted out to me and he said, Dad, look at me, I can do it by myself. See prior to that time Michael had to ask me to push him. You know what my lips said? My lips said, Way to go son, I'm proud of you, but inside my heart was breaking because I knew this being my last child that my life had just changed. I was getting a little preview that this little boy would come to the time when he didn't need me anymore. You know I wonder if our fatherly God sometimes looks down at us and our activity and our planning and our strategizing and our worrying and we're saying to him, God, look at me. I can do it by myself and his heart is breaking and what he's really wanting to tell us is, no you can't, no you can't, who are you trying to fool? See God's our father, you and I are desperately needy of him. Who are we trying to fool? He's our friend to ask. He's our father, so ask, recommit yourself today to prayer as the best thing you could possibly do about your problems. Let's pray. Father, forgive us that we grow so self-reliant and without saying it in so many words we say to you, God, we don't need you. We can do it ourselves. Jesus thank you that you died on the cross to bring us to the point where we could depend on God for everything. And so we like the disciples, ask you now, Lord teach us how to pray and we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.