By Dan &
Brenda Cathcart
Moed Ministries
International
The video version
of this teaching is available at:
Scripture
readings for this teaching:
Luke chapters 11
and 12
Yeshua
prayed regularly. His disciples observed Him praying and desired to pray as He
did. This was a typical practice among rabbis and their disciples. A rabbi
would usually include his own short prayer or benediction with the regular
daily prayer called the Amidah, or standing prayer. The use of this prayer by a
disciple would identify who his rabbi was.
Luke
11:1 NKJV 1 Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He
ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as
John also taught his disciples."
So,
Yeshua taught them a prayer, then afterwards, He told a parable and concluded
it with the instructions to ask, seek, and knock.
Luke
11:9 NKJV 9 "So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and
you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
Is
this verse saying that God is obligated to give us whatever we ask for as if He
was a vending machine in which we deposit our prayers and out pops our
selection? Or are there guidelines for our asking, seeking, and knocking? What
is the context of this verse and what does it reveal about the character of our
God?
Yeshua’s
instructions to His disciples to ask, seek and knock came in the context of the
prayer that He taught them illustrated by a parable. Let’s examine the prayer
that Yeshua taught and what the parable reveals about praying.
The
prayer opens with an acknowledgment of God and a desire for His kingdom.
Luke
11:2 NKJV 2 So He said to them, "When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is
in heaven.
Our
God is unique, hallowed or set apart; His kingdom is glorious and those who
enter into it are blessed! He is our God and there is no other. The Sh’ma, or
daily recitation of the Torah from the book of Deuteronomy opens with these
words similar to those Yeshua used in His prayer:
Hear,
O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one; blessed be the name of His
glorious Kingdom forever and ever.
Yeshua’s
disciples are to come in submission to God. We are to seek God’s will, not our
own will, and desire that it be implemented on earth as it already is in
heaven. Yeshua demonstrated this for us by always seeking to do only the will
of the Father.
John
4:34 NKJV 34 Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who
sent Me, and to finish His work.
Yeshua
said that doing the will of the Father nourished Him! We, also, need to seek
that nourishment. That request is the next part of the prayer Yeshua taught His
disciples.
Luke 11:3 NKJV 3
Give us day by day our daily bread.
When
the children of Israel were in the wilderness, God provided manna or bread for
them each day, but only enough for that day. God told Moses that the daily
ration was to test them to see whether they would walk in His ways.
Exodus
16:4 NKJV 4 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Behold, I will rain bread from
heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every
day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not.
Yeshua
tells us that the manna God provided them was a shadow of the true bread from
heaven. Yeshua is our daily bread and the true bread from heaven.
John
6:32-35 NKJV 32 Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you,
Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true
bread from heaven. 33 "For the bread of God is He who comes down from
heaven and gives life to the world." 34 Then they said to Him, "Lord,
give us this bread always." 35 And Jesus said to them, "I am the
bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me
shall never thirst.
The
daily bread we ask for is for both our physical and spiritual needs. It is for
our daily ration of life and the promise of eternal life.
After
we ask for our daily bread, Yeshua reminds us of the need to forgive and to
receive forgiveness.
Luke
11:4 NKJV 4 And forgive us our sins, For we also forgive everyone who is
indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the
evil one."
Our
sins are forgiven as we forgive others. We acknowledge that we are all
dependent on God’s mercy! James, the brother of Yeshua in his epistle tells us
that the commandment to love your neighbor as yourself is fulfilled in mercy
over judgment.
James
2:8 NKJV 8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture,
"You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you do well;
Then,
skipping down to verses 12 and 13:
James
2:12-13 NKJV 12 So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of
liberty. 13 For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy.
Mercy triumphs over judgment.
The
last phrase of the prayer Yeshua taught asks God not to lead us into
temptation. This seems like a strange thing to ask. Why would God lead us into
temptation? James explains that God does not entice us to sin, but rather the
weakness of our flesh is what entices us.
James
1:13-14 NKJV 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by
God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.
14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and
enticed.
In
other words, when we turn away from “your will be done” to “my will be done” we
face temptations. Yeshua later clarifies His statement telling His disciples
that the weakness of our flesh leads us into temptation.
Mark
14:38 NKJV 38 "Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit
indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."
Yeshua,
himself, was taken into the wilderness and, when His flesh was weak from
hunger, Satan threw three specific temptations at Him. These temptations
represent the temptations of the world. The apostle John summarizes in 1 John
2:15-16:
1
John 2:15-16 NKJV 15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If
anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that
is in the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of
life--is not of the Father but is of the world.
The
prayer Yeshua taught concludes with the request that God deliver us from evil.
Evil is in this world and, to some extent, it touches or falls on us all. Paul declares
God’s faithfulness in delivering him from all the evil that was intended
against him.
2
Timothy 4:18 NKJV 18 And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and
preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen!
Yeshua’s
prayer asks that we also be delivered from evil so that we may enter into God’s
glorious kingdom.
After
teaching His disciples this prayer, Yeshua tells a parable to better understand
the importance of prayer and why they are to pray. The parable is about a
persistent neighbor asking for three loaves of bread to set before a friend.
Even though the man may already be in bed, he will rise to give his friend the
bread he asks for because of his persistence. Yeshua states the moral or
conclusion of the parable in Luke 11:9 about asking, seeking, and knocking. The
NKJV Study Bible explains the meaning of the parable:
Jesus’
point is that in prayer the disciple is to be bold. The example in the parable
(vv5-7) is a man who goes boldly to his neighbor to seek what he requires.
Likewise, the disciple is to go boldly to God for that which is needed.[i]
We
are to pray so that we might receive those things we need. We will receive
those things we need only if we have the boldness to ask for what we need. But
the requests need to be within the framework of the Lord’s Prayer! James
chastises the recipients of his epistle, the twelve tribes, because they ask
amiss!
James
4:1-4 NKJV 1 Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come
from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? 2 You lust and do not
have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not
have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask
amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. 4 Adulterers and adulteresses!
Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever
therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
Yeshua
explains that the Father desires to give good gifts to His children using the
example of an earthly father giving good gifts to his children.
Luke
11:11-13 NKJV 11 "If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will
he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent
instead of a fish? 12 "Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a
scorpion? 13 "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!"
Firstfruits
of Zion explains this imagery of stones, serpents, and scorpions in their work Chronicles
of the Messiah:
The
Master used snakes and scorpions metaphorically to refer to evil spirits. In
rabbinic folklore, malevolent spirits are responsible for misfortunes. Good
comes from the Holy Spirit, i.e. God. From that perspective, Yeshua was not
speaking only about spiritual gifts or the endowment of the Holy Spirit in this
passage. Rather, He contrasted evil results to prayer against good results to
prayer. If you pray for something good, God will not send evil.[ii]
So,
how do we ask boldly of God while at the same time avoiding the pitfall described
by James of asking amiss? Luke records that Yeshua was confronted by a man
asking Him to judge a dispute between him and his brother.
Luke
12:13-15 NKJV 13 Then one from the crowd said to Him, "Teacher, tell my
brother to divide the inheritance with me." 14 But He said to him,
"Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?" 15 And He said
to them, "Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not
consist in the abundance of the things he possesses."
Yeshua
proceeded to tell a parable about a rich man who gloried in the abundance of
his riches, building bigger and bigger barns to store his abundance.
Luke
12:19-21 NKJV 19 'And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods
laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry."' 20
"But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul will be required of you;
then whose will those things be which you have provided?' 21 "So is he who
lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."
Our
hearts and deeds need to be rich towards God. When our hearts are rich towards
God, we will not ask amiss. We can expect our Father to give us good gifts.
This takes us back to the Sh’ma.
Deuteronomy
11:13-14 NKJV 13 'And it shall be that if you earnestly obey My commandments
which I command you today, to love the LORD your God and serve Him with all
your heart and with all your soul, 14 'then I will give you the rain for your
land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in
your grain, your new wine, and your oil.
Then,
skipping down to verse 18:
Deuteronomy
11:18 NKJV 18 "Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your
heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be
as frontlets between your eyes.
So,
what are to ask, seek, and knock? We are to ask for our daily bread and the
things that we need in accordance with God’s will.
1
John 5:14-15 NKJV 14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we
ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He
hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have
asked of Him.
Even
Yeshua only asked according to God’s will. When confronted with death on the
cross, Yeshua did not ask that He be spared that death; He asked only for the
Father’s will.
John
12:27-28 NKJV 27 "Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father,
save Me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this hour. 28
"Father, glorify Your name." Then a voice came from heaven, saying,
"I have both glorified it and will glorify it again."
Yeshua
told us to ask in the same fashion. Whatever we ask for should ensure that
God’s name be glorified.
John
14:13-14 NKJV 13 "And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that
the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 "If you ask anything in My
name, I will do it.
We
are to ask of those things that further the kingdom of God and enable us to
bear fruit for God.
John
15:7-8 NKJV 7 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask
what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 "By this My Father is
glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
What
are we to seek? Yeshua tells us that we don’t need to seek for our material
needs; we are instead to seek the coming of the kingdom of God.
Luke
12:29-31 NKJV 29 "And do not seek what you should eat or what you should
drink, nor have an anxious mind. 30 "For all these things the nations of
the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. 31
"But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.
The
Torah tells us that we are to seek God with all our hearts.
Deuteronomy
4:29 NKJV 29 "But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will
find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.
The
Psalmist tells us to trust, delight, and commit to God and we will receive the
desires of our hearts.
Psalms
37:3-5 NKJV 3 Trust in the LORD, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on
His faithfulness. 4 Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you
the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.
We
don’t need to seek the desires of our hearts; if we seek God’s kingdom, God’s
righteousness and God’s will, He will give us the desires of our hearts. And
don’t be surprised to find that the desires of your heart are to do the will of
the Father!
On
what door are we to knock and have it open to us? Chronicles of the Messiah
quotes the Megillah 12b as saying:
He knocked at the
gates of mercy, and they were opened to him.[iii]
When
the gates of mercy are opened to us, we have access to the kingdom of God! So,
when we pray we should say boldly and persistently:
Luke
11:2b-4 NKJV 2b … Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom
come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. 3 Give us day by day our
daily bread. 4 And forgive us our sins, For we also forgive everyone who is
indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the
evil one."
God
is not a vending machine that He would seek to do our will! Our will is not
important unless and until it lines up with the will of the Father to further
His kingdom, to bring about His will, and to bring glory to the Father.
Study Questions:
1. The prayer a rabbi taught his disciples became
an identifying characteristic of the disciples of a particular rabbi. What does
the prayer Yeshua taught reveal about Him? What will those hearing this prayer
understand as an “identifying characteristic” of Yeshua’s disicples?
2. “Your will be done” can be seen as a
prerequisite of the rest of the prayer. What does John 6:34-40 say about the
ultimate will of the Father? How does that change the way you understand this
prayer?
3. The parable of the persistent neighbor teaches
us to be persistent and bold in requesting what we need. What does Hebrews
10:19-23 say is the source of our confidence and boldness? (How does this
relate to question 2?)
4. How do Yeshua’s three temptations fit in the
categories of lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life as
described by 1 John 2:15-16? How do our temptations fit into those categories?
5. Read James 2:8-13 about the “royal law” of
loving your neighbor as yourself. How does mercy demonstrate that love?
©
2018 Moed Ministries International
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